QuoteProject
Young people often aren't in a position to write checks to charities. But there are two things they can do that are invaluable. One is volunteering, especially mentoring other young people with reading, math or help thinking about college. Through iMentor, one can even mentor people online.
Nicholas Kristof
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Young people can contribute to society by volunteering, especially through mentorship, even if they cannot provide financial support.

This quote emphasizes that while young individuals may lack the financial resources to donate to charities, they can still make a significant impact through volunteering and mentoring. By engaging in activities like tutoring others in subjects such as reading and math, or providing guidance about educational opportunities, they contribute valuable support to their peers, harnessing their experiences and knowledge to uplift others, thereby fulfilling a critical role in their community.

Themes

VolunteeringMentorshipEducationCharityYouthCommunity

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech at a school event, a teacher might highlight how students can make a difference through mentoring.

More from Nicholas Kristof

One of our worst traits in journalism is that when we have a narrative in our minds, we often plug in anecdotes that confirm it. Thus we managed to portray President Gerald Ford, a first-rate athlete, as a klutz.
Nicholas KristofRead
A basic element of the American dream is equal access to education as the lubricant of social and economic mobility.
Nicholas KristofRead
Worrying about bills, food, or other problems leaves less capacity to think ahead or to exert self-discipline. So, poverty imposes a mental tax.
Nicholas KristofRead
Most moms and dads, they want to be good moms and dads. But it's an incredibly hard job when you are stressed out, when you are poor, when your life is in chaos. And giving them some of the tools to be better parents, to whittle away at that parenting gap, gives those kids a much better starting point in life.
Nicholas KristofRead
Since the end of the 1970s, something has gone profoundly wrong in America. Inequality has soared. Educational progress slowed. Incarceration rates quintupled. Family breakdown accelerated. Median household income stagnated.
Nicholas KristofRead
The news media's silence, particularly television news, is reprehensible. If we knew as much about Darfur as we do about Michael Jackson, we might be able to stop these things from continuing.
Nicholas KristofRead

Similar quotes

A mother is a school. Empower her; and you empower a great nation.
Hafez IbrahimRead
Let's face it. No kid in high school feels as though they fit in.
Stephen KingRead
Educating the world's poorest girls can only be done with the firm commitment of many stakeholders - both domestic and international - to plan, fund, and build strong, sustainable, and equitable education systems.
Julia GillardRead
We must make up our minds to be ignorant of much, if we would know anything.
John Henry NewmanRead
libraries are fascinating places: sometimes you feel you are under the canopy of a railway station, and when you read books about exotic places there's a feeling of travelling to distant lands
Umberto EcoRead
I think that a lot of people in all walks of life have the impression, of course, that, 'I specialize in something. I can't - I don't have the time to read other things. I'll just go to pure entertainment when I'm relaxing, and then I'll come back to my pure specialty.' That produces - that attitude produces idiot savants, unfortunately.
Robert J. ShillerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.