The following are a collection of quotes, poems, sayings, and
book excerpts that evoke the human spirit in such a way as to further
the efforts of volunteerism. These wonderful sayings are taken from
many different resources; and some can even have varied translations.
Nevertheless, most importantly they all cause us to look at who
we are, and what we are doing-for others and ourselves.
"Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right!"
~Henry Ford
"When you cease to dream, you cease to live." ~Malcolm
Forbes
To laugh is to risk appearing a fool. To weep is to risk appearing
sentimental. To reach out for another is to risk involvement. To
expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your
ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss. To love
is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But the risk
must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is
nothing. He/She may avoid suffering and sorrow, but she/he simply
cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by his/her
certitudes, she/he is a slave, he/she has forfeited her/his freedom.
Only a person who risks. is free. ~Author Unknown
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." ~Albert
Einstein
"The real measure of a person's wealth is how much he would
be worth if he lost all his money." ~Bernard Meltzer
"Small deeds alone are better than great deeds planned."
~Peter Marshall
"People who say it can't be done should not interrupt those
who are doing it." ~Author Unknown
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be
seen, nor touched. but are felt in the heart." ~Helen Keller
Keep Believing in Yourself and Your Special Dreams
There may be days when you get up in the morning and things
aren't the way you had hoped they would be. That's when you have
to tell yourself that things will get better. There are times when
people disappoint you and let you down, but those are the times
when you must remind yourself to trust your own judgments and opinions,
to keep you life focused on believing in yourself and all that you
are capable of. There will be challenges to face and changes to
make in your life, and it is up to you to accept them. Constantly
keep yourself headed in the right direction for you. It may not
be easy at times, but in those times of struggle you will find a
stronger sense of who you are, and you will also see yourself developing
into the person you have always wanted to be.
Life is a journey through time, filled with may choices; each
of us will experience life in our own special way. So when the days
come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities,
remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be,
because the challenges and changes will only help you to find the
dreams that you know are meant to come true for you. ~Deanna Beisser
"There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every
difficulty." ~Author Unknown
"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage
to lose sight of the shore." ~Author Unknown
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely
players: they have their exits and their entrances; And one man
in his time plays many parts." ~William Shakespeare
"There is no human problem on this planet that cannot be
solved by intelligence and love." ~Author Unknown
"Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize
the rewards of success." ~Rob Gilbert
"If you always do what you always did-you'll always get what
you always got." ~Author Unknown
I am me in all the world, there is no one else exactly
like me. Everything that comes out of me is authentically mine.
Because I alone chose it-I own everything about me. My body, my
feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, whether they be to
others or to myself. I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my
fears-I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.
Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with
me. By so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my
parts. I know there are aspects that I do not know-but as long as
I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully
look for solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more
about me. However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever
I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me-if
later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought and felt turn
out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep
the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I
can see, hear, feel, think, say and do. I have the tools to survive,
to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order
out of the world of people and things outside of me-I own me, and
therefore I can engineer me. I am me and I am okay!
"I have noticed that nothing I never said ever did me any
harm." ~Calvin Coolidge
"Don't go where the road leads, rather go where there is
no road and leave a trail." ~M. Scott Peck
"Count your blessings not your worries." ~Author Unknown
"If there is any kindness I can show, or any good things
I can do to any fellow being, le me do it now, and not deter or
neglect it, as I shall pass this way again." ~William Penn
"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."
~The Dalai Lama
"We do not remember days, we remember moments." ~Casare
Pavese
"Make a career of humanity. and you will make a greater person
of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world
to live in." ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
"An individual has not started living until he {or she} can
rise above the narrow confines of his {or her} individualistic concerns
to the broader concerns of all humanity." ~Martin Luther King,
Jr.
As the old man walked along the beach at dawn, he noticed a young
man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the
sea. Finally catching up with the youth, he asked him why he was
doing this. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die
if left until the morning sun. "But the beach goes on for miles
and there are millions of starfish," countered the other. "How
can your effort make any difference?" The young man looked
at the starfish in his hand then threw it to safety in the waves.
"It makes a difference to this one," he said. ~Author
Unknown
"Our rewards in life will always be in direct ratio to our
service." ~Earl Nightingale
"Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff."
~Author Unknown
"A chain is only as strong as its' weakest link." ~Author
Unknown
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
~Loa-Tsze
Work while you work,
Play while you play;
One thing each time,
This is the way.
All that you do,
Do with your might;
Things done by halves
Are not done right.
~Author Unknown
"Something done well is done forever." ~Henry David
Thoreau
"Give to the world the best you have and the best will come
back to you." ~Author Unknown
"When life gives you lemons-make lemonade." ~Author
Unknown
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and
how to be I leaned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of
the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday
School. These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint
and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands,
and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup:
the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows
how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in
the styrofoam cup-they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you
learned-the biggest word of all-LOOK.
~Taken from All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
by Robert Fulghum
"Smile when you want to, cry when you need to, Laugh whenever
possible!" ~Author Unknown
"Sometimes the unpredictable, rough, bumpy, overgrown paths
are the most fun to explore." ~Doug Bratton
"Life is lumpy. And a lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the
throat, and a lump in a breast are not the same lump. One should
learn the difference." ~Robert Fulghum
"Life is a dance. It doesn't matter if you know the words,
the moves, or the song. What matters is the spirit, the rhythm,
and the joy of movement. DANCE BIG!" ~Lori Vargo
"I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life. I was given
life, that I might enjoy all things." ~Roy Campanella
"Change is a process, not an event." ~Dani Pardo
"Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently."
~Henry Ford
"When high school kids wear rags today, they call is self-expression.
When I was young and dressed that way, we called it the depression."
~Author Unknown