John W. Gardner Quotes

I always go back to the fact that one man can make a difference. No matter what the issue, we always have the power to change it.

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.

I can't change the past, but one person can change the future - anything can happen.

Often times we feel like either we can't make a world of difference, or we feel that it's not going to change anything anyway. The truth is you can change someone's day, you can change someone's life, but you have to show up and do what you got to do to actually see any fruit coming from it.

Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.

You can have an impact anywhere you are.

I’m not a seat warmer. I want to get in there and make a difference.

One man can make a difference and every man should try.

I don't like people being negative, whining, or moaning. If you're in a situation you're not in control of, just change.

You don't have to be one of those people that accepts things as they are. Every day, take responsibility for changing them right where you are.

We are not powerless. We have tremendous potential for good or ill. How we choose to use that power is up to us; but first we must choose to use it. We're told every day, You can't change the world. But the world is changing every day. Only question is who's doing it? You or somebody else?

There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.

Things don't turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.

Everyone has power. But it doesn't help if you don't use it.

My parents always used to tell us not to complain about things but do something about them, so 'Can't is not an option' was almost a way of life.

If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.

If not me, who? And if not now, when?

I never thought we had a chance of impacting anything. I am just starting to realize that we can change things - not just VICE, but all of us. In fact, we have to.

Instead of focusing on that circumstances that you cannot change - focus strongly and powerfully on the circumstances that you can.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

What I'm asking for is hard. It's easier to be cynical; to accept that change isn't possible, and politics is hopeless, and to believe that our voices and actions don't matter. But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future.

There was so much that you could do, instead of looking for things that you couldn't do.

The thing that always strikes me is how much power one person has. Everybody has so much power to help and to change if they just exercise it and get after it.

Being an activist is about getting things done. It's not about standing around shaking your fist in anger.

If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree.