"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty". - Albert Einstein
"There is no such thing as inaction" - Julia Butterfly Hill
"It is our task in our time and in our generation to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours." - John F. Kennedy
"...tens of thousands of species had been scraped away as by a giant hand and will not be seen in that place for generations, if ever. The action can be defended (with difficulty) on economic grounds, but it is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook dinner." - Edward O. Wilson
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing, because he could only do a little." - Edmund Burke
"We must use time creatively...and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke
"Even the smallest of persons can change the course of the future." - Galadriel to Frodo in the Forest of Lothlorien
"The end of all education should surely be service to others." - Cesar E. Chavez
"Our children may learn about the heroes of the past. Our task is to make ourselves the architects of the future." - Jomo Kenyatta (first prime minister of independent Kenya)
"If you think you're too small to make a difference, you've never been in bed with a mosquito." - Bette Reese
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." - Helen Keller
"Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.
You don't have to have a college degree to serve.
You don't have to know Einstein's Theory of Relativity to serve.
You need only a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have hold of for the moment...and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." - Dale Carnegie
"The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt
"Begin today. Today is the day in which every moment counts. We can offer our lives in loving joyous service to the world. our lasting legacy is the life we leave behind. One does make the difference. You are the one. And you are not alone. Together, as one, we are changing the world. Congratulations and thank you, thank you, thank you." - Julia Butterfly Hill
"Every positive choice, no matter how big or small, touches all other life with healing and beauty. Eternal optimism joined with loving action is the most powerful tool I own." - Julia Butterfly Hill
"We should not let our need to industrialize and modernize overcome our affinity for nature... There are aspects of the universe far beyond our powers to observe or understand. We belong to them as they belong to us." - James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader)
"There is nothing more practical in the end than the preservation of beauty, than the preservation of anything that appeals to the higher emotions of man" - President Theodore Roosevelt
"You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results." - Ghandi
"The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.
A time comes when silence is betrayal.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Let us pledge to restore in our time the American spirit of voluntary service, or cooperation, of citizen action, of private and community initiative, a spirit that flows like a deep and mighty river through the heart of the history of this nation." - President Ronald Reagan
"In a democratic society we must live cooperatively, and serve the community in which we live, to the best of our ability. For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others." - First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
"Life is not a spectator sport... If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're escaping your life." - Mr. Jackie Robinson (first African-American to play professional baseball, 1947)
Top | More 2004 Conference Resources | More Inspiration | AEOE home page