Inspirational Quotes & Stories about Service
Every day you help
mold and develop people by what you offer them. If you offer a person
patience, love and forgiveness, they have a greater chance of growing
into a patient, loving and forgiving being. And you will live in
gratitude if such a being touches your life or the life of your
children. This being will in turn be grateful to you and your children,
for he or she will remember that it was your patience, love, and
forgiveness that allowed him or her to become who they are today. My
friend, offer what you want to experience. Offer patience, love and
forgiveness, and you will manifest them in one way or another in your
life.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 10
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
I ask your heart,
for only your heart can answer these questions truly: Who is really
homeless here? Is it the person who is asking for assistance, or is it
the person who will not assist? Is it the person on his knees reaching
out for you or is it the person who, as he walks by, turns his or her
head the other way in order to not be bothered? Is it the person who has
lost everything, or is it the person who will not search his or her
soul? My friend, your heart knows the answers to these questions because
your heart holds on to the truth of who you are. The ego would have you
look away from your heart, but where has this thought system ever truly
gotten you? Has it offered the world peace? Has it even offered you
peace?
The time is coming
when you will choose to look within. The time is coming when you will
look into your brother or sister's eyes and see yourself reflected in
them. For when you truly look at a brother or sister, when you look
closely into his or her eyes, do you not see yourself reflected in them?
Does this mean nothing to you? My friend, if there is one thing I can
promise you it is this: The time is coming when you will turn to your
brother or sister, take his or her hand and smile.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 98
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
"Everybody can be
great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree
to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
1
-
Martin Luther King Jr.
Cited in You Have Chosen to Remember, p. 99
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I once read that
service is love put into action. Yet if we ourselves are love, and love
put into action is service, then any time we're in action we're in
service. Service as defined by the ego has boundaries and parameters
that the ego's world decided fit or didn't fit its definition of
service. The ego says we're being of service if we do A and B but not if
we do C and D. It tells us that those who are doing A and B have bigger
hearts and are better people than those who do C and D. The ego tries to
have us believe all this to further separate us from our brother or
sister.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 99
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
In this OBE, I was
given an example where I was led through an individual interaction where
I offered love and peace. The example felt like it lasted just a moment
in time and yet it seemed to forever flow through eternity. I was shown
how one individual interaction touched not only the person with whom I
interacted but flowed to those with whom they interacted and so on. I
wondered how many people my one interaction affected, and in that one
moment I was brought into a stadium full of people. I was in such awe of
the number of people that single interaction touched that I had to hold
back the tears. An angel smiled at me and said, "No, not yet." He lifted
me above the stadium and there I saw what seemed to be a thousand more
stadiums filled with those my one interaction had in one way or another
touched. I could no longer hold back the tears. Before this thought form
I believed that the only way I could make a difference in the world was
by leading or serving a great number of people. But it was there that I
learned about the magnificence of the moment, the importance of even the
shortest conversation, the beauty of a kind glance, the value of a
caring smile, the substance of a gentle touch, the magnitude of an
honest compliment and the magnificence of a warm hug.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 101-102
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
One at a Time
"A friend of ours
was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along,
he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he
noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up
and throwing it out into the water. Time and again, he kept hurling
things out into the ocean. As our friend approached even closer, he
noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on
the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.
Our friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said "Good evening,
friend. I was wondering what you are doing."
"I'm throwing these
starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all
of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw
them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."
"I understand," my
friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach.
You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And
don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all
up and down this coast ? Can't you see that you can't possibly make a
difference?"
The local native
smiled, bent down and pick up yet another starfish, and as he threw it
back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"
9
-
Chicken Soup for the Soul
Cited in You Have Chosen to Remember, p. 104
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Would God not be
thankful for any offering, regardless how small it is? Would God not be
thankful and proud of one of His children offering a gift, or even a
kind word to another of His children? Would He not acknowledge the
purity of your thought, the kindness of your action? So what does it
matter if another person outwardly thinks of your gift as worthy, or
does not even acknowledge it? For the truth is, and this I believe with
all my heart, that in the receiver's mind there is a part of him or her
that joins with God in thanking you. There is a part in your brother or
sister that joins with God in saluting your action. There is a part in
every single person, regardless of how hard they've tried to hide or
forget it, where God resides, and this part blesses every gift you
offer.
Every gift you offer a brother or sister is given and received by God.
Thus, what you give away, you keep. And in the end only what you give
away do you ever truly keep. No gift is ever lost; no gift is ever left
thankless. And know that I thank you, because every gift you offer to
your brother or sister, you offer to me.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 119-120
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
"I expect to pass
through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show,
or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now and not
defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again"
-
William Penn
Cited in You Have Chosen to Remember, p.237
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"If in my high
moments, I have done some good, offered some service, shed some light,
healed some wounds, rekindled some hope, or stirred someone from apathy
and indifference, or in any way along the way helped somebody, then this
campaign has not been in vain...If in my low moments, in word, deed or
attitude, through some error of temper, taste or tone, I have caused
anyone discomfort, created pain or revived someone's fears, that was not
my truest self...I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant doing
my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not
finished with me yet.
1b
-
Jesse Jackson, July 17, 1984 Democratic National Convention
Cited in You Have Chosen to Remember, p.xii
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inspirational quote comes from.
Footnotes / Acknowledgments
Every effort has been made to provide accurate source attribution.
Should any attribution be found to be incorrect, the author welcomes
written documentation supporting correction for subsequent printings.
For material not in the public domain, selection was made according to
generally accepted fair-use standards and practices.
1.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "The Drum Major Instinct," Sermon
delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, February 4,
1968. Copyright The Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr.
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1b. Jesse Jackson, Speech at Democratic National Convention,
San Francisco, California, July 17, 1984.
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9.
Jack Canfield, Chicken
Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1993 (Health Communications).
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