“It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.”
Source: The World As I See It
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Albert Einstein 702
German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativi… 1879–1955Related quotes

“A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.”

As quoted in Durrell: The Authorised Biography (1999) http://books.google.com/books?id=iyRFAAAAYAAJ&q="Look+at+it+this+way+Anyone+who+has+got+any+pleasure+at+all+from+living+should+try+to+put+something+back+life+is+like+a+superlative+meal+and+the+world+is+the+maitre+d'hotel+What+I+am+doing+is+the+equivalent+of+leaving+a+reasonable+tip"Gerald by Douglas Botting
Context: A sparrow can be as interesting as a bird of paradise, the behaviour of a mouse as interesting as that of a tiger. Our planet is beautifully intricate, brimming over with enigmas to be solved and riddles to be unravelled.
Many people think that conservation is just about saving fluffy animals – what they don’t realise is that we’re trying to prevent the human race from committing suicide … We have declared war on the biological world, the world that supports us … At the moment the human race is in the position of a man sawing off the tree branch he is sitting on.
Look at it this way. Anyone who has got any pleasure at all from living should try to put something back. Life is like a superlative meal and the world is the maître d'hôtel. What I am doing is the equivalent of leaving a reasonable tip. … I'm glad to be giving something back because I've been so extraordinarily lucky and had such great pleasure from it.
“There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back.”
“Dead Man’s Shoes”, p. 143, quoting Elizabeth David
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)

13 January 1857 (p. 334)
1831 - 1863, Delacroix' 'Journal' (1847 – 1863)

“One man is equivalent to all Creation. One man is a World in miniature.”
Avot of Rabbi Natan (c. 700 – 900)
Misattributed