A Dozen Quotations About Making a Difference
published June 10, 2026
photo by Maria Thalassinou from unsplash.com
by Catharine Hannay, founder of MindfulTeachers.org
Continuing the series of quotations about mindfulness and compassion, here are a variety of perspectives on following your own unique path to serve the world.
Finding a Calling
1. “Most of us have heard the exhortation "Follow your bliss!" It was popularized by mythologist Joseph Campbell. […]
Here's another way to say it: Identify the job or activity that deeply excites you, and find a way to make it the center of your life. Do what you love. Honor the strong drives of your heart.
But in his later years, Campbell worried that too many people had misinterpreted "Follow your bliss" to mean "Do what comes easily."
That's all wrong, he said. Anything worth doing takes work and struggle. ‘Maybe I should have said, 'Follow your blisters,' he laughed.”
from Rob Breszny, “Free Will Astrology,” week of November 20th, 2025; see also: “Follow Your Bliss or Follow Your Blisters?” at resurgence.org
2. “[An] interesting but difficult parable of Jesus is about three servants who were given different sums by their master, who was going away on a long trip.
The first was given five talents and the second two talents. They invested their money wisely and returned double the amount to their master when he came home. The third servant was given only one talent, which he buried and gave back to his returning boss, who sternly condemned him.
I gather from this episode that we should use to the fullest degree whatever talents or opportunities we have been given, preferably for the benefit of others.”
Jimmy Carter, Faith: A Journey for All
3. “Many people won’t take a step until they think that they know what the right thing is. There is an expression, ‘Do the right thing.’ But how do we know what the right thing is? We can’t know for sure. Maybe we should just say, ‘Do the next thing.’ And if we do that—whatever it is—to the best of our ability, chances are it will turn out to be the right thing as well.”
Bernard Glassman and Rick Fields, Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master’s Lessons on Living a Life That Matters
4. “There are many different ways to get where you’re going. Don’t let your brain tell you otherwise. Choose the one that will bring you the most happiness.”
Nanea Hoffman, Affirmations for Anxiety Blobs (Like You and Me)
Recognizing Our Strengths and Limitations
5.“You can’t do everything. But here’s the thing. You’re not supposed to do everything. Just focus on what’s important and do your best. […] That’s all any of us can do.”
Nanea Hoffman, Affirmations for Anxiety Blobs (Like You and Me)
6. “Realizing that we’re not suited to a certain type of work doesn’t make us a failure.”
Gretchen Rubin, Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives, p. 118
7. “It is natural, when drawn to the helping professions, to want to enter a career where one’s efforts produce wondrous results. […] ‘If the client really gets better, expresses appreciation, or likes me, I’m really good at helping.’ […] Human change is a complex, often slow process in which the practitioner plays only a part. […]
When the novice thinks, ‘I need to have a big impact in every session, every class, every health consultation,’ then there is pressure and stress. Wanting to do really good work is one thing. Using the client, student, or patient as the only criteria for success is different.”
Thomas M. Skovholt and Michelle Trotter-Mathison, The Resilient Practitioner, p. 52-55
8. “Each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up. All we need to do is stop pounding on the door that just closed, turn around—which put the door behind us—and welcome the largeness of life that now lies open to our souls. The door that closed kept us from entering a room, but what now lies before us is the rest of reality.”
Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak:Listening for the Voice of Vocation
Anyone Can Make a Difference
9. “It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that society is huge and the individual is nothing. But the truth is, individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different.”
Neil Gaiman, Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World
10. “One hopeful person will accomplish more than a hundred cynics. Why? Because the hopeful person will try.”
Maggie Smith, Keep Moving, p. 205
11. “She simply did the work and didn’t much fuss about it. […] It’s not a bad way to live, actually.”
Kelly Barnhill, When Women Were Dragons, p. 200
12. “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t been in bed with a mosquito.”
Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop
Related Posts
There are many more quotations and other resources here at MindfulTeachers.org on compassion, self-awareness, and serving our communities, including the following posts: