service Quotes

“When you love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You wish to serve.”

“Many times, on the way home, women with nothing but kids and poverty would come running out and plead with him to paint their blinds. ‘Frau Hallah, I’m sorry, I have no black paint left,’ he would say, but a little farther down the road, he would always break. . . . ‘Tomorrow,’ he’d promise, ‘first thing,’ and when the next morning dawned, there he was, painting those blinds for nothing or for a cookie or a warm cup of tea.”

″‘How about a kiss, Saumensch?’ He stood waist-deep in the water for a few moments longer before climbing out and handing her the book. His pants clung to him, and he did not stop walking. In truth, I think he was afraid. Rudy Steiner was scared of the book thief’s kiss. He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.”

“As you wish.”

And he gave it for his opinion, “that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.

Of so little weight are the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance with a refusal to gratify their passions.

“The poorest service is repaid with thanks.”

“Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n.”

“You were the one who taught me,” he said. “I never looked at you without seeing the sweetness of the way the world goes together, or without sorrow for its spoiling. I became a hero to serve you, and all that is like you.”

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

“If you will save me, I will serve you forever.”

“A good deed, “said the prophet Mohammed, ‘is one that brings a smile of joy to the face of another.’ Why will doing a good deed every day produce such astounding efforts on the doer? Because trying to please others will cause us to stop thinking of ourselves: the very thing that produces worry and fear and melancholia.”

“True service is a lifestyle. It acts from the ingrained patterns of living. It springs spontaneously to meet human need.”

“We have to humble ourselves and the way you do that is by serving other people.”

″‘Don’t be afraid,’ said the Shepherd gently. ‘You are in my service, and if you will trust me they will not be able to force you against your will into any family alliance.”

“The Master lives within everyone. When you give food to the one who is starving, when you give water to the one who is thirsty, when you cover the one who is cold, you give your love to the Master.”

“I only feel my life unspeakably empty. No one to live for anymore.”

“I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.”

“The true meaning of the ‘samurai’ is one who serves and adheres to the power of love.”

“This is the air; that is the glorious sun. This pearl she gave me, I do feel ‘t and see ‘t. And though ‘tis wonder that enwraps me thus, Yet ‘tis not madness. Where’s Antonio, then? I could not find him at the Elephant. Yet there he was; and there I found this credit, That he did range the town to seek me out. His counsel now might do me golden service.”

“Why, she may command me. I serve her, she is my lady. ”

“Mama’s love had always been the kind that acted itself out with soup pot and sewing basket. But now that these things were taken away, the love seemed as whole as before. She sat in her chair at the window and loved us.”

“All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile.”

“Passion is the fuel of greatness, and love is the fuel of passion. When we love someone or something, we give them all of us. This is the elegant interconnection between servanthood and greatness. It is love that drives us to serve and love that drives us to greatness. This is why the two cannot be mutually exclusive. In the end, the one who serves is the one who is great, as they are the one who loves most profoundly.”

“The warrior is always first a servant… The warrior does not serve because they cannot lead; they know that a person cannot lead if they do not serve.”

“Whoever serve Me--as I show Myself-- Constantly true, in full devotion fixed, Those hold I very holy.”

“To give a person one’s opinion and correct his faults is an important thing. It is compassionate and comes first in matters of service.”

“I don’t know who hired you or what they told you about the job, but it starts to wear on you. It’s not all changing bedsheets and cleaning plates. You have to look without seeing, hear without listening. We’re objects up there, living statues meant to serve….Especially now, with this Scarlet Guard business. It’s never a good time to be a Red, but this is very bad.”

“From my vantage point, hidden behind the flowers, I’m level with the king’s box and slightly behind it. Mare Barrow, a few yards from the king. What would my family think, or Kilorn for that matter? This man sends us to die, and I’ve willingly become his servant. It makes me sick.”

″‘Tis well, Lavinia, that thou hast no hands; For hands to do Rome service is but vain.”

″...the Distinguished Intelligence Cross, the highest honor bestowed by the CIA. The award goes to clandestine service members for “a voluntary act or acts of extraordinary heroism involving the acceptance of existing dangers with conspicuous fortitude and exemplary courage.”

“Our service will not be perceived as authentic unless it comes from a heart wounded by the suffering about which we speak.”

“If you do something nice for somebody in secret, anonymously, without letting the person you did it for know it was you or anybody else know what it was you did or in any way or form trying to get credit for it, it’s always its own form of intoxicating buzz.”

“American experience seems to suggest that people are virtually unlimited in their need to give themselves away, on various levels. Some just prefer to do it in secret.”

“The person who understands the evil in his own heart is the only person who is useful, fruitful, and solid in his beliefs and obedience. ”

“The elimination of the weak is the death of fellowship.”

“Only where hands are not too good for deeds of love and mercy in everyday helpfulness can the mouth joyfully and convincingly proclaim the message of God’s love and mercy.”

“The wise ones serve on the higher, but rule on the lower. They obey the laws coming from above them, but en their own plane, and those below them, they rule and give orders.”

“That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them...A king does not expend his substance to enslave men, but by his conduct and example makes them free.”

“The little train was carrying all these wonderful things to the good little boys and girls on the other side of the mountain. She puffed along merrily.”

“Please, Shiny New Engine, won’t you please pull our train over the mountain? Our engine has broken down, and the boys and girls on the other side won’t have any toys to play with or good food to eat unless you help us.”

“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”

“Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

“If we want people to fully show up, to bring their whole selves including their unarmored, whole hearts—so that we can innovate, solve problems, and serve people—we have to be vigilant about creating a culture in which people feel safe, seen, heard, and respected.”

“I hereby pledge myself to the service of God and of my people, to the righting of wrongs, to the driving-out of evil, to the bringing of peace and plenty to my land...”

And please don’t think I am doing you a service; quite the contrary, as soon as you came in, I saw how you could help me; to begin with, I am weak in spelling, and secondly, I am sometimes utterly adrift in German, so that I make it up as I go along for the most part. The only comfort is, that it’s bound to be a change for the better. Though who can tell, maybe it’s sometimes for the worse. Will you take it?”

“And, if so, could you bring yourself in case of worldly difficulties and hardship or for some service to humanity—to overstep obstacles?... For instance, to rob and murder?”