Katherine Boo Quotes

A good thing to remember is somebody's got it a lot worse than we do.

Success to me is being a good person, treating people well.

He [Ryan White] had a kind of angelic aura about him. And his family, too, it's like, they are going through all this suffering, and I'm living this "Life of Riley" and I'm complaining about everything, and they are living this horrific life and complaining about nothing.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'

Suffering! We owe to it all that is good in us, all that gives value to life; we owe to it pity, we owe to it courage, we owe to it all the virtues.

Good character consists of recognizing the selfishness that inheres in each of us and trying to balance it against the altruism to which we should all aspire. It is a difficult balance to strike, but no definition of goodness can be complete without it.

I must thank my good friend Nigel Brennan. His strength of character in the midst of extreme hardship inspired me during the darkest days. Despite our separation, he always managed to find small ways to remind me that there are gentlemen in the world, even when I was surrounded by just the opposite.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.

It's also selfish because it makes you feel good when you help others. I've been helped by acts of kindness from strangers. That's why we're here, after all, to help others.

Before my accident I was a little too... selfish and self-absorbed and for me, to now be at the place where I can kinda give back and inspire people. I'm blessed. I'm really blessed.

The feeling of being accepted and acknowledgement and recognition and fame - I'm vain like everybody else. The feeling of achievement that I've helped the poor or somebody in need far outweighs the money.

I've certainly had a lot of experiences in my life where I was much too self-centered.

Who among us has the strength to oppose petty egoism, those petty good feelings, pity and remorse?

Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.

Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly, even if they roll a few stones upon it.

Myself acquainted with misfortune, I learn to help the unfortunate.

We have to humble ourselves and the way you do that is by serving other people.

Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.

I want to be a good human being.

The countries with the greatest problems have the kindest people.

I wish for a world where success is measured not by what we take nor by what we get. Just by what we give. And who we become.

People who achieve the highest levels of success - whether in business or in raising families or simply in discovering fulfillment and satisfaction and purpose in life - are those who place their focus on other people rather than themselves.

I don't think it really serves to make the world a better place, when you're only concerned about yourself.

There's a formula Chris and I used all the time. When you least feel like it, do something for someone else. You forget about your own situation. It gives you a purpose, as opposed being sorrowful and lonely. It makes me feel better when things are too hard for me.