Leading people well always has its challenges, but leading people who aren’t paid to show up requires next-level finesse and dedication. We’ve all been in those situations that make us wonder what we’re doing and if it’s worth the hassle, but at the end of the day, volunteering and leading volunteers has a way of reminding us that we’re working toward a greater purpose.

If you’re in need of some inspiration or some words to share with your team, take a look at the list below for some fresh perspective.

For the times nothing is going right

• “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”  – Anne Frank
• “Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another.” – Erma Bombeck
• “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” – Elizabeth Andrew

For the times people don’t show up

• “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr
• “If our hopes of building a better and safer world are to become more than wishful thinking, we will need the engagement of volunteers more than ever.” – Kofi Annan
• “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands — one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” – Audrey Hepburn

For the times your volunteers are struggling

• “Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.” – Seneca
• “The most important service to others is service to those who are not like yourself.” – J. Irwin Miller
• “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “Always render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be.” – Og Mandino
• “To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” – Douglas Adams

For the times you think no one cares but you

• “I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale
• “It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success.” – George Washington Carver

For the times you’re feeling burned out

• “The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage by holding up to you a mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
• “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” – Mother Teresa
• “The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.” – Thomas Carlyle

For the times you need to remember why

• “What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.” – Aristotle
• “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi
• “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo Buscaglia

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”

– Rabindranath Tagore