Quotes About Selflessness

Sympathy is never waisted except when you give it to yourself.

A truly compassionate man gives a poor woman a portion of his meal before he eats, not after he has eaten.

Be willing to give, but only when you aren't expecting anything in return.

The leader is a teacher who succeeds without taking credit. And, because credit is not taken, credit is received.

Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer; into a selflessness which links us with all humanity.

Self-love is the first teacher of self-renunciation.

Teachers and nurses get the best seats in Heaven.

Yes, Mel. That's exactly why I left without explaining. Because I think about you before I think about myself. Always remember that, Little Ballerina. Always.

It occurred to him now to ask himself if this was how it happened : was it possible that the mere fact of using one's hands and investing one's attention in someone other than oneself, created a pride and tenderness that had nothing whatever to do with the response of the object of one's care - just as a craftsman's love for his handiwork is in no way diminished by the fact of it being unreciprocated?

I wasn't jealous and I wasn't resentful. Maybe it's the people who are the least loved, provided they're not envious or bitter, who find the most love in themselves to give to others. Don't you think?

Self-sacrifice can sometimes be a well-honed weapon that the fanatic wields for destructive emotional purposes. Moreover, those who are eager to sacrifice themselves will not find it difficult to sacrifice others.

In this matter, you should not concern yourself for my sake.

Aparte de un marido e hijos, necesito otra cosa a la que dedicarme. No quiero haber vivido para nada, como la mayoría de las personas. Quiero ser de utilidad y alegría para los que viven a mi alrededor, aún sin conocerme. ¡Quiero seguir viviendo, aun después de muerta!

You cannot save people. You can only love them.

I palliate the sufferings of others. yes I see myself as softening the blows, dissolving acids, neutralizing poisons, every moment of the day. I try to fulfill the wishes of others, to perform miracles. I exert myself performing miracles.

I was always ashamed to take. So I gave. It was not a virtue. It was a disguise.

What can you give when there is no self, when you have no sensitivity, no receptivity, no warmth, nothing to contact others with?

I do not need to be a selfless child, or a woman giving to the point of self-annihilation.

Each one of a pair of lovers fashions himself to meet the other's requirements—endeavors by a continual effort to resemble that idol of himself which he beholds in the other's heart.... Whoever really loves abandons all sincerity.

Si le grain de blé qui est tombé en terre ne meurt, il reste seul ; mais, s'il meurt, il porte beaucoup de fruit. Celui qui aime sa vie la perdra, et celui qui hait sa vie dans ce monde la conservera pour la vie éternelle.

I have often experienced that, in moments as solemn as this, all human emotion is transformed into an almost mystic ecstasy, into a kind of enthusiasm, in which my whole being is magnified, or rather liberated from all selfishness, as though dispossessed of itself and depersonalized.

Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you

Whether one wishes to fly before it has become possible, or cast a bell without having learned how to do it, or paint an icon - all these acts demand that, for the price of his creation, man should die, dissolve himself in his work, give himself entirely. That is the meaning of the prologue - the man flew, and for that he sacrificed his life.

That best portion of a good man's life— His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and of love.