These quotes had a very large impact on my life when I was still in high school. My father has always been involved with the Rotary Club International because he believes that helping others in need is something everyone should do. We do our best, we do what we can. Growing up, we didn’t have much but my parents never wanted us to feel like we were poor. I always felt like I was spoiled or ruined. Poverty mentality to abundance mentality. I think it’s a matter of finding the right balance in between.
Here are the introductory quotes the Kielburger brothers inserted before some of the chapters. That’s what got to me the most.
Chapter 1
“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Chapter 2
“I never knew how poor I was until I had a little money”
– A banker
Chapter 3
“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist.Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.Then they came for me—and by then there was no one left to speak out for me.”
– German anti-Nazi activist Pastor Martin Niemöller
Chapter 4
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Chapter 5
The following is a list of world religions and their interpretations of this Ethic of Reciprocity:
- Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: do not to others what would cause you pain if done to you.” (Mahabaratha 5:1517)
- Taoism: “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” (T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien, 213-218)
- Native spirituality: “We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive.” (Chief Dan George)
- Buddhism: “Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” (Udana-Varga 5.18)
- Islam: “Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.” (The Prophet Muhammad Hadith)
- Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary.” (Hillel Talmud, Shabbat 31a)
- Christianity: “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” (Jesus, Matthew 7:12)
- Sikhism: “I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.” (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 1299)
- Baha’i Faith: “Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.” (Mahariva, Sutravitanga)
- Unitarianism: “We affirm and promote respect for the interdependence of all existence of which we are a part.” (Unitarian principle)
- Zoroastrianism: “Do not unto other what is injurious to yourself.” (Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29)
Chapter 6
“In hell, people are given very long chopsticks, longer than their arms, with which to eat. As they pick up food with the chopsticks, turning toward their mouths, the food remains beyond reach. And although there is an abundance of food, everyone is starving. In heaven, on the other hand, people have the same long chopsticks, but everyone is full and content. The difference between hell and heaven is that in heaven, people don’t try to feed themselves with the long chopsticks; they feed each other.”
– Japanese fable
Chapter 7
“The purpose of life is life of purpose”
– Robert Byrne
Me to We: Turning Self-Help On Its Head, by Craig & Marc Kielburger
natural changes 