Working to improve the world is a path to a meaningful life. We never know how far the ripples of change that we set in motion will reach.

1
“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” (Edward Everett Hale)

2
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” (Howard Thurman)

3
“To be hopeful in bad times is based on the fact that human history is not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand Utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” (Howard Zinn)

4
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.” (George Bernard Shaw)

5
““The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (Frederick Buechner)

6
“Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.” (Vaclav Havel)

7
“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

8
“Either war is obsolete or men are.” (R. Buckminster Fuller)

9
“Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows. One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.” (Martin Luther King)

10
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”  (Jimi Hendrix)

11
“I do not want the peace which passeth all understanding, I want the understanding that bringeth peace.” (Helen Keller)

12
“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” (Nelson Mandela)

13
“Denounce what is wrong, and announce what is possible.” (Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman)

14
“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” (A.J. Muste)

15
“We can all do our share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and all frustrations and all disappointments.” (Abraham Heschel)

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