Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm; but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.

Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important.

the harm that’s in the world now as often comes through folly as through malice.

Half the trouble in life is caused by pretending there isn't any.

The sincere wish to be good is half the battle.

Those who attempt to belittle us reveal more about their own character and perception of the world than ours. Those who want to hurt the world outside of them must contain hurt in their inner world. You can only give what you have – literally and energetically.

Jack, the world is full of people who can only feel big by making other people look small, and the bigger the target, the better they feel about it.

Ceux qui croient avoir du mérite se font un honneur d'être malheureux, pour persuader aux autres et à eux-mêmes qu'ils sont dignes d'être en butte à la fortune.

I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organised diminution of work.

Always make the other person feel important. John Dewey, as we have already noted, said that the desire to be important is the deepest urge in human nature;

Half of life is lost in charming others.
The other half is lost in going through anxieties caused by others.
Leave this play. You have played enough.

If some people are so hungry for a feeling of importance that they actually go insane to get it, imagine what miracle you and I can achieve by giving people honest appreciation this side of insanity.

Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you.

I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.