Man working his way up 
Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash
A community is so much more than people sharing a space. It's a living, breathing network of connections and shared experiences. While it's usually defined as “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common,” true community runs much deeper than that.
Diversity
It doesn’t matter how different we are. What matters in building a community is the desire to live in a peaceful and caring environment, despite all our differences.Good Neighbors
Good Neighbors
When searching for a new place to call home, we hope to stumble upon neighbors who can transform a neighborhood into something meaningful. We all need to be surrounded by people who genuinely care for the well-being of others. Only this type of people can create a community that is more than just a bunch of individuals living next to each other.
It Starts with One
Building a strong community starts with individual contributions, no matter how small. As long as you are kind and willing to help others in need, you’ll be a great community member. In exchange, your community will give you a sense of belonging and the feeling that you are never alone.
Here are 35 quotes on what makes communities special — community service, coming together, engagement, involvement, and support
Quotes about community coming together
One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn't as individuals.
JEAN VANIER
There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
MARGARET J. WHEATLEY
We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.
HERMAN MELVILLE
There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.
IDOWU KOYENIKAN
Our generation has the ability and the responsibility to make our ever-more connected world a more hopeful, stable and peaceful place.
NATALIE PORTMAN
Quotes about building community
We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race.
CICERO
Some people think they are in community, but they are only in proximity. True community requires commitment and openness. It is a willingness to extend yourself to encounter and know the other.
DAVID SPANGLER
What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.
KURT VONNEGUT
We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.
DOROTHY DAY
The minute we become an integrated whole, we look through the same eyes and we see a whole different world together.
AZIZAH AL-HIBRI
This world of ours… must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Every person is defined by the communities she belongs to.
ORSON SCOTT CARD
Quotes about community service, engagement, and involvement
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.
MUHAMMAD ALI
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
MAHATMA GANDHI
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Teaching kids how to feed themselves and how to live in a community responsibly is the center of an education.
ALICE WATERS
Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.
SHERRY ANDERSON
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
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
ANNE FRANK
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
DR. SEUSS
The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.
OSCAR WILDE
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
MAYA ANGELOU
Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Quotes about community support
In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON
The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.
CORETTA SCOTT KING
The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers & cities; but to know someone who thinks & feels with us, & who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
Diversity is about all of us, and about us having to figure out how to walk through this world together.
JACQUELINE WOODSON
One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.
SHANNON L. ALDER
No man can become rich without himself enriching others.
ANDREW CARNEGIE
Quotes about community health
The power of community to create health is far greater than any physician, clinic or hospital.
MARK HYMAN
For a community to be whole and healthy, it must be based on people’s love and concern for each other.
MILLARD FULLER
Communities and countries and ultimately the world are only as strong as the health of their women.
MICHELLE OBAMA
When elected officials abandon our environment and ruin our natural resources, public health is endangered. I know the importance of providing a clean environment for our children.
GWEN MOORE
And I believe that the best buy in public health today must be a combination of regular physical exercise and a healthy diet.
JULIE BISHOP
These quotes remind us of the joy of being part of something bigger than ourselves.
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A Healthy Relationship Requires That You Put The Phone Down
I think the greatest compliment I ever got was from a female friend who said: "I want what you have". She was speaking of my marriage and the relationship I have with my wife. I was really proud of that because it made me feel like I have done my job as a husband. My wife and I do have a great relationship, and at this time, we have been married for 12 years. I get asked both personally and professionally what makes a successful marriage? I don't know if I have all the answers, but in today's age, I'd say "put the phone down".
A Healthy Relationship Requires That You Put The Phone Down
Working in mental health for the past 30 years, I have done my share of working with relationships. Some things will always ring true, but today so many people let their phones interfere, and in some cases, destroy their relationship. Let me give you a few examples.
In this day and age, people are slowly losing their interpersonal skills as they replace it with their phones. I was truly shocked when I looked up this statistic. The average person looks at their cell phone 110 a day, and in the evenings we check out phones every 6 seconds. That can't be! So I did a little more research. It turns out, I was quoting one of the lower numbers. Everyone jokes about a zombie apocalypse. Don't laugh. It’s here. So I'll say it again. If you want your relationship to survive, "Put the damn phone down"!
A few years back I received 2 pieces of really good advice. I was in a board of directors meeting and we were discussing a sensitive subject. The president said something that has stayed with me to this day. He said: "If you're going to put something in writing, be it letter, text or email, you have to assume that it is going end up on the front page of the New York Times." Wow! I never thought of it in those terms. But he was right. The minute we text, email or put pen to paper, we no longer own or are in control of what happens next. So, from a professional standpoint, it better be correct. I have since applied that principal to my relationship.
The other piece of advice I got was never to say anything to a member of the opposite sex that you wouldn't say in front of your spouse. Brilliant! Sometimes in these environments over the course of years we get close to a coworker. We have all heard terms like work-wife or work-husband. And while many times these conversations are harmless, it's good to check-in with yourself and your spouse to make sure you're not creating a problem. I think most of us are guilty of it. So start with being honest with yourself and your motives before causing any issues.
Getting back to the zombie apocalypse. I cannot tell you the amount of clients I have worked with while running EAP (employee assistance programs) about problems they cause in their relationship because they got caught up sending inappropriate messages to someone other than their spouse. Remember that whatever you write and send out to others, you no longer own. Believe me, the rate of return is pretty high. In other words, it could and most likely will come back to bite you. I'm not talking about innocent flirting. I'm talking about specific language that can be damaging to your relationship. I go back to never say (or write) anything to another that you would not be comfortable saying in front of your spouse. It's a betrayal of trust and intimacy if you do.
It's funny because in these situations when I confront a client about doing such actions, I inevitably hear something like its just fun, no one knows. Or, I'll never follow through with it. Two things to consider. First, then why do it at all? And secondly, how would you feel if you knew your spouse was doing that to you? More often than not, the person will answer: "I wouldn't care". Well if you really don't care that both you and your wife are giving away intimacy, freely, maybe it's time to reexamine the relationship. But I think the first step is to have this conversation in front of your spouse. Be honest. Be intimate.
The last point I would like to make in securing a healthy relationship concerning mobile devices is courtesy. When you're with your partner eating dinner, on a date or trying to have a conversation, put the phone down. It's impossible to connect in a meaningful way if you're staring at your phone. Remember when you were first dating and you didn't check your phone every 5 minutes and didn't answer every text/email? Do that! You can't build a relationship when you're mentally disconnected from the conversation.
So while there are many things you can do to strengthen or build a relationship, start here. Put the phone down. Know your worth. Know the worth of your relationship. Intimacy starts by being connected. And you cannot connect with your significant other when you’re on the phone.