60 Quotes About Helping Others and Getting Nothing in Return (2021)

This collection of quotes about helping others will inspire you to lend a helping hand for nothing in return.

Doing something for someone else simply out of the kindness of your heart speaks volumes about who you are as a person. When we help others, it gives them a chance to shine and you never know just how much that could mean to them when they are feeling low.

Helping others without expecting anything in return can bring lasting happiness. It can help you build long-lasting relationships, open more doors for you, and bring meaningful success.

Service to others results in a life of less stress, less anxiety, and less frustration. When you help others with no expectation of anything in return, you begin to feel more fulfilled, more complete, more alive.

As you’ll notice from the quotes about helping others below, living for others helps you find great freedom and inner peace. Remember, true joy and fulfillment is found not in being served, but in choosing to serve.

Although most people today are motivated by what they get in return, we should learn to help with no expectation of repayment; for we shall be repaid with joy and fulfillment in countless other ways.

To inspire your next act of love and kindness, below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and meaningful giving quotes about helping others. Enjoy!

Quotes about helping others and getting nothing in return

1. “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

2. “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”  – John Holmes

3. “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”  – John Bunyan

4. “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”  – Steve Maraboli

5. “I don’t want to live in the kind of world where we don’t look out for each other. Not just the people that are close to us, but anybody who needs a helping hand. I can’t change the way anybody else thinks, or what they choose to do, but I can do my bit.”  – Charles De Lint

6. “There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others.”  – Mandy Hale

7. “It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of person kind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.”  – Leo Buscaglia

8. “If you’re not making someone else’s life better, then you’re wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better.”  – Will Smith

9. “I’m starting to think this world is just a place for us to learn that we need each other more than we want to admit.”  – Richelle E. Goodrich

10. “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.”  – Booker T. Washington

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Quotes about helping others to inspire your next act of love and kindness

11. “One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.”  – Shannon L. Alder

12. “Never underestimate the difference YOU can make in the lives of others. Step forward, reach out and help. This week reach to someone that might need a lift” – Pablo

13. “The next time you want to withhold your help, or your love, or your support for another for whatever the reason, ask yourself a simple question: do the reasons you want to withhold it reflect more on them or on you? And which reasons do you want defining you forevermore?”   – Dan Pearce

14. “Remember this. Hold on to this. This is the only perfection there is, the perfection of helping others. This is the only thing we can do that has any lasting meaning. This is why we’re here. To make each other feel safe.”  – Andre Agassi

15. “Service to humanity is service to God.”  – Lailah Gifty Akita
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of quotes about service about the power of serving others.

16. “Stand up for someone who is in need so that it will build confidence in you to stand up for yourself at times when required…”   – Adil Adam Memon

17. “The simple gift of giving becomes an elaborate rich aftertaste of a natural blissful feeling, lingering endlessly in my lifetime.”  – Wes Adamson

18. “When you reach out to those in need, do not be surprised if the essential meaning of something occurs.”  – Stephen Richards

19. “Sometimes, we may discover we helped the wrong person, but that should not be a reason to stop helping other people in need, even though we were fooled previously. If you want to do good, there are opportunities everywhere. Don’t let the fools spoil your good heart.”  – Nico J. Genes

20. “It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.”  – Napoleon Hill

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Quotes about helping others to inspire selflessness

21. “Let the echo of your footsteps spark a ray of hope in the heart of the hopeless and appear as help to the helpless.”  – Abhijit Naskar

22. “Never suppress a generous thought.”  – Camilla Kimball

23. “Every shine which destroys the darkness of others is a holy shine!”   – Mehmet Murat ildan

24. “When the chance comes to do a good deed, don’t waste it because it might never come back. The ‎world doesn’t have an (Undo) button; still, you have your conscience, brain, wisdom, and heart to help you do the right thing.”   – Noora Ahmed Alsuwaidi

25. “When you help someone, you also help yourself. Instead of worrying about how much you get in return, you are better off helping as many people as you can.”   – Tapan Ghosh

26. “Helping others is a good effort to instill human dignity” –  Gift Gugu Mona

27. “Our prime purpose in life is to help others. If you can’t help them, at least do not hurt them.”  – Dalai Lama XIV

28. “Ask not what I can get more from others, but instead what gift I have that can better help serve others more.”  – David Vosburg

29. “Being able to uplift others is the biggest miracle in the world.”   – Sri Avinash Do

30. “The most fulfilling times in my life are those times when I am helping others” –  Charmaine J Forde

Quotes about helping others to help you make a difference in other people’s lives

31. “Be nice to people… maybe it’ll be unappreciated, unreciprocated, or ignored, but spread the love anyway. We rise by lifting others.”  – Germany Kent

32. “Focus on building up others, and your own sense of self-worth will improve. Some call these random acts of human kindness. But the truth is, acting unselfishly is not random at all. Instead, it is a conscious, concerted effort to make the world better by making someone else’s life better. The bonus: you will be happier by doing it.”   – Scott Hamilton

33. “You can raise your potential, when you help someone to reach their potential.”   – Amit Ray

34. “Success comes in direct proportion to the number of people you help.”  – Will Craig

35. “Don’t value your self worth by others or external things but by appreciating who you are within. And if you must measure your success do it not by what you have gained personally but what you have contributed to a wider benefit.”  – Rasheed Ogunlaru

36. “A truly successful person is not one who achieves his highest ambitions, but one who enjoys helping others reach theirs.”  – Charbel Tadros

37. “If you are truly concerned about helping people and creating value for them in your business and life. God will take care of you, and the universe will reward you.”  – Bernard Kelvin Clive

38. “Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.”  – Saint Augustine

39. “Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring your own life.”  – Arnold Schwarzenegger

40. “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”  – Buddha

Meaningful quotes about helping others

41. “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

42. “The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.”  – Thomas Carlyle

43. “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”  – Mother Teresa

44. “When you dig another out of their troubles, you find a place to bury your own.”  – Unknown

45. “Our greatness has always come from people who expect nothing and take nothing for granted – folks who work hard for what they have, then reach back and help others after them.” – Michelle Obama

46. “To me, there are saints every day. They stand up and help others and live for others and do things for others.”  – Theodore Melfi

47. “To do more for the world than the world does for you, that is success.” – Henry Ford

48. “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”  – Charles Dickens

49. “You need an attitude of service. You’re not just serving yourself. You help others to grow up and you grow with them.”  – David Green

50. “An effort made for the happiness of others lifts us above ourselves.”  – Lydia M. Child

More quotes about helping others

51. “What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.” – Aristotle

52. “If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.” – Gautama Buddha

53. “The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer

54. “I believe that love expands. As you give love out, it’s received and reciprocated and it grows. That’s the beauty of it.” – Hill Harper

55. “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” – Dr. Loretta Scott

56. “We can help others in the world more by making the most of ourselves than in any other way.” – Earl Nightingale

57. “Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up.” – Jesse Jackson

58. “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” – John Wooden

59. “Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.” – Jim Rohn

60. “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” – Albert Einstein

Helping others quotes that remind us why it matters

61. “Help others achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours.” — Les Brown

62. “I want to help others smile and be kind as often as possible.” — Ainsley Harriott

63. “We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.” — W. H. Auden

64. “I think we forget sometimes how blessed we are to be able to help others and make a difference!” — Gautam Rode

65. “I feel that if you are blessed, or lucky enough, to be doing well, you should help others.” – Laurell K. Hamilton

66. “Being self-made means putting yourself in position to help others put themselves in position to be successful.” — A Boogie wit da Hoodie

67. “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’” — Brian Tracy

68. “Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy.” — Sai Baba

69. “Through our willingness to help others we can learn to be happy rather than depressed.” – Gerald Jampolsky

70. “Once I leave this earth, I know I’ve done something that will continue to help others.” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Encouraging quotes about helping others

71. “Be kind and help others. Let the ones you love know you love them.” – Kyle Carpenter

72. “For me, it has always been about using my platform to help others.” – Bobby Bones

73. “I think it’s important, as a human being, to help others.” – Jason Derulo

74. “You feel alive to the degree that you feel you can help others.” – John Travolta

75. “Always have a willing hand to help someone, you might be the only one that does.” – Roy T. Bennett

76. “People appreciate and never forget that helping hand especially when times are tough.” – Catherine Pulsifer

77. “Make each new day count by helping someone or just making someone smile.” – Catherine Pulsifer

78. “Take the time to help other people without expecting a reward or gratitude is definitely important in living an optimistic life.” – Krista Witherspoon

79. “Helping others, encouraging others, are often acts of being kind that have more meaning than you may realize.’ – Catherine Pulsifer

80. “None of us can help everyone. But all of us can help someone. And when we help them, we serve Jesus. Who would want to miss a chance to do that?” – Max Lucado 

Which of these quotes about helping others was your favorite?

People who need our help exist all around us. When you help them, it means you’ve done something to help them move forward.

Helping other people reach their goals can result in you achieving your own success as well. Hopefully, the quotes about helping others above have inspired you to help someone without the expectation of receiving anything in return.

Which of these quotes about helping others resonated with you best? Do you have any other quotes to add to the list? Tell us in the comment section below.