“The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
Book of Proverbs, 1611 · Hebrew wisdom literature, King James Version
Chapter 6
On Service to Others
“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”
Book of Proverbs, 1611 · Hebrew wisdom literature, King James Version
“As a bee when it has made the honey, so a man when he has done a good act does not call out for others to come and see.”
Marcus Aurelius, c. 180 AD · Roman emperor and Stoic, writing privately on campaign
“No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.”
Booker T. Washington, 1901 · American educator, born into slavery, in his Atlanta address
“The happiest individuals are those who do the most to make others useful and happy.”
Booker T. Washington, 1901 · American educator, recalling what he learned at Hampton
“To have daily duties which make leisure sweet when it comes, and to bear and forbear, that home may be comfortable and lovely to us all.”
Louisa May Alcott, 1868 · American novelist, in the voice of Marmee March
“He plants his trees to serve a race to come. Ask any farmer for whom he is planting, and he will answer that he received these things from his ancestors and must hand them on.”
Cicero, c. 44 BC · Roman statesman, quoting the poet Caecilius Statius in his essay on old age
“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain, is floating in mid-air, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.”
Jane Addams, 1910 · American social reformer, founder of Hull-House in Chicago
Pooling studies of people aged fifty-five and older, researchers found that those who volunteered through an organisation had substantially lower mortality risk, about a quarter lower even after adjusting for health.
Morris Okun, Ellen Yeung and Stephanie Brown, 2013 · Arizona State University, meta-analysis of volunteering and mortality
In field experiments with fundraisers and lifeguards, workers who met or read about the people their work helped raised more and gave more of themselves. Seeing the effect changed the effort.
Adam M. Grant, 2008 · organisational psychologist, three field experiments on task significance
“There is no wealth but life. That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble and happy human beings.”
John Ruskin, 1860 · English critic, arguing against the economics of his age
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