8 Inspiring Quotes for Volunteers Who Make a Difference

Being able to see the positive impact you make is one of the reasons people choose to volunteer.

Volunteering can, at times, be highly challenging and a real test of character. When things don’t work out as expected, you might struggle to see, or even begin to question, how much of a difference you’re actually making.

Don’t. Volunteering is a global movement greater than the sum of its parts – and the decision to contribute to that movement is, in itself, a demonstration of your positive impact on the world.

Here are 8 quotes to reassure, encourage, and inspire you to keep up the good work.

“It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
Robert F. Kennedy

“Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren’t any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life’s challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.”
Richard Buckminster Fuller

Make a Difference

Feeling inspired? Check out the latest volunteering opportunities on Vinspired now.

For more inspiration, explore our article on 8 inspiring quotes for volunteers who make a difference, or discover 5 ways to get the most out of your volunteering. Learn how Volunteering can Change the World and see how Volunteering didn’t change the world, but it changed my life. Understand What do you get from giving? and why It only takes 5 words to know why you should volunteer.