Genuine dignity...

The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.

-Dag Hammarskjold

Increasing the number of people included in the term 'we' or 'us'...

Civilization is the process in which one gradually increases the number of people included in the term 'we' or 'us' and at the same time decreases those labeled 'you' or 'them' until that category has no one left in it.

-Howard Winters

When fire feeds on fire...

Everyone understands that burning wood produces fire. But when fire feeds on fire, that is a rare condition that yields the greatest illumination. Two flames come together and yield light more magnificent than either could have given forth alone. In the case of community activity, this means that when one cooperates with others, the accomplishments are greater than what the individuals can do on their own. Such a situation requires a harmony that will generate ideas, inspiration, as well as momentum for growth and action. If the combinations occur properly, the results will be like fire upon fire and will illuminate the world.

-Deng Ming-Dao

Listening to the silence...

Listening

"Every word, every image used for God
is a distortion more than a description."

"Then how does one speak of God?"

"Through Silence."

"Why, then, do you speak in words?"

At that the Master laughed uproariously.

He said, "When I speak,
you mustn't listen to the words, my dear.
Listen to the Silence."

-Anthony DeMello

I have learned silence from the talkative...

I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

-Kahlil Gibran

Help one person at a time...

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.

-Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu

If you change the way you look a things...

If you change the way you look a things, the things you look at change.

-Wayne W. Dyer

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force...

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force...When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life...When we listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other...and it is this little creative fountain inside us that begins to spring and cast up new thoughts and unexpected laughter and wisdom. ...Well, it is when people really listen to us, with quiet facinated attention, that the little fountain begins to work again, to accelerate in the most surprising way.

-Brenda Ueland