Famous Quotes on Philanthropy and Giving

I spent 20 minutes searching for a long-forgotten quote on philanthropy (for use in my next post). I didn’t find it. But… I found some good ones, not all of which are complimentary, so here goes…

• I used to be opposed to the idea of social entrepreneurship. I said let business be business, and philanthropy be philanthropy. Keep the two separate, don’t mix it up, and this is what I did, and I did that rather successfully, but I now recognize that actually you do need to mix it up and I think there is room for social entrepreneurship. – George Soros
• The premise of this foundation is one life on this planet is no more valuable than the next. – Melinda Gates
• I always had the old-school model that I’m going to work for as long as I’m relevant and focus on for-profit activities and someday when I retire I’m going to learn about philanthropy. – Marc Andreessen
• My theme for philanthropy is the same approach I used with technology: to find a need and fill it. – An Wang
• I’m not doing my philanthropic work, out of any kind of guilt, or any need to create good public relations. I’m doing it because I can afford to do it, and I believe in it. – George Soros
• Charity begins at home but should not end there. – Sir Francis Bacon
• We often excuse our own want of philanthropy by giving the name of fanaticism to the more ardent zeal of others. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Philanthropies and charities have a certain air of quackery (Ouch!) – Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
• Billions are wasted on ineffective philanthropy. Philanthropy is decades behind business in applying rigorous thinking to the use of money. – Michael Porter
• Philanthropy seems to me to have become simply the refuge of people who wish to annoy their fellow creatures. – Oscar Wilde

List curated from: afterquotes.com famousquotes.com famousquotesandauthors.com brainyquote.com

More classic cartoons on philanthropy below: