--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The art of being helpful is behaving as…" description: "\"The art of being helpful is behaving as if everything we do matters - because we never know which things might.\" — Gloria Steinem" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/gloria-steinem-277_art_the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as_2332782.jpg" --- # The art of being helpful is behaving as if everything we… ![“The art of being helpful is behaving as if everything we do matters - because we never know which things might.” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/gloria-steinem-277_art_the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as_2332782.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/gloria-steinem-277_art_the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as_2332782.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/gloria-steinem-277_art_the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as_2332782.jpg) > “The art of being helpful is behaving as if everything we do matters - because we never know which things might.” [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Every action matters because its impact is unknown; helping others is a valuable practice. **In simple terms:** Help others, because any act may matter. Key Takeaway Act with purpose. Themes activism service uncertainty Mood empowered thoughtful Type inspirational practical When to use this quote - volunteering - community organizing - random acts of kindness - mentorship Key Concepts ethical philosophy social impact Questions to Reflect On - How can you measure your influence? - What small act could you do today? A Different Perspective Impact may be invisible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Behaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behaving/) [Behaving Matters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behaving-matters-2527695/) [Helpful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpful/) [Helpful Behaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpful-behaving-5616941/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Know Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-things/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Matters Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matters-know-864185/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) ## Related quotes > [The act of acting morally is behaving as if everything we do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-act-of-acting-morally-is-behaving-as-if-everything-we-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [What matters is not to know the world but to change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/what-matters-is-not-to-know-the-world-but-to-change-it/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [What men do matters more than what they know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-christopher/what-men-do-matters-more-than-what-they-know/) [John Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-christopher/) > [We are who we are, how we got here doesn't matter. What matters is- what do we do know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-who-we-are-how-we-got-here-doesn-t-matter-what-matters-is-what/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What matters is that you know you’re worth it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-scott/what-matters-is-that-you-know-you-re-worth-it/) [Emma Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-scott/) > [“Nothing is without meaning. What matters is you know that meaning or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-love-the-way-you-love-me/nothing-is-without-meaning-what-matters-is-you-know-that-meaning-or/) [I Love the way you love me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-love-the-way-you-love-me/) > [In order to do what really matters to you, you have to, first of all, know what really matters to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallowell/in-order-to-do-what-really-matters-to-you-you-have-to-first-of-all/) [Edward Hallowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallowell/) > [I don't pretend to know everything; I just only speak on matters I know I'll win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/i-don-t-pretend-to-know-everything-i-just-only-speak-on-matters-i/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [All that matters is that you KNOW your worth. If they don't know your worth realize that it's OKAY because they aren't meant for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/all-that-matters-is-that-you-know-your-worth-if-they-don-t-know-your/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [We are still behaving as if a worker really doesn't have a family because the work pattern really was meant for men who really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-are-still-behaving-as-if-a-worker-really-doesn-t-have-a-family/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [In a world where people want answers immediately, I'm behaving a lot of the time in ways that contradict certain people's beliefs, or normally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matty-healy/in-a-world-where-people-want-answers-immediately-i-m-behaving-a-lot/) [Matty Healy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matty-healy/) > [I always laugh a lot when I see the dramas that I end up doing. I see myself behaving very seriously and I'm like,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gael-garcia-bernal/i-always-laugh-a-lot-when-i-see-the-dramas-that-i-end-up-doing-i-see/) [Gael Garcia Bernal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gael-garcia-bernal/) > [We have recognized that the world is changing. How your children are behaving, how their friends are behaving. What they consume and what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-packer/we-have-recognized-that-the-world-is-changing-how-your-children-are/) [James Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-packer/) > [It's risky because any number of things are going to happen that nobody can foresee. But right now everybody is the left is playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/it-s-risky-because-any-number-of-things-are-going-to-happen-that/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [So long as God reveals Himself, or doesn't, He is behaving like God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/so-long-as-god-reveals-himself-or-doesn-t-he-is-behaving-like-god/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) ## More by Gloria Steinem > [People waste more time waiting for someone to take charge of their lives than they do in any other pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/people-waste-more-time-waiting-for-someone-to-take-charge-of-their/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Women are never again going to be mindless coffee-makers or mindless policy-makers in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-never-again-going-to-be-mindless-coffee-makers-or-mindless/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/sadomasochiasm-which-we-know-very-well-doesn-t-exist-in-societies/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Behave like everything you do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/behave-like-everything-you-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Part of traveling over years means coming back to the same place and knowing it for the first time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/part-of-traveling-over-years-means-coming-back-to-the-same-place-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you say, I'm for equal pay, that's a reform. But if you say. I'm a feminist, that's a transformation of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-say-i-m-for-equal-pay-that-s-a-reform-but-if-you-say-i-m-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I think that part of everybody's success is due to their looks, but it just works in different ways. If you're whatever society calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-think-that-part-of-everybody-s-success-is-due-to-their-looks-but-it/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Of course, we can change. We're very adaptable. But it takes a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/of-course-we-can-change-we-re-very-adaptable-but-it-takes-a-while/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Explore all 766 Gloria Steinem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The art of being helpful is behaving as if everything we do matters - because we never know which things might.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gloria Steinem" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as-if-everything-we-do-matters/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as-if-everything-we-do-matters/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/gloria-steinem-277_art_the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as_2332782.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/gloria-steinem-277_art_the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as_2332782.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/gloria-steinem-277_art_the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as_2332782.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The art of being helpful is behaving as if everything we do matters - because we never know which things…” — Gloria Steinem", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gloria Steinem", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The art of being helpful is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as-if-everything-we-do-matters/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-art-of-being-helpful-is-behaving-as-if-everything-we-do-matters/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```