Quotessence
Home / Topics / Selflessness Quotes

Selflessness Quotes

Browse 571 quotes about Selflessness.

Related topics

TwentiesSelflessIfsFirstsSelfYearsPeopleCharityDisinterestPhilanthropySelfishnessSacrificeThinkingHeartMenWayGivingHumansShould

Selflessness Quotes

“This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans. As a civilian I owe an unpayable debt to all our military. Going forward let’s not send our servicemen and women off to war or conflict zones unless it is overwhelmingly justifiable and on moral high ground. The men of WWII were the greatest generation, perhaps Korea the forgotten, Vietnam the trampled, Cold War unsung and Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan vets underestimated. Every generation has proved itself to be worthy to stand up to the precedent of the greatest generation. Going back to the Revolution American soldiers have been the best in the world. Let’s all take a remembrance for all veterans who served or are serving, peace time or wartime and gone or still with us. 11/11/16 May God Bless America and All Veterans.”

WarAmericaFreedomCourageSacrificeMilitaryRevolutionHonorArmyIndependenceIraqRevolutionaryServiceCombatAfghanistanVietnamCold WarSelflessnessVeteranNavyKoreaMemorialSealsMemorial DayRangersVeteransMarinesCoast GuardAirforceCoastguardPj SMarine CorpSocomSof
Author:Thomas M Smith
Create image

“It is a healthy approach not to expect persons to turn out precisely how you would have wished.”

LoveLifeChildrenDifferentCharacterKidsSchoolSuccessFaithHopeIndividualForceWishParentGrowthChangeFriendshipFreedomEducationFamilyMarriageFantasyDoubtPsychologyTeacherRelationshipTeamHumilityCollegeHealthPrideBabyPersonalityDevelopmentFriendsEvolutionHealthyEgoAchievementJudgmentHigh SchoolAdultsPressureUniversityDisappointmentLifestyleDeceptionSelfishnessAccomplishmentGradesControlUnconditional LoveBe YourselfJobPreacherFalsehoodHealthy LivingSelflessnessSpouseCareerDiscernmentTeenagersOpen MindRealistPartnerWishful ThinkingExpectationKindergartenMiddle SchoolElementary SchoolCoachPredictionFalse HopeConditional LovePrejudgment
Book:Healology
Create image

“I think sometimes we gravitate toward broken people, not ’cause we want to fix them, but ’cause we want to fix ourselves. The line between selflessness and selfishness is thin and intangible. It’s imaginary. We can’t see it. People project their problems onto other people’s problems. It happens all the time. We see ourselves in each other. We can’t help it. It’s human nature.”

HeartbreakSelfishnessSelflessnessProjection
Book:Return to Sender
Create image

“We are, or rather our natural desire to evade pain and to attain pleasure is, the primary reason we do or say every single thing we do or say.”

PhilosophyHumorPainMotivationHumanityPleasureCompassionHumourEmpathyMercyCharityPhilosopherSelfishSelfishnessMotiveSatireSympathyGenesSelflessAltruismSelflessnessUnselfishSatiristUnselfishnessTeresaMotivesNelson MandelaGenieSocial CriticismMandelaGeneMother TeresaGhandiMahatma Ghandi
Book:The Selfish Genie: A Satirical Essay on Altruism
Create image

“The pleasure or the benefit that the object of our deed derives from it is every now and then greater or even more important than the one we derive from the deed.”

PhilosophyHumorHumanityPleasureCompassionHumourEmpathyAdvantageMercyCharityPhilosopherSelfishSelfishnessSatireSympathyGenesSelflessAltruismSelflessnessUnselfishSatiristUnselfishnessTeresaBenefitNelson MandelaGenieSocial CriticismObjectMandelaGeneMother TeresaGhandiMahatma Ghandi
Book:The Selfish Genie: A Satirical Essay on Altruism
Create image

“Females and boys are the only creatures that propose others for friendship. As for the rest of us, friendship sort of just happens.”

MenPhilosophyHumorHumanityGirlFriendshipCompassionBoysHumourEmpathyFemaleMercyCharityMalesPhilosopherSelfishManSelfishnessSatireGirlsSympathyGenesSelflessAltruismSelflessnessProposalProposeFriendshipsMaleUnselfishBoySatiristUnselfishnessTeresaFemalesNelson MandelaGenieSocial CriticismMandelaGeneMother TeresaGhandiMahatma Ghandi
Book:The Selfish Genie: A Satirical Essay on Altruism
Create image

“I will push the swing for you And smile at how high that last one was And you will forget I'm even there too, Giggling in eternity the way a child does. For a few seconds, I sometimes would like the chance To swing this swing and kiss the sky But you love too much this current dance So I'll keep pushing your swing and tell myself, "Goodbye”

DesireChildhoodLongingSelfishnessYearningSelflessnessToxic Relationships
Book:Can I Tell You Something?
Create image

“...The happy Warrior... 'tis he whose law is reason; who depends upon that law as on the best of friends; whence, in a state where men are tempted still to evil for a guard against worse ill, and what in quality or act is best doth seldom on a right foundation rest, he labors good on good to fix, and owes to virtue every triumph that he knows: who, if he rise to station of command, rises by open means; and there will stand on honorable terms, or else retire, and in himself possess his own desire; who comprehends his trust, and to the same keeps faithful with a singleness of aim; and therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait for wealth, or honors, or for worldly state; whom they must follow; on whose head must fall, like showers of manna, if they come at all:”

LeadershipHonestyExampleHonorSelflessness
Book:Character of the Happy Warrior
Create image

“Every action is a losing, a letting go, a passing away from oneself of some bit of one’s own reality into the existence of others and of the world. In Jesus Christ, this character of action is not resisted, by trying to use our action to assert ourselves, extend ourselves, to impose our will and being upon situations. In Jesus Christ, this self-expending character of action is joyfully affirmed. I receive myself constantly from God’s Parenting love. But so far as some aspects of myself are at my disposal, these I receive to give away. Those who would live as Jesus did—who would act and purpose themselves as Jesus did—mean to love, i.e., they mean to expend themselves for others unto death. Their being is meant to pass away from them to others, and they make that meaning the conscious direction of their existence. Too often the love which is proclaimed in the churches suppresses this element of loss and need and death in activity. As a Christian, I often speak of love as helping others, but I ignore what this does to the person who loves. I ignore the fact that love is self-expenditure, a real expending and losing and deterioration of the self. I speak of love as if the person loving had no problems, no needs, no limits. In other words, I speak of love as if the affluent dream were true. This kind of proclamation is heard everywhere. We hear it said: 'Since you have no unanswered needs, why don’t you go out and help those other people who are in need?' But we never hear people go on and add: 'If you do this, you too will be driven into need.' And by not stating this conclusion, people give the childish impression that Christian love is some kind of cornucopia, where we can reach to everybody’s needs and problems and still have everything we need for ourselves. Believe me, there are grown-up persons who speak this kind of nonsense. And when people try to live out this illusory love, they become terrified when the self-expending begins to take its toll. Terror of relationship is [that] we eat each other. But note this very carefully: like Jesus, we too can only live to give our received selves away freely because we know our being is not thereby ended, but still and always lies in the Parenting of our God.... Those who love in the name of Jesus Christ... serve the needs of others willingly, even to the point of being exposed in their own neediness.... They do not cope with their own needs. They do not anguish over how their own needs may be met by the twists and turns of their circumstances, by the whims of their society, or by the strategies of their own egos. At the center of their life—the very innermost center—they are grateful to God, because... they do not fear neediness. That is what frees them to serve the needy, to companion the needy, to become and be one of the needy.”

LoveActionPassionJesusChristNeedSelflessnessCrucifixionAgapeNeediness
Book:Dying Unto Life
Create image

“The wellbeing of the heart of humanity does not rely on practicality, logicality and factuality alone. Fiction is needed, placebo is needed, and you know what else is needed - a whole lot of impractical and absurd unselfishness.”

FactsFictionKindnessHumanistSelflessnessRational ThinkingIllogicalLogical ThinkingEmpiricismPlacebo
Book:Making Britain Civilized: How to Gain Readmission to The Human Race
Create image

“Most poor people do not really aspire to end poverty; they merely aspire to escape it.”

DreamHumorSuccessQuotesGoalWealthPoorMoneyPovertyRichDreamsHumourSucceedAmbitionQuoteProfoundRichesGoalsSelfishSelfishnessAspirationThoughtfulSatireWealthyThought ProvokingDeepInsightfulAphorismAmbitiousSelflessPhilanthropyAspireQuotationsAltruismSelflessnessMaximsSayingsEscapeAdagesProverbsAphorismsMake You ThinkAxiomsAdageProverbSatiricalPhilanthropicSayingEpigramsQuotationGnomeMaximEpigramGnomesProvoke ThoughtMade Me ThinkAxiomDictumDictumsAltruisticEvery Man For HimselfEnd PovertyPoverty LineMonied
Author:Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Create image

“In many cases, it was the woman’s stomach—not her heart—that fell for her man.”

MenLovePhilosophyHumorHumanityWomenLossCompassionMarriagePovertySecurityFoodHumourFailureLoversEmpathyMercyCharityPhilosopherDivorceDebtPartnersSelfishManSelfishnessWomanKitchenSatireOccupationStomachJobSympathyGenesSelflessNutritionLoverAltruismUnemploymentSelflessnessSpouseFailStarvationMortgagePartnerUnselfishSatiristUnselfishnessTeresaSpousesFeedNelson MandelaGenieSocial CriticismRentMandelaGeneMother TeresaRentalGhandiMahatma GhandiTummy
Book:The Selfish Genie: A Satirical Essay on Altruism
Create image

“In some cases, it is the woman’s stomach—not her heart—that has left her man for another.”

MenLoveHeartPhilosophyHumorRomanceHumanityWomenLossCompassionMarriagePovertySecurityFoodHumourFailureLoversEmpathyMercyCharityPhilosopherDivorceDebtPartnersSelfishManSelfishnessWomanKitchenBreakupSatireOccupationStomachJobSympathyGenesSelflessNutritionLoverAltruismUnemploymentSelflessnessSpouseFailStarvationMortgageHeartsBreakupsPartnerUnselfishSatiristUnselfishnessTeresaSpousesFeedNelson MandelaGenieSocial CriticismRentMandelaGeneMother TeresaRentalGhandiMahatma GhandiTummy
Book:The Selfish Genie: A Satirical Essay on Altruism
Create image

“Some of our friends are our friends only because we used to be friends.”

PhilosophyHumorPastHumanityFriendshipCompassionHumourFriendsEmpathyMercyCharityPhilosopherPartnersSelfishSeparationDenialSelfishnessSatireCompanionSympathyMatesGenesSelflessFriendAltruismAssociatesCompanionshipSelflessnessBuddyThe PastPartnerUnselfishPalsSatiristUnselfishnessTeresaMateCompanionsConfidantNelson MandelaGenieSocial CriticismMandelaGeneMother TeresaBuddiesAssociateGhandiMahatma GhandiConfidantsPal
Book:The Selfish Genie: A Satirical Essay on Altruism
Create image

“In some rare cases, a friendship between two people benefits both of them, and what’s more, in some rarer cases, it benefits both of them equally.”

PhilosophyHumorHumanityRelationshipsFriendshipCompassionRelationshipHumourFriendsBenefitsEmpathyAdvantageMercyCharityRewardsPhilosopherEqualitySelfishSelfishnessSatireCompanionSympathyMatesGenesSelflessFairnessUnfairFriendAltruismCompanionshipSelflessnessConvenienceFriendshipsUnselfishRewardUnfairnessPalsSatiristUnselfishnessTeresaBenefitMateFairCompanionsNelson MandelaGenieSocial CriticismMandelaGeneMother TeresaAdvantagesGhandiMahatma GhandiPal
Book:The Selfish Genie: A Satirical Essay on Altruism
Create image

“*Prostitution* is a euphemism for rape incidents that the victim and the economy profits from.”

PhilosophyHumorHumanityMoneyCompassionPovertyEconomyHumourEmpathyMercyVictimCharityProfitPhilosopherSelfishSelfishnessSatireSympathyGenesSelflessAltruismSelflessnessRapePaymentProstitutionUnselfishRewardVictimsSatiristUnselfishnessTeresaEuphemismTaxNelson MandelaGenieSocial CriticismProstitutesRapistsMandelaGeneMother TeresaRapistGhandiMahatma GhandiInfedelity
Book:The Selfish Genie: A Satirical Essay on Altruism
Create image

“Most of us have both ways that we are privileged and ways that we are discounted. I am a woman, and women have historically not owned their own lives, having once been the property of fathers and husbands, the acclaim and remuneration for their finest work given to others, and still evolving from that reality. As a white woman/mother/artist from a middle class family in the twentieth century? I have lived a life of such privilege, with so much support provided me. I have lived a life of such deprivation of opportunity and lack of recognition. Sometimes my head spins from the contradictory co-existing reality of it... How have you had privilege in your life? How can you do better for those who have not?”

WomenGrowthHistoryPrivilegeAltruismSelflessnessExploitation Contradiction
Author:Shellen Lubin
Create image

“In a self-focused world, we place ourselves at the center of our own personal universe. We are in control, at least that’s what we think. We are the central character, the protagonist of the story, and the rest of the world is just our contextual stage, built to serve our uniquely complex purpose. But we fail to realize everyone else enjoys relationships just as deep, dreams just as real, a purpose just as driving, and complexities just as beautiful as our own.”

PeoplePurposeUniverseDreamsSelfishnessComplexityStorySelflessnessOthers
Book:Let's Be Honest: Living a Life of Radical, Biblical Integrity
Create image

“Of all public figures and benefactors of mankind, no one is loved by history more than the literary patron. Napoleon was just a general of forgotten battles compared with the queen who paid for Shakespeare's meals and beer in the tavern. The statesman who in his time freed the slaves, even he has a few enemies in posterity, whereas the literary patron has none. We thank Gaius Maecenas for the nobility of soul we attribute to Virgil; but he isn’t blamed for the selfishness and egocentricity that the poet possessed. The patron creates 'literature through altruism,' something not even the greatest genius can do with a pen.”

MoneyRespectHelping OthersBeerHelpAltruismSelflessnessTributeShakespeareQueenSelfless ServiceSelfless LoveBattlesPatronPatronageQueen ElizabethSponsorshipNapoleonVirgilStatesmanTributesNapoleon BonepartePatron Of The ArtsGaius MaecenasLiterary PatronsMaecenasMecene
Author:Roman Payne
Create image

“Jesus confronted many of the important issues of His time. He went into the temple, taught the New Testament message, and took action against those who were buying and selling on holy ground. He healed the widow, forgave the adulterer, and by His example, the righteous walked away in shame. He had said, whoever is without sin, cast the first stone (John 8:7 - paraphrase)! Not one pebble, nor one rock was thrown. He who had that right to judge, Jesus Christ, did not cast judgement either. He looked upon the sinner lovingly, and embraced them. He guided them to change and opened blind eyes to see. By Christ alone, was and is salvation attained. Truth is in the New Testament, and a Holy Spirit-guided understanding of it. It must be read without regard for self. For when self enters in, that is when misinterpretations and heresies arise.”

LifeJesusChristianityBibleSalvationRighteousnessSelflessnessNew Testament
Author:Zechariah Barrett
Create image

“The event of falling in love is of such a nature that we are right to reject as intolerable the idea that it should be transitory. In one high bound it has overleaped the massive of our selfhood; it has made appetite itself altruistic, tossed personal happiness aside as a triviality and planted the interests of another in the centre of our being. Spontaneously and without effort we have fulfilled the law (towards one person) by loving our neighbour as ourselves. It is an image, a foretaste, of what we must become to all if Love Himself rules in us without a rival. It is even (well used) a preparation for that.”

LoveGodSelflessnessEros
Book:The Four Loves
Create image

“I am thankful that there are those among us who have sacrificed dearly on behalf of us. And I ardently pray to God that I might be less like myself and more like them.”

GivingCharacterGodChristianJesusChangePrayerChristianitySacrificeExampleJesus ChristTransformationPersonal GrowthPersonal DevelopmentSelfishSelfishnessMaturePraySelflessMentorSelflessnessThankfulGiveMemorial DayCharacter DevelopmentTransformRole ModelFourth Of JulySacrificialMaturing
Author:Craig D. Lounsbrough
Create image

“Unselfish Sonnet Unself your soul, And lo the joy pours. Wipe out the I, And the world is yours. The more selfish you are, The more anxious you'll be. One who's lost in service, Is the epitome of humanity. In a world of self-obsession, Be the spark most selfless. Burn yourself to ashes, Let all bathe in your kindness. To give is to live o human. To die for others is salvation.”

JoyKindnessSacrificeAnxietyHumanitarianService Of HumanitySelflessSelflessnessSonnetUnselfish
Book:Hometown Human: To Live for Soil and Society
Create image

“I thought my life with Kelli could be balanced, mitigated,. That Irene had just been doing it all wrong these years. I' thought we could hang out like normal sisters, run errands, go for lattes with Jessica Hendy, and every now and then go off and have a little temper tantrum if Kelli go on my nerves--leave her in the car, assume she'd be fine. I'd assumed I could indulge myself if need be, that there could be some kind of fulfillment beyond my sister's care--that I didn't have to give myself over to it completely. But here's what I needed to understand--what Irene understood. Either you were all in with Kelli, or you were not. But if you were, Kelli had to become your joy. Kelli would be where you went for meaning. Kelli was what it was all about. And Irene was right about this too-- it was like faith. It was exactly like faith in that you had to stop futzing around and let it take you over. No more hemming and hawing. No more trying to have it both ways. And once you put your petty shit aside --your petty ego and your petty needs and your petty ambitions--that was when at last the world opened up. The world that was Kelli. It was a small world, a circumscribed world but it was your world and you did what you could to make it more beautiful. You focused on hygiene, nourishing meals, a pleasing home that always smelled good. That was your achievement and more important that was you. Once you accept that, you were--and this was strange to think, but the moment I thought it, I realized I put my finger on the savagely beating heart of my mother's philosophy--free. When I was a kid, my mother had a lavishly illustrated encyclopedia of saints she would sometimes flip through with me, and I remember how she always made a point of skipping over Saint Teresa of Avila . She didn't want to talk about the illustration that went with it. It was a photograph of the sculpture The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, and it was pretty obvious to me even as a child why my mother disapproved. It was a sexy sculpture. The smirking angel prepares to pierce Teresa's heart with his holy spear, and boy oh boy is Saint Teresa ready. Her eyes are closed, her lips are parted, and somehow everything about her marble body, swathed in marble clothing looks to be in motion. Saint Teresa is writhing. She's writhing because that is what it is to be a Catholic Saint. This is your fulfillment. The giving over. The letting go. The disappearance. This is what it takes”

GodJoyFaithFreedomSacrificeCatholicMeaningSelflessnessSaints
Book:Watching You Without Me
Create image