20 Inspirational Quotes to Make you a Better Volunteer (and Human!)

A well-phrased quote can help brighten even the most stressful of workdays. Quotes, especially ones with artistic fonts Photoshopped against a beautiful background, can serve as motivational guideposts when we lose our way or need a quick pick-me-up.

The following 20 aphorisms are especially inspirational for volunteers when we feel like our work has lost its meaning or we’re feeling overwhelmed with compassion fatigue. So cross-stitch, tweet, share or even tattoo one of these timeless quotes to inspire your staff and volunteers to keep up the good fight!

1.“Generosity without delicacy, like wit without judgment, generally gives as much pain as pleasure.” –Fanny Burney, Evelina

2.“Oh! If the good hearts had the fat purses, how much better everything would go! Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

3.“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

4.“Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.” –Aragorn, The Return of the King

5.“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” –Plato

6.“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday, and lesson the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.” –Neil deGrasse Tyson

7.“No one has ever become poor by giving.” -Anne Frank, diary of Anne Frank

8.“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” –Aesop

9.“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” –John Bunyan

10.“Be a little kinder than you have to.” –E. Lockhart, We Were Liars

11.“I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.” –Mother Teresa, A Gift for God: Prayers and Meditation

12.“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” –Theodore Roosevelt

13.“I call him religious who understands the suffering of others.” –Mahatma Gandhi

14.“Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge…is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding.” –Bill Bullard

15.“Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves.” –Horace Mann

16.“Teach us to give and not count the cost.” –Ignatius of Loyola

17.“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. –Dalai Lama

18.“The opposite of anger is not calmness. It’s empathy.” –Mehmet Oz

19.The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” –Gaylord Nelson

20.Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people. –Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart