--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I can't do something for the public…" description: "\"If I can't do something for the public good, what the hell am I doing?\" — Anita Roddick" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a59/anita-roddick-2286_doing_if-i-can-t-do-something-for-the-public-g_1317116.png" --- # If I can't do something for the public good, what the hell… ![“If I can't do something for the public good, what the hell am I doing?” quote by Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a59/anita-roddick-2286_doing_if-i-can-t-do-something-for-the-public-g_1317116.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a59/anita-roddick-2286_doing_if-i-can-t-do-something-for-the-public-g_1317116.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a59/anita-roddick-2286_doing_if-i-can-t-do-something-for-the-public-g_1317116.png) > “If I can't do something for the public good, what the hell am I doing?” [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal contribution to public good defines one's purpose. **In simple terms:** Do good for purpose. Key Takeaway Align work with public benefit. Themes purpose publicgood ethics Mood inspired ethical Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - nonprofit work - ethical business - volunteerism Key Concepts social responsibility impact meaning Questions to Reflect On - What can you do for the public good? - How does purpose guide your choices? A Different Perspective People may struggle to find impact opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing/) [Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Hell Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell-doing-406647/) [Public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public/) [Public good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-good/) ## Related quotes > [My comedy is different every time I do it. 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Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie 100 years ago was their recognition that the great wealth they had amassed could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-rodin/the-extraordinary-genius-of-john-d-rockefeller-and-andrew-carnegie/) [Judith Rodin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-rodin/) > [What's distinctively shocking about Machiavelli is that he didn't care. He believed not only that politicians must do evil in the name of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/what-s-distinctively-shocking-about-machiavelli-is-that-he-didn-t/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-hale/i-wish-to-be-useful-and-every-kind-of-service-necessary-to-the-public/) [Nathan Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-hale/) > [Well-reported news is a public good; bad news is bad for everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/well-reported-news-is-a-public-good-bad-news-is-bad-for-everyone/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [“What the hell are you doing, Evelyn?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaci-burton/what-the-hell-are-you-doing-evelyn/) [Jaci Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaci-burton/) > [What the hell am I doing here?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-yorke/what-the-hell-am-i-doing-here/) [Thom Yorke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-yorke/) > [What the hell am I doing with my life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stiller/what-the-hell-am-i-doing-with-my-life/) [Ben Stiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stiller/) > [I just had one of those 'what the hell are we doing' moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-savage/i-just-had-one-of-those-what-the-hell-are-we-doing-moments/) [Adam Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-savage/) > [Wht the hell are you doing in my herat!!fck off plz!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wht-the-hell-are-you-doing-in-my-herat-fck-off-plz/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Give me my lighter , The hell you doing with my lighter, Give him his lighter , The hell you doing with his lighter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swish-dabusiness/give-me-my-lighter-the-hell-you-doing-with-my-lighter-give-him-his/) [Swish DaBusiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swish-dabusiness/) > [That's the nature of research you don't know what in hell you're doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-eugene-edgerton/that-s-the-nature-of-research-you-don-t-know-what-in-hell-you-re-doing/) [Harold Eugene Edgerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-eugene-edgerton/) > [“What the hell was she doing on the nonhostage side of a handgun?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-brockmann/what-the-hell-was-she-doing-on-the-nonhostage-side-of-a-handgun/) [Suzanne Brockmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-brockmann/) ## More by Anita Roddick > [There are a lot of dark sides to success, but the light side of it is the ability to be opportunistic, and to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/there-are-a-lot-of-dark-sides-to-success-but-the-light-side-of-it-is/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [What we are trying to do is to create a new business paradigm, simply showing that business can have a human face and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/what-we-are-trying-to-do-is-to-create-a-new-business-paradigm-simply/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [But if you can create an honorable livelihood, where you take your skills and use them and you earn a living from it, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/but-if-you-can-create-an-honorable-livelihood-where-you-take-your/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [Creativity comes by breaking the rules, by saying that you're in love with the anarchist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/creativity-comes-by-breaking-the-rules-by-saying-that-you-re-in-love/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [I'd have opened a bloody library if I'd wanted to be quiet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/i-d-have-opened-a-bloody-library-if-i-d-wanted-to-be-quiet/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [You educate people, especially young people, by stirring their passions, so you take every opportunity to grab the imagination of your employees, you get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/you-educate-people-especially-young-people-by-stirring-their-passions/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [The predominant idea behind globalization, in its most virulent form, is an unpleasant kind of social Darwinism - 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No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hilton/i-was-in-high-school-and-i-had-an-independent-album-out-and-we-kept/) [Tyler Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hilton/) > [If I'm not thinking about you then I am texting you , if I am not texting you then I am on the phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-m-not-thinking-about-you-then-i-am-texting-you-if-i-am-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [.\*. why u hate me..Bitches be doing the most](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty/why-u-hate-me-bitches-be-doing-the-most/) [Kitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty/) > [“dances with mine as if we’ve been doing this our whole”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corinne-michaels/dances-with-mine-as-if-we-ve-been-doing-this-our-whole/) [Corinne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corinne-michaels/) > [“I take my actions because of my passion not because of compulsion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/i-take-my-actions-because-of-my-passion-not-because-of-compulsion/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [When the dollar collapses, it's not doing it in a vacuum. 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