Quotes | Page 3 | Energize: Volunteer Management Resources for Directors of Volunteers

We post quotables by newest submission first.

Some get and forget. Some give and forgive.

--Marquis on a street corner Submitted by Fr. Bryan Bayda, The Welcome Home, Manitoba

Help one another; there's no time like the present and no present like the time.

--James Durst, poet/songwriter/troubadour Submitted by Sarah H. Elliston, Sr Associate, Volunteer Resource Center , Cincinnati, OH, USA

Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.

--Sally Koch Submitted by Terry Mack, Manger of Volunteer Resources, The Support Network, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

If every American donated five hours a week, it would equal the labor of twenty million full-time volunteers.

--Whoopi Goldberg Submitted by Ann Rubin, Manager of Volunteer Services, Hospice of Michigan

Each one of us should lead a life stirring enough to start a movement.

--Max Lucado, in On the Anvil Submitted by Anonymous

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

--Aesop Submitted by Judy P. King, Director of Volunteer Services, Georgia

There is only one thing worse than training your volunteers and having them leave - and that's not training them, and having them stay.

--Unknown Submitted by Eileen Macmillan, American Friends of the University of Edinburgh, CA

There are two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we receive, and the larger kind we feel for what we give.

--Edward Arlington Robinson Submitted by Katherine Morton, Volunteer Program Coordinator, AIDS Calgary Awareness Association, Calgary, AB Canada

Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received - only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.

--St. Francis of Assisi Submitted by Claire Rochon, Manager, Fund Development, Street Kids International, Canada

Unless your department has a budget infinitely greater than most, you will not get rich being a volunteer director/coordinator, but your life will be indescribably enriched by the people you meet and work with. A wise lady once told me that when you find your ideal job, you will do it for less than they pay you and when you find your calling you will do it for free. This is my ideal job. I hope you find yours.

--Martin Tichenor, Volunteer Director for a medium security prison in Missouri, written to a newly "appointed" volunteer coordinator Submitted by Linda Lowe, Volunteer Coordinator, City of Thornton, Thornton, CO, USA

How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world

--Anne Frank Submitted by Sue Staggs, State Director, Tomorrows Leaders Today, Texas

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

--Gandhi Submitted by Devi Singh, India, AP (Hyderabad)

I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered people have torn down, other-centered people can build up.

--Martin Luther King Submitted by John Richards, Aquinas College, Perth, Australia

I have an almost complete disregard of precedent, and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past.

--Clara Barton Submitted by John Richards, Aquinas College, Perth, Australia

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

--Emerson Submitted by Linda Steed, Volunteer Coordinator, Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, Shawnee Alliance for Seniors

It's good to be blessed. It's better to be a blessing.

--Unknown Submitted by Kathy Carter, Volunteer Coordinator of Foster Care Citizen Review of Palm Beach County

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if you are alive, it isn't.

--Richard Bach Submitted by Mike Corbin, Membership Chair, Metropolitan Detroit Volunteer Administration Network

There are only two rules to change: One is to begin; the second is to continue.

--Unknown Submitted by Sue Staggs, State Director, Tomorrows Leaders Today, Texas

There are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, 'what happened?'

--Casey Stengel Submitted by Sue Staggs, State Director, Tomorrows Leaders Today, Texas

You have to become involved to make an impact. No one is impressed with the won/loss record of the referee.

--John Holcomb Submitted by Sue Staggs, State Director, Tomorrows Leaders Today, Texas

Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it.

--Gandhi Submitted by Douglas Eggleston, Director, Emergency Services - American Red Cross, VA

As many arrows, loosed several ways, come to one mark...so many a thousand actions, once afoot, end in one purpose.

--William Shakespeare Henry V, Act I, Sc.2 Submitted by Sue Smith, Great Works Regional Land Trust, ME

Past the beggar and the suffering walks he who asks, 'Why, oh God, do you not do something for these people?' To which God replied, 'I did do something, I made you.'

--Sufi saying Submitted by Mike Corbin, Membership Chair, Metropolitan Detroit Volunteer Administration Network

You've got to think about 'big things' while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.

--Alvin Toffler Submitted by David Ontonovich, CDHVS, National Coordinator, Volunteer Resources - Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.

--Albert Einstein Submitted by Jill C. Howland

You can't leave footprints in the sands of time while sitting down.

--Nelson Rockefeller Submitted by Mary St. John, Grants Admin., Pets & People Humane Society, Inc., Oklahoma USA

Be the change that you wish to see in the world

--Gandhi Submitted by Brian Cugelman, IYV Webmaster, UNV , Germany

If your heart is full, it shouldn't matter if your pockets are empty.

--Karen Dawson, Volunteer at Clay Elementary School Clay, WV Submitted by Beth Anderson, AmeriCorps*VISTA, West Virginia

The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other people.

--Aristotle Submitted by Marilyn Gitsidis, Program Assistant, Seniors Support Services, Hellenic Home for the Aged, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.

--Knights of Pythogoras Submitted by Tara Huxley, Camp Director Boys and Girls Club Community Services of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.

--Helen Keller Submitted by Raven Alexander, Student Director, Florida Atlantic University Volunteer Center, Florida

To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.

--Mother Teresa Submitted by Mike Corbin, Membership Chair, Metropolitan Detroit Volunteer Administration Network

Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression.

--Dodie Smith Submitted by Mike Corbin, Membership Chair, Metropolitan Detroit Volunteer Administration Network

You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.

--Henry Ford Submitted by Mike Corbin, Membership Chair, Metropolitan Detroit Volunteer Administration Network

Don't wait for the last judgement - it takes place every day.

--Albert Camus Submitted by Mike Corbin, Membership Chair, Metropolitan Detroit Volunteer Administration Network

Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers.

--Mignon McLaughlin Submitted by Mike Corbin, Membership Chair, Metropolitan Detroit Volunteer Administration Network

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumps, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.

--Theodore Roosevelt Submitted by Robin Popik, City of Plano Volunteer Program, Texas

It is better to shoot for the moon and miss, than shoot for nothing and hit it.

--Reverend Eloise Page, Casadaga, Florida Submitted by Abby Walters, President, Flying Turtle Enterprises, Inc., Florida

Good ideas remain ideas - unless we act upon them.

--Unknown Submitted by Andy Fryar, Vice President - Volunteering Australia, Australia

Some people see things as they are and say 'why', I look at things that never were and say 'why not'.

--Robert F. Kennedy Submitted by Emma, North Carolina, USA

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

--Goethe Submitted by Dorman Stanley, CONTACT Lubbock, Texas

The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.

--Ghandi Submitted by Jackie Lonning, Co-VP of Scheduling, Student M.O.V.E. (Mobilizing Outreach Volunteer Efforts), Storm Lake, IA, USA

Destiny is not necessarily what we get out of life, but rather, what we give.

--Cary Grant Submitted by Diego Ojanio Franco, Chairman, The Cedarwork Project, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines

One of the things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.

--Dick Gregory Submitted by Linda Hutchinson, Volunteer Coordinator, Victim Services Program, Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, Kentucky USA

A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under which they will never sit.

--Greek Proverb Submitted by Judy Gross, Volunteer Coordinator, Central Blood Bank of Pittsburgh

We are all like one-winged angels. It is only when we help each other that we can fly.

--Luciano de Crescenzo Submitted by Lori Ropa, American Water Works Association, Denver, CO USA

Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action. These actions shape and mold the present into a future of which we can all be proud.

--Unknown Submitted by Helen Dyer, Parks Funding and Volunteer Coordinator, Teller County, CO Division of Parks

Life is never so busy that there is no time to serve.

--Unknown Submitted by Sharon Tan

I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.

--Albert Schweitzer Submitted by Deborah Stroup, Coordinator of Volunteers, Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

He who does nothing for others does nothing for himself

--Goethe Submitted by Susan E. Koch, Luther Crest Vol. Dir., PA.

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We post quotables by newest submissions first.

What the mind of a Man can conceive and believe, he can achieve.

Submitted by Albert Kwansa-Adjei

When you volunteer it means you give yourself without any regression, without condition, but with full devotion...

Submitted by Faith Tomaquin

If just one person believes in you
Deep enough and strong enough
Believes in you hard enough and long enough
Before you knew it, someone else would think "If he can do it, I can do it"
Making it two.
Two whole people who believe in you.
And maybe even you can believe in you too.

-- Robin and the Muppet Gang, from "It's Not Easy Being Green and Other Things to Consider" Submitted by April

In order to motivate others, you must first become a source of motivation by yourself. It simply means that if you want to get anything done through others, you must first do it yourself.

-- Hazrat Ilyas Attar Qadri Submitted by Muhammad Umer Attari

The human contribution is the essential ingredient. It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live.

-- Ethel Percy Andrus Submitted by Lindsey Garner

If you don't have any charity in your heart you have the worst kind of heart trouble.

-- Bob Hope Submitted by Judi Reed

Opportunity + Preparedness = Success. Volunteer to help others be prepared for the opportunities afforded them.

Submitted by Rick Wery

I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.

-- Lily Tomlin Submitted by Joyce Flaugher

Discover why some of the richest people in the world are not millionaires, they are volunteers.

Submitted by Jobail Brcelona

It just feels like through our little projects and visits, we are being the hands and feet of God.

-- Found in a newspaper and quoted by "Women from Faith" a United Methodist group located in Wolcott, NY. Submitted by Linda Geno

And of all glad words
of prose or rhyme,
The gladdest are
"Act while there
yet is time"

-- Franklin P. Adams Submitted by Pat Spain

[I am a co-creator], an active agent in this universe who makes things happen. If I want the world to change, I have to change it.

-- Danah Zohar Submitted by Renee Harms

One Hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of house you lived in... what kind of car you drove... what your bank balance was...but what will matter is that you were important in the life of a child.

-- Adapted from a quote by Forest Witcraft Submitted by Lynn Hamilton

It wasn't the reward that mattered or the recognition you might harvest. It was your depth of commitment, your quality of service, the product of your devotion -- these were the things that counted in life. When you gave purely, the honor in giving, and that was honor enough.

-- Captain Scott O'Grady Submitted by Kristyna

When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.

-- Chinese Proverb Submitted by Jennifer Cali

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery Submitted by Zoe Mckenzie

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth."

-- Muhammad Ali Submitted by David Edwards

When were the good and the brave ever in a majority?

-- Henry David Thoreau Submitted by Nancy McGee

A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows

-- St. Francis of Assisi Submitted by Nancy McGee

The road to success is not crowded. Because while most are looking for ways to take, the truly successful people are finding ways to give. With a giving attitude, every situation is an opportunity for success.

Submitted by Gracie Harrison

Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation's compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain love for one another.

-- Erma Brombeck Submitted by several colleagues

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

-- G. Thomas Gale Submitted by Diane Klebanow

When kids volunteer it tells others that they don't have to be perfect or famous or even grown up to make a difference.

-- Kalynn Dobos, age 7 Submitted by Sheralyn Dobos

Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful.

Submitted by Bernadette Bowie

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain!

Submitted by Vivian Greene

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and to impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.

-- Woodrow Wilson Submitted by Lori Farley

Take Care of People - People before Paper, People before Profits, People before Self and People before Projects

Submitted by Carol S. Ritter, Speaker on Non-Profit and Educational Leadership

If you see someone without a smile ....give them one of yours.

Submitted by Becky Heimbach

No one cares what you know, unless they know that you care.

Submitted by Charles D. Powell

I believe in the spirit of sharing and I believe we are what we are because of those around us.

I am what I am because of other people and they are what they are because of me being around.

One hand cannot clap on its own but it needs the other hand to make a clap.

Many hands make light work.

-- Maasai tribal sayings Submitted by Kores Ole Musuni

Who will comfort those who are alone at the end of their long journey?
Who will hold the hand of those who grieve for a loved one lost?
Who gives a smile to those who have not had companionship in a long while?
A hospice Volunteer.

Most avoid death and those who will soon meet it.
Most are afraid to reach out and make a friend they know they will lose.
Most cringe at the thought of spending time with a stranger, but not you,
A hospice volunteer.

In a patient's darkest hours, you shine a beam of light.
When a family in the time of greatest need, you are there to help.
A smile, a hand, a few hours time - such precious gifts given,
By you, a hospice volunteer.

Submitted by Beth Cantrell

If you're watching to learn....Watch!
If you're watching for a break....Speak up!
If you're watching for me to stop....Leave!
If you're here to help....Grab a shovel!

-- Original Composition Submitted by Suzanne Carroll

In doing your best serving others for free, a lot of eyebrows will raise and sneers will curve many a-faces. But in the end those incredulous to what you put up with to help, no longer matter. It's not between you and those snobs, but with whom you have given your hand to lift, and of course to God who is watching and noting it in your book.

-- Inspired by Mother Theresa Submitted by Ding Franco

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

Submitted by Catherine Aird

I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.

-- Albert Schweitzer Submitted by Susie Kapelovitz

Volunteers don't just do the work - they make it work.

Submitted by Carol Pettit

Because I know I can contribute, I therefore believe I can volunteer my contribution.

Submitted by Preston Tulay, former Peace Corps and UN Volunteer

Volunteers, a precious resource we can not afford to lose.

Submitted by Denise Penn

Volunteers are not mere workers.

A worker could be good at working, but not at planning or decision-making. Similarly, the planners and decision-makers could be good at their jobs, but not at executing them. They are specialists, whereas volunteers are all-rounder. They are good as workers, as executioners, as planners, as decision makers, as initiators, and as leaders.

Volunteers work without any personal motivation. They work to benefit others, not themselves. This makes them workers par excellence, executioners and leader par excellence. The Volunteer Dharma, therefore, is dharma par excellence.

To volunteer is to live in accordance with dharma in accordance with the values of righteousness, selflessness, and above all egolessness. To volunteer is to practice humbleness; to volunteer is to live in synchronicity with Mother Nature, loving, caring, and sharing as She does.

A Volunteer is essentially a Spiritual Practitioner, a Sadhaka, a Karma Yogi one who is striving for the ultimate union with the Supreme through selfless action. Blessed, indeed, are all of you, engaged in this holy work.

-- general Submitted by Anand Krishna

Effective volunteer leaders are the "keys" by which we unlock volunteer hands and minds.

A volunteer leader's personal passion for the group's mission is contagious and it motivates.

-- The Hampton Roads Business Journal Submitted by John M. Knibb

It is imperative to ask our self every morning "what will I give those around me today?

One cannot feel self-worth without giving.

Submitted by Hisham El Rouby

Knowing that you are helping to create a peaceful world and a safer planet is only a fraction of the pride that a volunteer should feel every time they lend an helping hand.

To volunteer; is to contribute your goodness and works to humanity unselfishly, without seeking any rewards.

Submitted by Dennis E. Adonis

VOLUNTEERISM proves that - In every straining, there is a training; in every training, there is a learning; and in every learning, there is an earning.

-- Unknown Submitted by Chris Ebenezer

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