“A charity is only then a real charity when it involves sacrifice.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 70)
“You are here not merely to gratify your impulses and consume what others have made but to make and contribute as well, to serve a higher purpose. To serve this higher purpose, you must cultivate what is unique about you. Stop listening so much to the words and opinions of others, telling you who you are and what you should like and dislike. Judge things and people for yourself.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 31)
“Live for your soul, and without trying or even understanding that you’re doing it, you will contribute to the improvement of society.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 29)
“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, via Sunbeams (Page 125)
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us what matters is the individual. To get to love the person we must come in close contact with him. If we wait till we get the numbers, then we will be lost in the numbers. And we will never be able to show that love and respect for the person. I believe in person to person; every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment.”
Mother Teresa, via Sunbeams (Page 60)
“Human beings exist as individuals and as members of groups at all times. I am one and I am one of many… always. This also creates some inherent conflicts of interest. When we make decisions, we must weigh the benefits to us personally against the benefits to our tribe or collective. Quite often, what’s good for one is not necessarily good for the other. Working exclusively to advance ourselves may hurt the group, while working exclusively to advance the group may come at a cost to us as individuals.”
Simon Sinek, Leaders Eat Last
“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go; first of all in your own home. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next-door neighbor.”
Mother Teresa, Sunbeams (Page 39)
Sir Wilfred Grenfell Quote on Meaning and How Service Is The Rent We Pay For Our Room On Earth
“The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth. It is obvious that man is himself a traveler; that the purpose of this world is not ‘to have and to hold’ but ‘to give and to serve.’ There can be no other meaning.”
Sir Wilfred T. Grenfell
Beyond the Quote (313/365)
How could the purpose of the world be ‘to have and to hold’ if nothing that we have and nothing that we hold onto will come with us at the end of our lives? It will all be left behind—every prized possession, every luxury, and every dollar. What could possibly be the purpose of hoarding it all from one part of the world to your part of the world? It will simply be hauled from your part, back, when you die. It seems futile when you really think about it.
Read More »Sir Wilfred Grenfell Quote on Meaning and How Service Is The Rent We Pay For Our Room On Earth
101 Acts of Kindness To Help Recalibrate The World
Excerpt: Instead of doing arbitrary random acts of kindness, do deliberate deeds of recalibration when wronged to help “recalibrate” the world.
Read More »101 Acts of Kindness To Help Recalibrate The World
Mark Ruffalo Emmy Award Acceptance Speech on Using Privilege To Fight For Those Less Fortunate
“[Our story] asks a big question, how are we going to deal and honor and take care of each other and our most vulnerable people? And we do that with love, and we do that with compassion, and we do that by fighting for them. And that’s what we have to do today. We have to come together with love, for each other. And if you have privilege, you have to fight for those who are less fortunate, and more vulnerable. And that is what is great about America, our diversity. One thing I’ve learned from my wife and children, is that we’re stronger together when we love each other and we respect each other’s diversity. And so we have a big, important moment ahead of us. Are we going to be a country of division and hatred? A country only for certain kind of people? Or are we going to be one of love, and strength, and fighting for those—all of us—so all of us can have the American dream and the pursuit of life, and liberty, and love, and happiness, in this great country of ours? That’s what we’re facing right now. So get out and vote, make a plan, and vote for love and compassion and kindness. I love you all. Thank you so much.”
Mark Ruffalo, Emmy Award Acceptance Speech
Beyond the Quote (262/365)
Our first priority is to ensure that we are able to care properly for ourselves. Next, is to ensure that we are able to properly care for our family and loved ones. What’s next is where we are all given a destiny altering choice that can—quite literally—reshape the structure of our world. We can choose to either move from “properly cared for” to “overly cared for” or we can choose to continue broadening our circle of care outwards. In other words, with privilege, we can choose luxury or greater impact. The path you choose, and the degree to which you choose to follow that path, can alter the very essence and purpose of your life.
Read More »Mark Ruffalo Emmy Award Acceptance Speech on Using Privilege To Fight For Those Less FortunateJohn C. Maxwell Quote on Greatness and How One Is Too Small A Number To Achieve It
“One is too small a number to achieve greatness. No accomplishment of real value has ever been achieved by a human being working alone.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
Beyond the Quote (234/365)
Big accomplishments don’t just happen. They’re an accumulated result of many small happenings. This is true for most anything in life. Big accomplishments in health are a product of the accumulated effect of the daily meals and workouts. Big accomplishments in business are a product of the accumulated effect of the smaller component systems that are put into place. Big accomplishments in relationships are a product of the accumulated effect of the smaller conversations, actions, and efforts that went into them. If you want to accomplish something big, the focus should be on accumulating more and more of the small.
Read More »John C. Maxwell Quote on Greatness and How One Is Too Small A Number To Achieve ItIain Thomas Quote On Giving People A Chance and How Everyone Is Someone
“Joan of Arc came back as a little girl in Japan, and her father told her to stop listening to her imaginary friends. Elvis was born again in a small village in Sudan, he died hungry, age 9, never knowing what a guitar was. Michelangelo was drafted into the military at age 18 in Korea, he painted his face black with shoe polish and learned to kill. Jackson Pollock got told to stop making a mess, somewhere in Russia. Hemingway, to this day, writes DVD instruction manuals somewhere in China. He’s an old man on a factory line. You wouldn’t recognize him. Gandhi was born to a wealthy stockbroker in New York. He never forgave the world after his father threw himself from his office window, on the 21st floor. And everyone, somewhere, is someone, if we only give them a chance.“
Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You
Beyond the Quote (176/365)
What do you see when you look into the eyes of another human being? Do you see a person for what they appear to be? Do you see them for who they were? Do you see them for who they could be? It depends on the person, I suppose. When I look into the eyes of another human being, I try to see someone who, when given a chance, can become somebody. Somebody who has limitless potential inside that is only but waiting to be molded and realized. Somebody who is capable of great things. Somebody who can make a real difference in their world. I see this in almost everyone. But, not everybody sees it in themselves or others.
Read More »Iain Thomas Quote On Giving People A Chance and How Everyone Is Someone“A person who makes selfish choices or acts contrary to their conscience will never be at peace. A person who sits back while others suffer or struggle will never feel good, or feel that they are enough, no matter how much they accomplish or how impressive their reputation may be. A person who does good regularly will feel good. A person who contributes to their community will feel like they are a part of one. A person who puts their body to good use—volunteering, protecting serving, standing up for—will not need to treat it like an amusement park to get some thrills.”
Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 250)
“Whatever it is for you, our lives were meant to be spent making our contribution to the world, not merely consuming the world that others create.” ~ James Clear, Blog
“When you spend a lot of time in a hospital and you know a lot of other people with your condition you start to see patterns emerge in the way that they take care of themselves. I saw these two different extremes: There were these patients who did not give any sh*ts and just never did their treatments, were completely un-compliant, would hide under their covers and not talk to any of the doctors, and were pretty much just giving a giant, “F U” to life — and then there were the patients who were overly compliant, that were perfect with their treatments, that were perfect with their health care, and wanted so desperately to be a good patient. And I saw both of these extremes fail. I saw people who spent every single waking hour of the day focusing on their health and trying to get better and I saw them pass away before I did. I saw them pass away without having become anything more than just a patient. I saw them pass away without having made anything in the world that they were proud of. And of course the other end didn’t work either because they happened to die as well. So I was trying to find some kind of balance. If I only lived to get better, if I only lived for fixing myself, for getting healthy—then what was I actually contributing to the world?” ~ Claire Wineland (20), EEM LA 2018