Social advance depends quite as much upon an increase in moral sensibility as it does upon a sense of duty.
One must know not just how to accept a gift, but with what grace to share it.
He who has conferred a benefit on anyone from motives of love or honor will feel pain, if he sees that the benefit is received without gratitude.
Yet the true friend of the people should see that they be not too poor, for extreme povery lowers the character of the democracy; measures therefore should be taken which will give them lasting prosperity; and as this is equally the interest of all classes, the proceeds of the public revenues should be accumulated and distributed among its poor, if possible, in such quantities as may enable them to purchase a little farm, or, at any rate, make a beginning in trade or husbandry.
The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall: but in charity there is no excess; neither can angel nor man come in danger by it.
Don't just put it off and think about it!
What the poor need is not charity but capital, not caseworkers but coworkers. And what the rich need is a wise, honorable and just way of divesting themselves of their overabundance.
A benefit consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.
With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts.
Let him that hath done the good office conceal it; let him that received it disclose it.
Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore of nicely-caluculated less or more.
He who gives only what he would as readily throw away, gives without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self-sacrifice.
An attitude of gratitude creates blessings. Help yourself by helping others. You have the most powerful weapons on earth - love and prayer.
To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.
The Americans make associations to give entertainment, to found seminaries, to build inns, to construct churches, to diffuse books, to send missionaries to the antipodes; in this manner, they found hospitals, prisons and schools.
Whatever we give to the wretched, we lend to fortune.
We are, after all, only trustees of the wealth we possess. Without the community and its resources... there would be little wealth for anyone.
Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.
There is no cause half so sacred as the cause of the people. There is no idea so uplifting as the idea of the service of humanity.
I'm amazed by the potential of more companies employing integrated philanthropic initiatives at earlier stages in their life cycle. What if this were done on an even more massive scale? Consider what would happen if a top-tier venture-capital firm required the companies in which it invested to place 1% of their equity into a foundation serving the communities in which they do business.
The resources you happen to accumulate, what do you do with them? You can spend the money and buy some houses or whatever, and people do some of that and that's fine. You can give the money to other people, your family, but usually when you do that you screw them up and it ends up counterproductive. Or, you take those resources and reinvest them in things that you believe in, and that could be reinvesting in a philanthropic cause.
I have always been generous because I know that I have done well in life and I believe it is part of my duty to give back. So I am always been philanthropic.
Nothing will serve you better than a strong work ethic. Nothing. And it's something that you can't teach. You have to be thrown into it, where you're going to sink or swim. It's amazing how self-correcting and how clarifying a good, hard, shitty job can be. Because at the end of the day, any profession I've seen anybody in, when you peer behind the curtains of Oh, wouldn't that be a great job? Wow, what an amazing thing, a philanthropic endeavor! it really just comes down to It's a f**king grind.
I grew up in a business-inspired environment, and over the years have started and run several businesses and philanthropic organizations. Understanding how large corporations work, by having hands-on and board experience, I apply that knowledge to the benefit of all that I do.
American philanthropic custom owes much to leadership by business and professional people.
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