Altruism is the principle and moral practice of concern for happiness of other human beings or animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual. Inspirational altruism quotes will get you through anything when the going gets tough and help you succeed in every aspect of life.
If you’re searching for inspiring kindness quotes and famous compassion quotes that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of popular help quotes, powerful equality quotes and famous good deeds quotes.
Most Famous Altruism Quotes
Where love, compassion, altruism, and justice have failed, genetic manipulation will not succeed. Gina Maranto
Don’t sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there’s nothing else you can give and nobody will care for you. Karl Lagerfeld
When we see social relationships controlled everywhere by the principles which Jesus illustrated in life trust, love, mercy, and altruism then we shall know that the kingdom of God is here. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Help someone, you earn a friend. Help someone too much, you make an enemy. Erol Ozan
Altruism itself depends on a recognition of the reality of other persons, and on the equivalent capacity to regard oneself as merely one individual among many. Thomas Nagel
Just because I do not accept the teachings of the devotaries does not mean I’ve discarded a belief in right and wrong. But the Almighty determines what is right! Must someone, some unseen thing, declare what is right for it to be right? I believe that my own morality which answers only to my heart is more sure and true than the morality of those who do right only because they fear retribution. Brandon Sanderson
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. Nelson Henderson
Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others. Brian Tracy
What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. Albert Pike
It is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connected with you. Charlotte Brontë
The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. Mitch Albom
Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs, something that no other species has ever aspired to do. Richard Dawkins
What material success does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that is being able to make a difference, not only in your own life, but in other people’s lives. Oprah Winfrey
Before you call yourself a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or any other theology, learn to be human first. Shannon L. Alder
As soon as your object of concern changes from yourself to someone else, your heart is released from the bondage of the self-cherishing thought. Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
Everybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes. P.J. O’Rourke
Selflessness. It should be the basis of every relationship. Colleen Hoover
If you were born with the ability to change someone’s perspective or emotions, never waste that gift. It is one of the most powerful gifts God can give the ability to influence. Shannon L. Alder
It’s that wonderful old fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Audrey Hepburn
My dear, I used to think I was serving humanity and I pleasured in the thought. Then I discovered that humanity does not want to be served; on the contrary it resents any attempt to serve it. So now I do what pleases myself. Robert A. Heinlein
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others? Martin Luther King Jr.
True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one’s self; but the point is not only to get out you must stay out; and to stay out you must have some absorbing errand. Henry James
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Martin Luther King, Jr.
When you are able to shift your inner awareness to how you can serve others, and when you make this the central focus of your life, you will then be in a position to know true miracles in your progress toward prosperity. Wayne W. Dyer
If you want altruism, you must control hate and you must practice patience. The Dalai Lama
We have so far to go to realize our human potential for compassion, altruism, and love. Jane Goodall
The root of happiness is altruism the wish to be of service to others. Dalai Lama
I said to my children, I’m going to work and do everything that I can do to see that you get a good education. I don’t ever want you to forget that there are millions of God’s children who will not and cannot get a good education, and I don’t want you feeling that you are better than they are. For you will never be what you ought to be until they are what they ought to be. Martin Luther King Jr.
Through universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others the wish to help them actively overcome their problems. Dalai Lama
Every game is winnable if you change your mind about what the prize should be and your perspective about the players at the table. Shannon L. Alder
There is a growing movement called effective altruism. It’s important because it combines both the heart and the head. Peter Singer
Wars are never fought for altruistic reasons. Arundhati Roy
Altruism is a fog created by sly minds seeking to benefit from the energy and skill of others. Ilona Andrews
In the unceasing ebb and flow of justice and oppression we must all dig channels as best we may, that at the propitious moment somewhat of the swelling tide may be conducted to the barren places of life. Jane Addams
A cigar, said the altruist, a cigar, my good man, I cannot give you. But any time you need a light, just come around; mine is always lit. Karl Kraus
In honor of Oprah Winfrey Even greater than the ability to inspire others with hope is the power to motivate them to give as much to the lives of others as they would give to their own; and to empower them to confront the worst in themselves in order to discover and claim the best in themselves. Aberjhani
Most men have always wanted as much as they could get; and possession has always blunted the fine edge of their altruism. Katharine Fullerton Gerould
People do more for their fellows than return favors and punish cheaters. They often perform generous acts without the slightest hope for payback ranging from leaving a tip in a restaurant they will never visit again to throwing themselves on a live grenade to save their brothers in arms. Robert Trivers together with the economists Robert Frank and Jack Hirshleifer has pointed out that pure magnanimity can evolve in an environment of people seeking to discriminate fair weather friends from loyal allies. Signs of heartfelt loyalty and generosity serve as guarantors of one s promises reducing a partner s worry that you will default on them. The best way to convince a skeptic that you are trustworthy and generous is to be trustworthy and generous. Steven Pinker
Altruism is masked self interest. Greg Bear
You know, Emily was a selfish old woman in her way. She was very generous, but she always wanted a return. She never let people forget what she had done for them and, that way she missed love. Agatha Christie
Charity should be spontaneous. Calculated altruism is an affront. Edward Abbey
I thought how you can never tell just by looking at them what they were thinking or what was happening In their lives. Even when you got daft people or drunk people on buses, people that went on stupid and shouted rubbish or tried to tell you all about themselves, you could never really tell about them either. I knew if somebody looked at me, they’d know nothing about me, either. David Almond
The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me? But the good Samaritan reversed the question If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him? Martin Luther King Jr.
The most altruistic and sustainable philosophies fail before the brute brain stem imperative of self interest. Peter Watts
Capitalism and altruism are incompatible; they are philosophical opposites; they cannot co exist in the same man or in the same society. Ayn Rand
That liberty is pure which is to go to all, and not to the few or the rich alone. Thomas Jefferson
The most popular form of altruism is giving to others the advice you cannot use yourself. Evan Esar
It is pleasure that lurks in the practice of every one of your virtues. Man performs actions because they are good for him, and when they are good for other people as well they are thought virtuous if he finds pleasure in helping others he is benevolent; if he finds pleasure in working for society he is public-spirited; but it is for your private pleasure that you give twopence to a beggar as much as it is for my private pleasure that I drink another whiskey and soda. I, less of a humbug than you, neither applaud myself for my pleasure nor demand your admiration. W. Somerset Maugham
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them. Dalai Lama
The good which every man, who follows after virtue, desires for himself he will also desire for other men. Baruch Spinoza
Loving others is the greatest gift we can give ourselves. Altruism that rewards one’s self. Allan Lokos
Perhaps the most legitimately dispiriting thing about reciprocal altruism is that it is a misnomer. Whereas with kin selection the goal of our genes is to actually help another organism, with reciprocal altruism the goal is that the organism be left under the impression that we’ve helped; the impression alone is enough to bring the reciprocation. Robert Wright
We have so far to go to realize our human potential for compassion, altruism, and love. Jane Goodall
The positive emotions that arise in unpromising circumstances demonstrate that social ties and meaningful work are deeply desired, readily improvised, and intensely rewarding. The very structure of our economy and society prevent these goals from being achieved. Rebecca Solnit
Wikipedia flourished partly because it was a shrine to altruism. Nicholson Baker
We deny the fact that people get into or remain in our lives mainly for selfish reasons mainly for a selfish reason, namely, to protect our cherished belief that we are special. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others. Brian Tracy
Think about the impact of what you do. Not everyone is going to become Mother Teresa or Albert Schweitzer. In business you could become an Andrew Carnegie or in the arts a Bono; there are many ways to help people and change the world. Pretty much every product and service made by a business excels when helping to solve a felt need. Cliff Beach
Altruism is innate, but it’s not instinctual. David Rakoff
