Jane Goodall Quotes

People are nicer than economists give us credit for. The economists cannot understand why people would work long and hard to clean up a community after a hurricane. … Most economists don’t have any interest in or understanding of psychology.

Altruism is innate, but it's not instinctual. Everybody's wired for it, but a switch has to be flipped.

People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights.

Civilization rests on the fact that most people do the right thing most of the time.

People who volunteer at the recycling center or soup kitchen through a church or neighborhood group can come to feel part of something 'larger.' Such a sense of belonging calls on a different part of a self than the market calls on. The market calls on our sense of self-interest. It focuses us on what we 'get.'

Mankind must be positively and constructively wary of mankind, of their fellow man, of their families, of the members of their faith community, of their fellow-citizens.

A decent society is not based on rights. It is based on duty. Our duty to one another. To all should be given opportunity; from all responsibility demanded.

It is time to break the bad habit of expecting something for nothing from our Government or from each other. Let us all take more responsibility not only for ourselves and our families but our communities and our country.

That's the difference between governments and individuals. Governments don't care, individuals do.

It is the essence of responsibility to put the public good ahead of personal gain.

I think if I have learned one thing from all of my family members, both sides of it - my mom's side, my dad's side and everyone else - it's that every one of us has a responsibility to do what we can to contribute back and make our communities and our country a better place.

Practice of true community involves responsibilities and actions that do not come naturally to us.

We, as humans, have actually developed a sense of social responsibility. We have gone beyond our basic instincts. We can and we do. This is what sets us apart from the chimps. They are extremely brutal and hostile. Your next door neighbor is to be killed unless she is a juicy young female, who hasn't yet had her first baby, in which case you want her.

The most important responsibility we have on this planet is to take care of one another.

If this day means anything, it means that you are now in the contingent of the responsible. You must be kind, yes, but you must also look beyond your own house. We're depending on you for your efforts and your vision. We are depending on your eye and your imagination to identify what wrongs exist and persist, and on your hands, your backs, your efforts, to right them.

All failures are so because they lack social interest.

A man's value to the community primarily depends on how far his feelings, thoughts, and actions are directed towards promoting the good of his fellows.

We have a responsibility not just as atheletes, but as members of society to treat people well. To do things the right way.

We all have the duty to do good.

There is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves.

I think the main thing is to find something you care about. A cause. I think it starts with others. Who do you look up to? Who do you want to help? Start in your own community.

Altruism is one of the most fundamentally social impulses, and doing things for others without expecting anything in return is core to what makes us human. This is why, from the day Facebook Platform launched in 2007, Causes has been honored to be one of the most popular applications, with over 140 million users.

I try to persuade people to act in ways that are not only in their own interest, but in the interest of society at large.

It is the duty of man to raise up man.

There's so much importance in honoring your everyday hero. It doesn't take money. It doesn't take connections. What matters is that people get involved. Whether your passion is gun control or food or whatever it may be, everybody needs to stop being so self-absorbed.