Shane Claiborne Quotes

You're never too young or too old to be a mentor.

I love spending time with young people. I love to hear about what they think. It keeps me young. And they need role models.

The fun thing about getting older is finding younger people to mentor.

It's healthy to have older friends. You go, 'Look, I'm younger than them!' That's always the nice thing, if you can be the youngest one in the room at times. Like if you're always the oldest one in the room, you'll start to feel like the oldest person in the world. So get older friends, because they're cool. Get cool older friends.

It's nice for me to be in touch with a younger generation.

Obviously, we live in a society where ageing is feared. But, to me, the alternative to getting old isn't that great. I've got friends much older than me and much younger, and I love that. It means you get to teach as well as learn.

It's good to have some older friends: they have a lot more experience than us young ones.

It's always nice to share your energy with young people, the people who might not have any skills but are simply willing to be a part of it.

I always say, when I work with younger actresses, "I'm here." Reese says it, too: "We've lived it. We know things. So if there's anything you want to know." I'm careful not to be the preacher, like, "Now, listen to me!" But I do want to be available. Even in terms of things like finances - where do you learn that, if you don't have people you can ask, "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Age is rarely a limitation to being a mentor.

I have a thing about working with young people. I adore them.

I always like working with young people, it keeps you young.

We just need more father figures and more older people to come and school these youth, because there will be a lost generation. And that's what a gang's supposed to be, protecting family and doing what you've got to do for your loved ones.

I was mentored in high school through the National Hispanic Institute and I did the same for girls when I got older.

I feel like we can learn from each other by us, being the young generation, giving knowledge to the older guys.

It feels great to know that someone from the younger generation is following me.

I've been around older guys most of my life; I feel like that's definitely an advantage for me.

I used to choose friends based on similarity in age and life stage, but I've learned that those were the wrong criteria. Trying to live life exclusively alongside others our own age is like attempting to climb Mt. Everest without a Sherpa. It's a little dangerous.

I try to be the best old head I can be.

I was young myself and reliant on older players to make room for me.

In my generation, we learned how to be leaders by being exposed to and involved with adults who empowered us and gave us a sense that we could choose things. We've let down the generations coming behind us and we are trying to re- establish that connection.

I realized I was good at developing young people. Eventually I started to believe in young people. I think when you give a young person an opportunity, he always believes who gave him his first chance. You create a loyalty that lasts a lifetime.

To be a mentor you need to understand what's going on in a young person's life and you just want to have an internal dialogue that says, 'How can I help? Because I really care.'

No matter what your age and no matter where you come from, everyone can change the world in some way, whether it's being a mentor to someone younger than you or someone that doesn't have as much experience as you. If you're passionate enough, you can do whatever you want and definitely change the world.

I've always been a youth advocate. I mean, that's been my brand, reaching out to young people. All my life, when I've dealt with youth I'd be thinking back to my own experience. Now I look at my kids and think forward.