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About this quote

What does it mean?
Acts of service to others ultimately benefit the self, suggesting a unity between self and others.
In plain terms
Helping others is the same as helping yourself.
What can you take from it?
Altruism benefits the giver as much as the receiver.

Where it applies

  • charity work
  • community service
  • personal ethics

Putting it to work

  • promoting volunteering
  • ethical living

Questions to consider

  • Why do we help others?
  • How does service benefit the self?

Another view

This simplifies complex motivations behind altruistic acts.

More from John Paul II (Pope)

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  2. Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.

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  3. 'The historical experience of socialist countries has sadly demonstrated that collectivism does not do away with alienation but rather increases it, adding to …

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