“Do good for others. It will come back to you in unexpected ways.”

Song lyrics, Love and Theft (2001), Mississippi

When seeing off young South Africans in World War II, as cited in Antony Lentin, 2010, Jan Smuts – Man of courage and vision, p. 138. ISBN 978-1-86842-390-3

Letter to F.W Weber (1950); published in New York—Pennsylvania Collector (8 August 1991)
Context: How do ideas come? What a question! If they come of their own accord, they are apt to arrive at the most unexpected time and place. For the most part the place is out of doors, for up in this northern wilderness when nature puts on a show it is an inspiring one. There seem to be magic days once in a while, with some rare quality of light that hold a body spellbound: In sub-zero weather there will be a burst of unbelievable color when the mountain turns a deep purple, a thing it refuses to do in summer. Then comes the hard part: how to plan a picture so as to give to others what has happened to you. To render in paint an experience, to suggest the sense of light and color, air and space, there is no such thing as sitting down outside and trying to make a “portrait” of it. It lasts for only a minute, for one thing, and it isn’t an inspiration that can be copied on the spot...

The Simplest Way to be Happy (1933)

First published in The Educational Monthly of Canada, Volume 24‎ (1901), p. 29
Attributed
Context: Somehow not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to make you glad.

Source: The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

Quoted here http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/092108acj.html