Union gives strength.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men-above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received. My peace of mind is often troubled by the depressing sense that I have borrowed too heavily from the work of other men.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Three helping one another bear the burden of six.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
The moral duty to be expected in different ages is not a unity of standard, or of acts, but a unity of tendency. At one time the benevolent affections embrace merely the family, soon the circle expanding includes first a class, then a nation, then a coalition of nations, then all humanity and finally, its influence is felt in the dealings of man with the animal world.
—Unknown
If we would just support each other—that’s ninety percent of the problem.
—Howard Gardner (b.1943) American Cognitive Psychologist
As to diseases, make a habit of two things – to help, or at least, to do no harm.
—Hippocrates (460–370 BCE) Ancient Greek Physician
God helps them that help themselves.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
No employer today is independent of those about him. He cannot succeed alone, no matter how great his ability or capital. Business today is more than ever a question of cooperation.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
People seldom refuse help, if one offers it in the right way.
—A. C. Benson (1862–1925) English Essayist, Poet, Author
It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
If you want to be incrementally better: Be competitive. If you want to be exponentially better: Be cooperative.
—Unknown
People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.
—Vince Lombardi, Jr. (1913–70) American Football Player, Coach
Take the trouble to stop and think of the other person’s feelings, his viewpoints, his desires and needs. Think more of what the other fellow wants, and how he must feel.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
Only strength can cooperate. Weakness can only beg.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
Either men will learn to live like brothers, or they will die like beasts.
—Max Lerner (1902–92) Russian-born American Journalist
We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Light is the task where many share the toil.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
No man has come to true greatness who has not felt in some degree that his life belongs to his race, and that what God gives him He gives him for mankind.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
It is an eternal obligation toward the human being not to let him suffer from hunger when one has a chance of coming to his assistance.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated…As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness….No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
—John Donne (1572–1631) English Poet, Cleric
It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.
—Irish Proverb
Whoever is in the distress can call me. I will come running wherever they are.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
Share our similarities, celebrate our differences.
—M. Scott Peck (1936–2005) American Psychiatrist, Author
We are for aiding our allies by sharing some of our material blessings with those nations which share in our fundamental beliefs, but we are against doling out money government to government, creating bureaucracy, if not socialism, all over the world. We set out to help 19 countries. We are helping 107 We spent $146 billion. With that money, we bought a 2-million-dollar yacht for Haile Selassie. We bought dress suits for Greek undertakers, extra wives for Kenya government officials. We bought a thousand TV sets for a place where they have no electricity.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Something that has always puzzled me all my life is why, when I am in special need of help, the good deed is usually done by somebody on whom I have no claim.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
In spite of my great admiration for individual splendid talents I do not accept the star system. Collective creative effort is the root of our kind of art. That requires ensemble acting and whoever mars that ensemble is committing a crime not only against his comrades but also against the very art of which he is the servant.
—Constantin Stanislavski (1863–1938) Russian Actor, Theater Personality
The proverb warns; “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself.
—Thomas Szasz (1920–2012) Hungarian-American Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst
A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.
—Anonymous
Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit; and it is but common prudence to see our way out before we venture in.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
He stands erect by bending over the fallen. He rises by lifting others.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
The needs of a human being are sacred. Their satisfaction cannot be subordinated either to reasons of state, or to any consideration of money, nationality, race, or color, or to the moral or other value attributed to the human being in question, or to any consideration whatsoever.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on it’s vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed, for our safety, to it’s security and peace. Preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work and the love we give our fragile craft.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required — not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
I’ve always thought that people need to feel good about themselves and I see my role as offering support to them, to provide some light along the way.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Doing things for others always pays dividends…
—Claude M. Bristol (1891–1951) American Journalist, Self-Help Author
The race of mankind would perish, did they cease to aid each other. From the time that the mother binds the child’s head till the moment that some kind assistant wipes the death-damp from the brow of the dying, we cannot exist without mutual help. All, therefore, that need aid have a right to ask it from their fellow-mortals; no one who holds the power of granting can refuse it without guilt.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals.
—Fred Allen (1894–1956) American Humorist, Radio Personality
Always try to do something for the other fellow and you will be agreeably surprised how things come your way—how many pleasing things are done for you.
—Claude M. Bristol (1891–1951) American Journalist, Self-Help Author
He that does good to another, does good also to himself, not only in the consequences, but in the very act; for the consciousness of well doing is, in itself, ample reward.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Everything in the world we want to do or get done, we must do with and through people.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
If your imagination leads you to understand how quickly people grant your requests when those requests appeal to their self-interest, you can have practically anything you go after.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
How beautifully is it ordered, that as many thousands work for one, so must every individual bring his labor to make the whole.—The highest is not to despise the lowest, nor the lowest to envy the highest; each must live in all and by all.—So God has ordered, that men, being in need of each other, should learn to love each other, and to bear each other’s burdens.
—George Augustus Henry Sala (1828–95) British Journalist
We are not put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.
—Unknown
No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aarons beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
We all end up in a single bed sooner or later.
—Common Proverb
We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman