Alan Paton Quotes

The peoples of the Andes believe in the concept of 'living well' instead of wanting to 'live better' by consuming more, regardless of the cost to our neighbors and our environment.

Growing up there was always a sense of 'We have so many gifts and we have to use that for the betterment of the planet.'

America's not just [about] looking out for yourself, it's not just about greed, it's not just about trying to climb to the very top and keep everybody else down. ... Hard work, that's a value. Looking out for one another, that's a value. The idea that we're all in it together and [that] I'm my brother's keeper and [my] sister's keeper, that's a value.

People can only live fully by helping others to live. When you give life to friends you truly live. Cultures can only realize their further richness by honoring other traditions. And only by respecting natural life can humanity continue to exist.

Equip yourself for life, not solely for your own benefit, but for the benefit of the whole community

We do a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive. We want to leave the world better than we found it.

It must be shown that self-seeking is out of fashion, and that the world is moving on to a larger conception of living.

Love God. Love people. And do stuff. That's my punch list everyday.

To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people's trash.

We, who have so much, must do more to help those in need. And most of all, we must live simply, so that others may simply live.

It seemed that the good people were always cleaning up the messes.

In my lifetime, I want to see humanity start being conscious of our waste, the things we buy, and how we can reuse and recycle things. I want people to live harmoniously with our planet. I hope everybody wakes up and appreciates life.

Helping people in need is a good and essential part of my life, a kind of destiny.

How can you be of service to something other than your own ego and bank account, in a business that's inherently narcissistic?

An individual has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow horizons of his particular individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. And this is one of the big problems of life, that so many people never quite get to the point of rising above self. And so they end up the tragic victims of self-centeredness. They end up the victims of distorted and disrupted personality.

Throughout the 1980s, we did hear too much about individual gain and the ethos of selfishness and greed. We did not hear enough about how to be a good member of a community, to define the common good and to repair the social contract. And we also found that while prosperity does not trickle down from the most powerful to the rest of us, all too often indifference and even intolerance do.

There are many people who have worked just because they love the community in which they are in, without expecting any financial consideration.

Many an individual has turned from the mean, personal, acquisitive point of view to one that sees society as a whole and works for its benefit. If there has been such a change in one person, there can be the same change in many.

Don't worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.

No matter what your politics is, we ought to be thanking people for volunteering.

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.

I'm also very passionate about charity because it helps people who don't have as loud of a voice as I do.

We should learn ... to do our best for the sake of our communities and for the sake of those for whom we pave the way.

I have nothing to say for myself, only that I have always tried to make this earth a little bit better