Could you say that with a straight face this time?

React to the following quote: “People are small, and most don’t matter; therefore, they should be concerned with bettering their corner of the world and nothing larger." Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not? Give me examples from your own experiences, if possible.

I couldn't disagree with that quoted statement more. In fact, I don't think history could disagree with it more! Individuals can always make a difference in the world. The actions a person performs may not reach the whole world, maybe not everyone will here about it or be affected by it, but people must get involved in bettering the whole situation and NOT only their personal corner of the world.
I think this statement is actually the main problem with the world today. Too many people think exactly that, "What will it matter what I do? I'm one person." But the problem here is that there are BILLIONS of "one persons", most of them thinking that same thing. If each person thought of their actions in terms of how it will affect every one's lives and not only their own, the world may be a much brighter place. I'll use a ridiculously common example of this... if everyone recycled, I'm sure we would all agree that the world condition, in terms of landfills and resources withering, would be ridiculously different. I can't say the amount of people I have heard say "So what if I don't recycle? I'm one person, what will I change?" and so many many people don't recycle because they simply don't see the point. I contest that if every last one of those people picked up the bottle and put it in the proper can, we would all see the point.
That is an example of individuals doing things all on their own, but together they amount to changing our world. It isn't even necessary to think of the debate at hand in that context alone to disprove the quote. Single people have made very big differences. When one person stands up to make a difference, they encourage others to stand up as well. People tend to travel the safe route, stay calm and quite and out of the way. If there were a fight happening right in front of your eyes the odds are overwhelming that you won't be the first to react to stop it, unless you yourself have been in that situation before. But the people who do react change everything. All you need is one person to start and others will follow.