Here are 100 of the best quotes about “paying it forward,” highlighting the power of kindness, generosity, and helping others:
- “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop
- “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” – Princess Diana
- “Kindness is like snow—it beautifies everything it covers.” – Kahlil Gibran
- “The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” – Amelia Earhart
- “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” – The Golden Rule
- “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” – John Wooden
- “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
- “The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.” – Hada Bejar
- “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson
- “When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world.” – Harold Kushner
- “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” – Albert Pike
- “Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.” – Helen James
- “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” – Mark Twain
- “One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind.” – Malayan Proverb
- “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” – Lao Tzu
- “To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.” – Chinese Proverb
- “Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.” – Ben Carson
- “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Muhammad Ali
- “The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.” – John E. Southard
- “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” – Tom Brokaw
- “How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it!” – George Elliston
- “If you can’t pay it back, pay it forward.” – Catherine Ryan Hyde
- “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” – Martin Luther King Jr.
- “The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer
- “To err on the side of kindness is seldom an error.” – Liz Armbruster
- “We rise by lifting others.” – Robert Ingersoll
- “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” – Steve Maraboli
- “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” – John Bunyan
- “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
- “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” – Mother Teresa
- “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – Dalai Lama
- “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain
- “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” – Barack Obama
- “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
- “The best way to multiply your happiness is to share it with others.” – Unknown
- “Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” – Eric Hoffer
- “You will never regret being kind.” – Unknown
- “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” – Oscar Wilde
- “To help yourself, help others. Whatever good you do travels a circle and returns to you many times over – but remember, life isn’t about what you get, it’s about what you become.” – Dennis Gaskill
- “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” – Lawrence G. Lovasik
- “No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank
- “Give, even if you only have a little.” – Buddha
- “We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
- “Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.” – Kathy Calvin
- “Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
- “Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.” – Jackie Chan
- “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” – Amy Carmichael
- “True generosity is an offering; given freely and out of pure love. No strings attached. No expectations.” – Suze Orman
- “A kind act is a seed of love.” – Unknown
- “Help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return.” – Roy T. Bennett
- “Giving liberates the soul of the giver.” – Maya Angelou
- “Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.” – Seneca
- “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” – John Wesley
- “The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson
- “An effort made for the happiness of others lifts us above ourselves.” – Lydia M. Child
- “Do good and good will come to you.” – Unknown
- “The greatest gift you can give someone is your time because when you give your time, you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back.” – Unknown
- “Give, but give until it hurts.” – Mother Teresa
- “The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.” – Pierre Corneille
- “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” – Audrey Hepburn
- “The only way to deal with fear is to face it. You can’t conquer fear by avoiding it.” – Randy Pausch
- “Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person.” – Unknown
- “A kind word is like a spring day.” – Russian Proverb
- “Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” – Roy T. Bennett
- “Giving is the highest expression of potency.” – Erich Fromm
- “To give and not expect return, that is what lies at the heart of love.” – Oscar Wilde
- “We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “The more you give, the more you get – it’s just that simple.” – Unknown
- “Give cheerfully and freely. It is the energy behind the giving that matters so do not give grudgingly. The law of cause and effect guarantees that you shall receive plenty for what you give.” – David Cameron Gikandi
- “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens
- “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” – Ronald Reagan
- “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington
- **“To ease another’s heart
ache is to forget one’s own.” – Abraham Lincoln**
- “One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind.” – Malayan Proverb
- “When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you will never get back.” – Anonymous
- “The most truly generous persons are those who give silently without hope of praise or reward.” – Carol Ryrie Brink
- “The only gift is a portion of thyself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.” – Maya Angelou
- “Every sunrise is an invitation for us to arise and brighten someone’s day.” – Richelle E. Goodrich
- “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” – Kahlil Gibran
- “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” – Pablo Picasso
- “To do more for the world than the world does for you – that is success.” – Henry Ford
- “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.” – Benjamin Disraeli
- “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” – John Holmes
- “Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.” – Helen James
- “A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.” – Buddha
- “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.” – Ronald Reagan
- “When you stop thinking about yourself all the time, a certain sense of repose overtakes you.” – Leonard Cohen
- “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” – Samuel Johnson
- “To move forward, you have to give back.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.” – Kathy Calvin
- “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” – Booker T. Washington
- “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” – Steve Maraboli
- “To be kind to all, to like many and love a few, to be needed and wanted by those we love, is certainly the nearest we can come to happiness.” – Mary Stuart
- “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “There is no greater gift than the ability to give.” – Unknown
- “Do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
These quotes emphasize the importance of kindness, generosity, and the positive impact that paying it forward can have on the world.