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Giving Back Quotes

    “There is an inextricable link between one’s personal happiness and kindness, compassion, and caring for others.  And this is a two-way-street: increased happiness leads to greater compassion, and increased compassion leads to greater happiness.  In other words, studies have found not only that happier people tend to be more caring and more willing to reach out and help others, but that by deliberately cultivating greater kindness and compassion, a person will experience increased happiness.” ~ Howard Cutler, The Art of Happiness

      “Be a fountain, not a drain.” ~ Rex Hudler

        “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” ~ Jack Kornfield

          “[My wife] likes to think of money as a big magnifying glass.  If you are a good person before you had money… then money makes you an even better person.  If you were a charitable person before you had money… then money makes you even more charitable.  But if you were an asshole before you had money… well then, money makes you an even bigger asshole.” ~ Jesse Itzler, Living with a SEAL

            “The main way you generate bodily tension is by turning your attention back on yourself in self-concern, curling into yourself so tightly you feel all knotted up.  Therefore, the main cure is to give yourself to others.  Whenever you notice that you are mulling over your own problems, knotting energy into your body as tension, take that energy and create a gift for others.  It could be as simple as doing the dishes in the sink, or as complex as building a business that will benefit others.  Convert into service the energy that is knotting up the front of your body.  Your tension is only the energy of a gift that has become backed up, unexpressed, in your body.” ~ David Deida, The Way of the Superior Man

              “First be full of love, then the sharing happens.  And then the great surprise… that as you give, you start receiving from unknown sources, from unknown corners, from unknown people, from trees, from rivers, from mountains.  From all nooks and corners of existence love starts showering on you.  The more you give, the more you get.  Life becomes a sheer dance of love.” ~ Osho, Love, Freedom, Alonenss: The Koan of Relationships

                “It was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome. Its appeal is to the material part, and if allowed its way, it will in time disturb one’s spiritual balance. Therefore, children must early learn the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving.” ~ Ohiyesa, American Indian

                  “He who devotes himself to service with a clear conscience, will day by day grasp the necessity for it in greater measure, and will continually grow richer in faith… If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make not only for our own happiness but that of the world at large.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi