In an era when many workplaces are remote, when we can order our groceries online and we hardly have to leave our homes for anything, it can be all too easy to isolate ourselves from others. But it’s crucial to remember that we humans are social creatures by nature, wired for connection and with a deep need for community.
As the Jacobean poet John Donne once wrote, “No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.” In other words, we rely on each other. We need one another to fulfill our basic needs for love and connection, to provide purpose and meaning in our lives, and to fall back on when times get hard.
Our ability to collaborate and cooperate with one another has led to some of humanity’s greatest accomplishments. It’s only by remaining united in the face of obstacles that seek to divide us that we can continue to strive toward a brighter future. Here are 24 quotes that emphasize the importance of sticking together.
No one can whistle a symphony; it takes a whole orchestra to play it.Halford E. Luccock
To get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.Mark Twain
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.Desmond Tutu
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.Helen Keller
The power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working together is better.Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.Napoleon Hill
Cooperation is … a thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.Virginia Burden Tower
Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.Kenyan proverb
There are no problems which we cannot solve together, and there are very few which any of us can settle by himself.Lyndon B. Johnson
We are each other's harvest: / We are each other's business: / We are each other's magnitude and bond.Gwendolyn Brooks
Being in the same room with people and creating something together is a good thing.Robin Williams
Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.Marcus Aurelius
If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.Isaac Newton
The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.Phil Jackson
Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change.Barbara Mikulski
When we realize the bliss of oneness, then, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and non-attachment will arise spontaneously … You are never alone. You are eternally connected with everyone.Amit Ray
There is no such thing as a self-made man. We are made up of thousands of others. Every one who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.George Matthew Adams
We must all learn to live together as brothers — or we will all perish together as fools. This is the great issue facing us today. No individual can live alone; no nation can live alone. We are tied together.Martin Luther King Jr.
The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives … is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.Andrew Carnegie
Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.Ryunosuke Satoro
If everyone helps to hold up the sky, then one person does not become tired.Ghanaian proverb
Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
No matter how brilliant your mind or your strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.Reid Hoffman
If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships — the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together and work together, in the same world, at peace.Franklin D. Roosevelt
Featured image credit: Bettmann via Getty Images
