"...strive that your actions day by day may be beautiful prayers. Turn towards God, and seek always to do that which is right and noble. Enrich the poor, raise the fallen, comfort the sorrowful, bring healing to the sick, reassure the fearful, rescue the oppressed, bring hope to the hopeless, shelter the destitute!"
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
“The community which has neither poverty nor riches will always have the
noblest principles.”
-Plato
“An act to make another happy, inspires the other to make still another happy, and so happiness is aroused and abounds. Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the single candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. Those who seek Enlightenment must be careful of each of their steps. No matter how high one’s aspiration may be, it must be attained step by step. The steps of the path to Enlightenment must be taken in our everyday life.”
-Buddha
“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of
others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she
has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a
greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when
others are tortured or oppressed.”
“And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy
neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.”
-Baha’u’llah
“Communication
leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.”
-Rollo May
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be
honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have
lived and lived well.”
“We can do no
great things - only small things with great love.”
-Mother Teresa
“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You
have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your
time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the
right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you
do nothing, there will be no result.”
“A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of each soul
the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the whole community the
virtue of each one is living.”
-Rudolf Steiner
“Be ye a
refuge to the fearful; bring ye rest and peace to the disturbed; make ye a
provision for the destitute; be a treasury of riches for the poor; be a healing
medicine for those who suffer pain; be ye doctor and nurse to the ailing;
promote ye friendship, and honour, and conciliation, and devotion to God, in
this world of non-existence.”
-Abdu’l-Baha
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
“I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt
on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”
-Maya Angelou
“I desire that your hearts may be directed to
the Kingdom of God, that your intentions may be pure and sincere, your purposes
turned toward altruistic accomplishment unmindful of your own welfare; nay,
rather, may all your intentions center in the welfare of humanity, and may you
seek to sacrifice yourselves in the pathway of devotion to mankind.”
– Abdu’l-Baha
“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity
and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of
others.”
-Gandhi
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in
unity!”
Psalm 133:1
-Buddha
“One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to
one’s own self.”
– Hinduism
“You give but
little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
-Gibran
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any
of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.”
-Acts 4:32
"When we
have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community
is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring
communities."
-The Dalai Lama
"With all my heart I believe that the world's present system of
sovereign nations can only lead to barbarism, war and inhumanity, and that only
world law can assure progress towards a civilized peaceful community."
-Albert Einstein
“A generous
heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things that
renew humanity.”
-The Buddha
“We are not
our brother’s keeper we are our brother and we are our sister. We must look
past complexion and see community.”
“O God! Make this assemblage radiant. Make the hearts merciful. Confer
the bounties of the Holy Spirit. Endow them with a power from heaven. Bless
them with heavenly minds. Increase their sincerity, so that with all humility and contrition they may turn
to Thy kingdom and be occupied with service to the world of humanity. May each
one become a radiant candle. May each one become a brilliant star. May each one
become beautiful in color and redolent of fragrance in the Kingdom of God.”
-Abdul-Baha
“Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.- Buddhism
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”
–Luke
“As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to
be done to you, don’t do to them. “
– Islam
“And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy
neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.”
– Baha’u’llah
“Be thou
loving to every afflicted one, a dispeller of sorrows to every grieved one, a
refuge to every fearful one, a heavenly food to every destitute one, a balm to
every wounded one, a consolation to dejected hearts, a blessing to unfortunate
souls, a treasure to every begging one and a succor to every lamenting one – so that thou mayest be a banner of
guidance and the essence of piety among the maid-servants of thy Supreme Lord.”
-Abdu’l-Baha
“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to
associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”
-Romans
12:16
“Before
giving, the mind of the giver is happy; while giving, the mind of the giver is
made peaceful; and having given, the mind of the giver is uplifted.”
-Buddha
“We have appointed a law and a practice for every one of you. Had God
willed, He would have made you a single community, but He wanted to test you
regarding what has come to you. So compete with each other in doing good. Every
one of you will return to God and He will inform you regarding the things about
which you differed.”
-Islam
