“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.”
― H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“No settled family or community has ever called its home place an “environment.” None has ever called its feeling for its home place “biocentric” or “anthropocentric.” None has ever thought of its connection to its home place as “ecological,” deep or shallow. The concepts and insights of the ecologists are of great usefulness in our predicament, and we can hardly escape the need to speak of “ecology” and “ecosystems.” But the terms themselves are culturally sterile. They come from the juiceless, abstract intellectuality of the universities which was invented to disconnect, displace, and disembody the mind. The real names of the environment are the names of rivers and river valleys; creeks, ridges, and mountains; towns and cities; lakes, woodlands, lanes roads, creatures, and people.

And the real name of our connection to this everywhere different and differently named earth is “work.” We are connected by work even to the places where we don’t work, for all places are connected; it is clear by now that we cannot exempt one place from our ruin of another. The name of our proper connection to the earth is “good work,” for good work involves much giving of honor. It honors the source of its materials; it honors the place where it is done; it honors the art by which it is done; it honors the thing that it makes and the user of the made thing. Good work is always modestly scaled, for it cannot ignore either the nature of individual places or the differences between places, and it always involves a sort of religious humility, for not everything is known. Good work can be defined only in particularity, for it must be defined a little differently for every one of the places and every one of the workers on the earth.

The name of our present society’s connection to the earth is “bad work” – work that is only generally and crudely defined, that enacts a dependence that is ill understood, that enacts no affection and gives no honor. Every one of us is to some extent guilty of this bad work. This guilt does not mean that we must indulge in a lot of breast-beating and confession; it means only that there is much good work to be done by every one of us and that we must begin to do it.”
― Wendell Berry

“My old man says when it's time to be counted, the important thing is to be man enough to stand up.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Between Planets

“I find that the critics of voluntary service are all too often those who are prepared to accept such services when they require them but deride them with cynicism and scepticism when they see others helping and being helped.”
― Eva Hart

“The opportunity to serve is everywhere if the heart is seeking and there is a willingness to take action.”
― Henry Hon, One: Unfolding God’s Eternal Purpose from House to House

“Selfless service is the pathway to true greatness.”
― Martin Uzochukwu Ugwu

“I begin to see how a post-money society would work in practice. When we are in paid employment, we are exchanging our labour in return for money in order to live within a money-based society, nothing more. Both sides in the labour-salary exchange are motivated by self-interest. But when we volunteer our labour for a cause, for a better world, we are not so much exchanging our labour as investing it directly into the world we want to see. Notes for Utopia: there will be no money when we get there.”
― Cliff James, Life As A Kite

“Don't get me wrong; devoting time outside of work to serving others is a great idea. Recent research suggests that people who do so — by volunteering in their communities, for example — have better health and wellbeing, and perform better at work. Having a clear purpose beyond paid work also has a buffering effect. If your entire identity is wound up in a job that could go away, your wellbeing is in constant jeopardy.”
― Tom Rath, Life's Great Question: Discover How You Contribute To The World

“Our best intentions are the most impactful when they are formed by the actual needs and desires of our community.”
― David Docusen, Neighborliness: Finding the Beauty of God Across Dividing Lines

“Not everything must be done in exchange for money. Some of the greatest moments in our lives are generated from experiences with no monetary value.”
― Torron-Lee Dewar

“You will never know what you really have until you start giving.”
― Dr. Jacinta Mpalyenkana, PhD, MBA

“Those that give hope will never despair.”
― Martin Uzochukwu Ugwu

“He was back once more to the starting point: he must find money. Arms traffickers didn’t give their wares for nothing and 'volunteers' did not join up on the strength of promissory notes.”
― Romain Gary, The Roots of Heaven

“The University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic accepted native wild animals in need of care due to illness and injury, or because they'd been orphaned. The goal was to rehabilitate them and release them back into the wild. Veterinary students made up the bulk of the volunteers, but there were a few- like me- whose undying love for animals, and not our future vocations, had led us to the clinic behind the veterinary medicine building on the south side of campus. I had a tendency to gravitate toward the smaller animals, but I also felt a special affinity for the birds. They were majestic creatures, and there was nothing more satisfying than releasing one and watching it soar off high in the sky.”
― Tracey Garvis Graves, The Girl He Used to Know

“I belin to see how a post-money society would work in practice. When we are in paid employment, we are exchanging our labour in return for money in order to live within a money-based society, nothing more. Both sides in the labour-salary exchange are motivated by self-interest. But when we volunteer our labour for a cause, for a better world, we are not so much exchanging our labour as investing it directly into the world we want to see. Notes for Utopia: there will be no money when we get there.”
― Cliff James, Life As A Kite

“The world needs to coax more such folks into public positions. But if they don't coax us, we had better volunteer now and then.”
― Elaine N. Aron, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You

“I would eventually realize that doing God's work doesn't require involvement in some earth-changing event. Sometimes just taking the time to listen to someone and letting him or her know you care is just as important.”
― Jerry Haney, I Didn't Cry Today: Addiction. Death. A Visit to Heaven. A Father's True Story

“Another thing that was so amazing to me was how unbelievably upbeat most of them were. To hear some of them rejoicing over getting a better pair of shoes or a modest tent to find shelter in was truly humbling. You would have thought they had just won the lottery. Shame on me for whining about things I don't have. One man who liked to talk about Christ told me how the night before he had lulled himself to sleep by lying inside his tent and counting his blessings. How many of us could do that?”
― Jerry Haney

“Strive to serve.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita

“A lack of patience causes many well-meaning people not to take the proper amount of time to listen, learn and holistically work with longtime residents.”
― David Docusen, Neighborliness: Finding the Beauty of God Across Dividing Lines

“Cooking and cleaning in your 'own' home feels like a burden . Doing the same in a spiritual organization gives you joy. That is the curse of ownership. As soon as you think that you own something, it becomes a burden.”
― Shunya

“If you're not volunteering your time, talents or resources to a cause to help in some way you have decided that you have nothing to give and that is false.”
― Germany Kent

“The services render by different souls shows the diversity of labour for the development of society.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita

“Helping others, or volunteering, provides such benefits as reducing distress and improving physical and mental health. Perceptions related to giving, such as a sense of meaning, purpose, belonging and mattering, may also increase happiness and decrease depression.”
― Aisha Utz, Psychology from the Islamic Perspective

“Tough operations might require unique strategies to be deployed such as volunteerism, reward system and honorable recognition”
― Dr. Lucas D. Shallua

“The fortune of life is to be useful to oneself as well as his or her fellow-creatures.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita

“When choosing committees, look for opportunities that will help you level up as opposed to volunteering for the sake of volunteering. Ultimately, what I am involved in today either fulfills me personally, or it fulfills a strategic objective. Try everything once and then whittle down your list by evaluating afterwards with these questions:

- Did I meet the people I wanted to meet?
- Did it help me meet people who have influence?
- Will it bring me visibility?
- Will it get me decision-making power or a seat at a table I wouldn't normally get a seat at?
- Is it worth attending again?

It wasn't long after I started prioritizing networking that people began to notice that i was looped in. When people came to me with their work issues, I either had the answers to their questions, or I knew exactly where to send them. Since I had networked across all levels within my company, I was in a unique position to be helpful up and down the org chart.”
― Lauren Hasson, The DevelopHer Playbook: 5 Simple Steps to Get Ahead, Stand Out, Build Your Value, and Advocate for Yourself as a Woman in Tech

“Volunteering is the scenic route to success.”
― Cinzi Lavin, Making Bread Out of Straw: How to Succeed with Almost Nothing by Helping Others, Thinking Creatively, and Ignoring Obstacles

“The most powerful gift of volunteering is the knowledge that you are needed, and that we all need each other.”
― Cinzi Lavin, Making Bread Out of Straw: How to Succeed with Almost Nothing by Helping Others, Thinking Creatively, and Ignoring Obstacles

“Selflessness means lighting up the world of another with your last fire.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, These Words Pour Like Rain