Volunteering is an act of service that not only benefits our favorite communities and causes — but also nurtures our own personal growth and connections with others. It’s about offering your time, energy, and skills selflessly — contributing towards making the world a better place.
From aiding people in need to supporting environmental initiatives, volunteering spans across a beautifully vast array of causes.
Noted world-changers and activists have shared their insights and experiences on the power of volunteering through the years, inspiring many to step forward and take action. We’ve curated these words here today.
These quotes capture the spirit of volunteering — they emphasize its transformative impact on both society and the individual, and illuminate the selflessness, empathy, and commitment that it entails.
Whether you’re already a devoted volunteer seeking further motivation, or someone considering taking the first step into volunteering, these quotes will provide a powerful perspective on its value.
Read on to be inspired by the wisdom of those who have embraced and advocated for the power of volunteering:
The Best Quotes About Volunteering
Famous Quotes
“Volunteering is at the very core of being a human. No one has made it through life without someone else’s help.”
— Heather French Henry
“Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action. These actions shape and mold the present into a future of which we can all be proud.”
— Helen Dyer
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands — one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
— Audrey Hepburn
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Volunteering is an act of heroism on a grand scale. And it matters profoundly. It does more than help people beat the odds; it changes the odds.”
— Bill Clinton
“Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another.”
— Erma Bombeck
“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.”
— Sherry Anderson
Motivational Quotes
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
— Arthur Ashe
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Mead
“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 your verb agree to serve… You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Wherever you turn, you can find someone who needs you. Even if it is a little thing, do something for which there is no pay but the privilege of doing it. Remember, you don’t live in the world all of your own.”
— Albert Schweitzer
“There is no better exercise for your heart than reaching down and helping to lift someone up.”
— Bernard Meltzer
“Our generation has the ability and the responsibility to make our ever-more connected world a more hopeful, stable and peaceful place.”
— Natalie Portman
“At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”
— Denzel Washington
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
— Nelson Henderson
“The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.”
— Helen Keller
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
— Albert Pike
Funny Quotes
“Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression.”
— Dodie Smith
“Men have always volunteered, they just called themselves coaches, trustees, and firemen!”
— Susan J. Ellis
“If you don’t have any charity in your heart you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”
— Bob Hope
“You have to become involved to make an impact. No one is impressed with the won/loss record of the referee.”
— John Holcomb
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito”
— Dalai Lama
“I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.”
— Lily Tomlin
On Giving Back
“It’s not how much we give, but how much we put into giving.”
— Mother Teresa
“In a society that functions optimally, those who can should naturally want to provide for those who can’t. That’s how it’s designed to work. I truly believe we’re here to take care of one another.”
— LeVar Burton
“It’s not about giving back if you’re successful or a celebrity or how much money you have: it’s about your responsibility as an adult to help others.”
— Trisha Yearwood
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
— Leo Buscaglia
“I am a huge believer in giving back and helping out in the community and the world. Think globally, act locally I suppose. I believe that the measure of a person’s life is the affect they have on others.”
— Steve Nash
“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.”
― H. Jackson Brown Jr.
→ Read more quotes about giving back
Short Quotes
“Without volunteers, we’d be a nation without a soul.”
— Rosalynn Carter
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
— Helen Keller
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
— Muhammad Ali
“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”
— Winston Churchill
“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.”
— Herman Melville
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
— Dr. Seuss
“Every person can make a difference, and every person should try.”
— John F. Kennedy
“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.”
— Howard Zinn
More Quotes
“There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.”
— Woodrow Wilson
“You can study government and politics in school, but the best way to really understand the process is to volunteer your time.”
— Rob McKenna
“I grew up with the word “volunteer” as a very powerful word in my family. I was inspired by my mother and by how selfless our family was toward others who didn’t have enough.”
— Eva Longoria
“If our hopes of building a better and safer world are to become more than wishful thinking, we will need the engagement of volunteers more than ever.”
— Kofi Annan
“The broadest, and maybe the most meaningful definition of volunteering: Doing more than you have to because you want to, in a cause you consider good.”
— Ivan Scheier
