Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up.

Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all carry our share of the misery which lies upon the world.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

I work very hard, but when God opens that door for you – when life opens that door for you, I should say – I think it’s important to be giving, to return the love back.

We need to show mercy. I mean, because as much mercy as you show people, that’s the mercy you’re going to be receiving.

The Lord commonly gives riches to foolish people, to whom he gives nothing else.

A first-generation fortune is the most likely to be given away, but once a fortune is inherited it’s less likely that a very high percentage will go back to society.

Philanthropy should be voluntary.

He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either.

As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.

It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

That which is given with pride and ostentation is rather an ambition than a bounty.

American taxpayers have been generous to Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

Charity creates a multitude of sins.

The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.

Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.

We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.

Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.

I actually thought that it would be a little confusing during the same period of your life to be in one meeting when you’re trying to make money, and then go to another meeting where you’re giving it away. I mean is it gonna erode your ability, you know, to make money? Are you gonna somehow get confused about what you’re trying to do?

Nobody can ever make enough money for as many poor relatives as I’ve got. Somebody’s got a sick kid, or somebody needs an operation, somebody ain’t got this, somebody ain’t got that. Or to give the kids all a car when they graduate.

Seven hundred thousand people who have dementia in this country are not heard. I’m fortunate; I can be heard. Regrettably, it’s amazing how people listen if you stand up in public and give away $1 million for research into the disease, as I have done.

The only way to get love is to be lovable. It’s very irritating if you have a lot of money. You’d like to think you could write a check: ‚I’ll buy a million dollars‘ worth of love.‘ But it doesn’t work that way. The more you give love away, the more you get.

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

I’ve been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that’s kind of a religious belief. I mean, it’s at least a moral belief.

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.

I have to live for others and not for myself: that’s middle-class morality.

My mom was on the United Way group that decides how to allocate the money and looks at all the different charities and makes the very hard decisions about where that pool of funds is going to go.

Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards.

Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him.

I have somewhere met with the epitaph on a charitable man which has pleased me very much. I cannot recollect the words, but here is the sense of it: ‚What I spent I lost; what I possessed is left to others; what I gave away remains with me.‘

Funny thing is that the poorer people are, the more generous they seem to be.

Your successes and happiness are forgiven you only if you generously consent to share them.

We just cannot worry about ourselves.

Effective philanthropy requires a lot of time and creativity – the same kind of focus and skills that building a business requires.

There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.

The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.

One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!

It shows nobility to be willing to increase your debt to a man to whom you already owe much.

I agree with Balzac and 19th-century writers, black and white, who say, ‚I write for money.‘ Yes, I think everybody should be paid handsomely; I insist on it, and I pay people who work for me, or with me, handsomely.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

It’s that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so ‚don’t fuss, dear; get on with it.‘

I tell everybody, I get so much because I give so much. I give freely, I give all my time, give all my money, give all of my soul. I try to motivate people. I try to inspire them.

What humility does for one is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me.

No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions; he had money as well.

Give to everyone who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

My father always taught me that when you help other people, then God will give you double. And that’s what has really happened to me. When I have helped other people who are in need, God has helped me more.

Philanthropy should be taking much bigger risks that business. If these are easy problems, business and government can come in and solve them.

I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy; Dear Jack, Don’t buy a single vote more than is necessary. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide.

An idealist is a person who helps other people to be prosperous.

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‚If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?‘ But… the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‚If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?‘

Indeed, it is as important to learn how to receive a blessing as it is to be willing to give one.

Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.

A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.

Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing.

Although I don’t have a prescription for what others should do, I know I have been very fortunate and feel a responsibility to give back to society in a very significant way.

Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. For remember, you don’t live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too.

Encouragement to others is something everyone can give. Somebody needs what you have to give. It may not be your money; it may be your time. It may be your listening ear. It may be your arms to encourage. It may be your smile to uplift. Who knows?

What money is better bestowed than that of a schoolboy’s tip? How the kindness is recalled by the recipient in after days! It blesses him that gives and him that takes.