More or Less Quotes

“When I claim more than what I can handle, I limit the opportunities for another person in my community.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“The more self-sufficient we are, the less we need others. The less we need others, the less likely we are to form the bonds of true community. Convenience enhances self-reliance, increases ease, and ironically, separates us from real relationships with people who have real needs.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Generosity is a lifestyle that seeks to understand the needs of others and strives to bring an end to that suffering.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“If you build a life that is separate from people who experience great need, you will always struggle to be a generous person. In large part, the people closest to us determine what we desire. So surround yourself with people who are in need, and you will desire to meet needs. Surround yourself with people living in excess, and your desires will become even more excessive.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“The conveniences that we increasingly convince ourselves are necessary for happy or successful life also separate us from those who do not have them. The more layers of convenience we add to our lives, the more space we create between us and those desperately working day to day to survive.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Living on less creates the potential to do much more for others.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“In Africa there is a concept known as ubuntu—the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievement of others. —Nelson Mandela”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“For the next week, every day, listen to the words of your friends or colleagues. Try to hear what others communicate as a need or want. Your goal is to begin to give to others out of things that you already have in your possession. They may just need to borrow something, or you may choose to give them a gift with no strings attached. Listen to statements like this: “I really need _______.” “I could really use a _______.” “I have been wanting to get ______.” Try to think about everyday things in your home that you could give to make a friend’s life easier and your life simpler. Match something you have in your possession with a need of a friend. No strings attached. Just let it go. Give it away. Be generous. Give something larger than usual. You will be amazed how others will respond positively and with surprise. Get a taste of what it feels like to give out of your excess this week.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. —Helen Keller”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Our desires consume our time. But when we prioritize our time to help people in great need, our desires change drastically. When we choose to take time to be friends with people who see the world from a different perspective, we begin to see the world from a different perspective.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“We have an uncanny ability to accumulate things that are not essential to living, yet we lack the practice of releasing the acquired junk when it no longer serves a purpose. I am no different.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“As I gain access, I never want to forget my responsibility to forge pathways of access for others.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Let's create a community that is deeply alive. As you walk through your day, think about the people you love and those whom you ought to pursue. How can you use your influence to help them succeed? What access do you have that can further the calling of a friend? When you give your opportunities and energy to serve the calling of others, everyone wins.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Choosing to do something significant in life usually requires us to sacrifice our personal convenience, but the results can be life changing for ourselves and those around us.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Understanding the difference between convenience and necessity, and how they control our decisions, plays a significant role in determining how we live.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“By design, we must fully live the life that only we can live. Every person that lives less than his or her potential is limiting all human potential because that person is not offering the world the fullness of his or her true self.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“surround yourself with people who are in need, and you will desire to meet needs. Surround yourself with people living in excess, and your desires will become even more excessive. Generous people live in community with people who benefit”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Friendships and relationships change my perspective. Once I change my perspective, I live differently. When we gain a heart of compassion toward others who have less, we want to give more. Our view of what we need radically shifts.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“Leroy helped me process the reality that when we engage in the messiness and tension of a suffering community, we experience the positive and negative ways that people respond to that suffering. As a result, we live in the tension between desperation and excess; while we live in the black, others fight for survival in the red. This becomes a real aspect of community: struggling through loving our neighbors when our neighbors do not enjoy the same blessings we do.”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity

“if we as consumers do not understand what marketing does to us, we are not defining what is enough; we are letting others determine the definition for us. Does the pull of new clothes for a new season influence your decision-making and purchasing power?”
― Jeff Shinabarger, More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity