# Quotes about altruism - Quotes: 25 - Authors: 14 - Broader topic: [Quotes about kindness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness.md) - Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism - JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.json ## Quotes > As a Christian, I feel morally obligated to assist others who are less fortunate. Following the Old Testament laws of tzedakah (charity and tithing), I believe that my responsibility begins with my immediate family and expands in successive rings to supporting my immediate neighborhood and church, to my community, and beyond, as resources allow. My philosophy is to give until it hurts in times of disaster. [James Wesley Rawles](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-wesley-rawles.md) · [How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-wesley-rawles/how-to-survive-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it.md) · p. 16 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-wesley-rawles/how-to-survive-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/as-a-christian.md) Topics: [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > There are few professions whose primary objective is to advance the cause of humanity rather than simply to make money or accrue power. Among this limited group of humanitarians I would number teachers, nurses, bookstore owners, and bartenders. [Jack Mcdevitt](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt.md) · [Odyssey](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt/odyssey.md) · p. 124 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt/odyssey/there-are-few.md) Topics: [work](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > How large was mankind’s sense of obligation? The caveman first had this feeling for his mate, then for his family. It grew until men fought and died for the abstract ideas of cities and nations, then for whole planets. Would the time ever come when men might realize that the obligation should be to the largest and most encompassing reality of all—mankind? And beyond that to life of all kinds. [Harry Harrison](https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-harrison.md) · [Planet of the Damned](https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-harrison/planet-of-the-damned.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-harrison/planet-of-the-damned/how-large-was.md) Topics: [animals](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals.md), [empathy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/empathy.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > Pride and Vanity have built more Hospitals than all the Virtues together. [Bernard Mandeville](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville.md) · [The Fable of the Bees](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville/the-fable-of-the-bees.md) · p. 294 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville/the-fable-of-the-bees/pride-and-vanity.md) Topics: [pride](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride.md), [vanity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/vanity.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > When you see your neighbors, their needs, their joys, their sorrows, when you see them next door or halfway around the world, you will know what to do. It is concern that precedes and inspires agendas, and survives when agendas fail, and it causes us to try again, always trying our best, never certain about our own judgment. It is knowing that God's purpose exceeds whatever we can put in an agenda. For Christians, it is trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. [John Danforth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth.md) · [Faith and Politics](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth/faith-and-politics.md) · p. 189 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth/faith-and-politics/when-you-see.md) Topics: [empathy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/empathy.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > “Long ago I yearned to be a hero without knowing, in truth, what a hero was. Now, perhaps, I understand it a little better. A grower of turnips or a shaper of clay, a Commot farmer or a king — every man is a hero if he strives more for others than for himself alone. Once,” he added, “you told me that the seeking counts more than the finding. So, too, must the striving count more than the gain. > > “Once, I hoped for a glorious destiny,” Taran went on, smiling at his own memory. “That dream has vanished with my childhood; and though a pleasant dream it was fit only for a child. I am well content as an Assistant Pig-Keeper.” [Lloyd Alexander](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander.md) · [The High King](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/the-high-king.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/the-high-king/long-ago-i-yearned.md) Topics: [heroism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/heroism.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary. [Chinua Achebe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe.md) · [Anthills of the Savannah](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/anthills-of-the-savannah.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/anthills-of-the-savannah/while-we-do-our.md) Topics: [justice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > My dad was so full of life, anything with him was an adventure. [Shows picture of his Dad holding a brown paper bag] I don’t know what’s in that bag, but I know it’s cool. My dad dressed up as Santa Claus, but he also did very, very significant things to help lots of people. This is a dormitory in Thailand that my mom and dad underwrote. And every year about 30 students get to go to school who wouldn’t have otherwise. This is something my wife and I have also been involved in heavily. And these are the kind of things that I think everybody ought to be doing. Helping others. [Randy Pausch](https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch.md) · [The Last Lecture](https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture/my-dad-was.md) Topics: [father](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/father.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > Was it not the most wonderful thing on earth to be able to help one's fellow-creatures? I now knew that it was the only thing that was worth while. [Stefan Zweig](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig.md) · [Beware of Pity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity/was-it-not.md) Topics: [kindness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > And I said to myself: From now on help anyone and everyone so far as it lies within your power. Cease to be apathetic, indifferent! Exalt yourself by devoting yourself to others, enrich yourself by making everyone's destiny your own, by enduring and understanding every facet of human suffering through your pity. And my heart, astonished at its own workings, quivered with gratitude to the sick girl whom I had hurt unwittingly and who, through her suffering, had taught me the creative magic of pity. [Stefan Zweig](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig.md) · [Beware of Pity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity/and-i-said.md) Topics: [compassion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > The animals themselves are incapable of demanding their own liberation, or of protesting against their condition with votes, demonstrations, or boycotts. Human beings have the power to continue to oppress other species forever, or until we make this planet unsuitable for living beings. Will our tyranny continue, proving that morality counts for nothing when it clashes with selfinterest, as the most cynical of poets and philosophers have always said? Or will we rise to the challenge and prove our capacity for genuine altruism by ending our ruthless exploitation of the species in our power, not because we are forced to do so by rebels or terrorists, but because we recognize that our position is morally indefensible? The way in which we answer this question depends on the way in which each one of us, individually, answers it. [Peter Singer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-singer.md) · [Animal Liberation](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-singer/animal-liberation.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-singer/animal-liberation/the-animals-themselves.md) Topics: [morality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality.md), [animals](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > "As poles of good and evil, he was offered two conceptions: egoism and altruism. Egoism was held to mean the sacrifice of others to self. Altruism—the sacrifice of self to others. This tied man irrevocably to other men and left him nothing but a choice of pain: his own pain borne for the sake of others or pain inflicted upon others for the sake of self. […] Man was forced to accept masochism as his ideal—under the threat that sadism was his only alternative." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 739 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/as-poles-of-good.md) Topics: [selfishness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/selfishness.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > "Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 741 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/every-major-horror.md) Topics: [history](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > "Men have been taught that their first concern is to relieve the suffering of others. […] To make that the highest test of virtue is to make suffering the most important part of life. Then man must wish to see others suffer—in order that he may be virtuous. Such is the nature of altruism." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 739 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/men-have-been-taught.md) Topics: [suffering](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > "No man can live for another. He cannot share his spirit just as he cannot share his body. But the second-hander has used altruism as a weapon of exploitation and reversed the base of mankind's moral principles. Men have been taught every precept that destroys the creator. Men have been taught dependence as a virtue." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 738 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/no-man-can.md) Topics: [independence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/independence.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > "If physical slavery is repulsive, how much more repulsive is the concept of servility of the spirit? […] But the man who enslaves himself voluntarily in the name of love is the basest of creatures. He degrades the dignity of man, and he degrades the conception of love. But that is the essence of altruism." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 738 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/if-physical-slavery.md) Topics: [slavery](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/slavery.md), [dignity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > "Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to achieve, but to give. Yet one cannot give that which has not been created. Creation comes before distribution—or there will be nothing to distribute. The need of the creator comes before the need of any possible beneficiary. Yet we are taught to admire the second-hander who dispenses gifts he has not produced above the man who made the gifts possible. We praise an act of charity. We shrug at an act of achievement." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 739 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/men-have-been.md) Topics: [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > "Altruism is the doctrine which demands that man live for others and place others above self." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 738 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/altruism-is-the.md) Topics: [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > "I'm not an altruist, Gail. I don't decide for others." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 657 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/im-not-an-altruist.md) Topics: [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > Altruism is masked self-interest. Aggressive self-interest is a masked urge to self-destruction. [Greg Bear](https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-bear.md) · [The Forge Of God](https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-bear/the-forge-of-god.md) · p. 352 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-bear/the-forge-of-god/altruism-is-masked.md) Topics: [selfishness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/selfishness.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil. [Robert A. Heinlein](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein.md) · [Time Enough For Love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/time-enough-for-love.md) · p. 248 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/time-enough-for-love/beware-of-altruism.md) Topics: [self-deception](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-deception.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > Let us devote to unselfishness the frenzy we once gave gold and underpants. [Kurt Vonnegut](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut.md) · [Breakfast of Champions](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/breakfast-of-champions.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/breakfast-of-champions/let-us-devote.md) Topics: [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > The actions of all group leaders throughout history have had one common element: altruism - common good of the collective. Religious leaders and the "moral" majority condemn the likes of Hitler, Stalin, etc. but their movements and foundations are alike. [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Journals of Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-journals-of-ayn-rand.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-journals-of-ayn-rand/the-actions-of-all.md) Topics: [tyranny](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/tyranny.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md) > The secret dread of modern intellectuals, liberals and conservatives alike, the unadmitted terror at the root of their anxiety, which all of their current irrationalities are intended to stave off and to disguise, is the unstated knowledge that Soviet Russia is the full, actual, literal, consistent embodiment of the morality of altruism, that Stalin did not corrupt a noble ideal, that this is the only way altruism has to be or can ever be practiced. [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [Philosophy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/philosophy.md) · p. 84 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/philosophy/the-secret-dread.md) Topics: [intellectuals](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intellectuals.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md), [communism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/communism.md) > The moral cannibalism of all hedonist and altruist doctrines lies in the premise that the happiness of one man necessitates the injury of another. [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Virtue of Selfishness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-virtue-of-selfishness.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-virtue-of-selfishness/the-moral-cannibalism.md) Topics: [happiness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness.md), [altruism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism.md)