We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Grants & More

Quotes by Famous Philanthropists and Others

...on why they give and what it means to them, in their own words

We started our foundation because we believe we have a real opportunity to help advance equity around the world...to help make sure that, no matter where a person is born, he or she has the chance to live a healthy, productive life. - Melinda Gates, Co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it. - Albert Einstein

Never think you need to apologize for asking someone to give to a worthy cause, any more than as though you were giving him or her an opportunity to participate in a high-grade investment. The duty of giving is as much his or hers as is the duty of asking yours. - John D. Rockefeller, Jr., founder of the International Education Board and several other philanthropic institutions (1874-1960)

While others are finding the cures for all the ills of the world, someone will be hungry, someone will be cold. That's our job. - The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

As I started getting rich, I started thinking, 'what the hell am I going to do with all this money?'... You have to learn to give. - Ted Turner, American media mogul, largest private landowner in the U.S., and founder of the Turner Foundation

I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution. - Andrew Carnegie, American industrialist, businessman and philanthropist (1835-1919)

It's not just about being able to write a check. It's being able to touch somebody's life. - Oprah Winfrey

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

They who give have all the things. They who withhold have nothing. - Hindu Proverb

Remember, the final measure of your life won't be how well you live, but how others live because of you. - Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

If you think of life as like a big pie, you can try to hold the whole pie and kill yourself trying to keep it, or you can slice it up and give some to the people around you, and you still have plenty left for yourself. - Jay Leno

No one has ever become poor by giving. - Anne Frank, Jewish victim of the Holocaust, author of The Diary of a Young Girl (published posthumously), in which she documents her life in hiding from the Nazis

When the idea came up, (Newman's Own) I said, "Are you crazy? Stick my face on the label of salad dressing?" And then, of course, we got the whole idea of exploitation and how circular it is. Why not, really, go to the fullest length, and the silliest length, in exploiting yourself and turn the proceeds back to the community? - Paul Newman, screen legend and co-founder of Newman's Own (1925-2008)

When I do good, I feel good. - Abraham Lincoln

I have found that among its many other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. - Maya Angelou

I don't think you ever stop giving. I really don't. I think it's an on-going process. And it's not just about being able to write a check. It's being able to touch somebody's life. - Oprah Winfrey

My father used to say, You can spend a lot of time making money. The tough time comes when you have to give it away properly. How to give something back, that s the tough part in life. - Lee Iacocca

A man's true wealth is the good he does in this world. - Mohammed

Over a three year period, I gave away half of what I had. To be honest, my hands shook as I signed it away. I knew I was taking myself out of the race to be the richest man in the world. - Ted Turner, American media mogul, largest private landowner in the U.S., and founder of the Turner Foundation

Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time. -Marian Wright Edelman

One of the great movements in my lifetime among educated people is the need to commit themselves to action. Most people are not satisfied with giving money; we also feel we need to work. - Peter Drucker, management guru (1909-2005)

I would rather have it said, He lived usefully, than, He died rich. - Benjamin Franklin

Not he who has much is rich but he who gives much. - Erich Fromm

The world and life have been mighty good to me. And I want to put something back. - Ted Turner, American media mogul, largest private landowner in the U.S., and founder of the Turner Foundation

Help thy brother s boat across and lo! Thine own has reached the shore. - Hindu Proverb

You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. - John Bunyan

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave. - Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States 1923-1929

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no person can sincerely try to help another without helping themselves. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Being rich is not about how much you have, but about how much you can give. - Unknown

The raising of extraordinarily large sums of money, given voluntarily and freely by millions of our fellow Americans, is a unique American tradition... Philanthropy, charity, giving voluntarily and freely... call it what you like, but it is truly a jewel of an American tradition. - John F. Kennedy

Sometimes give your services for nothing. - Hippocrates

If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble. - Bob Hope

Susie didn't get very excited when I told her we were going to get rich. She either didn't care or didn't believe me - probably both, in fact. But to the extent we did amass wealth, we were totally in sync about what to do with it - and that was to give it back to society. In that, we agreed with Andrew Carnegie, who said that huge fortunes that flow in large part from society should in large part be returned to society. - Warren Buffet, U.S. investor, businessman, and philanthropist who has pledged 85% of his fortune to the Gates Foundation

The highest use of capital is not to make more money but to make money do more for the betterment of life. - Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company who left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation (1863-1947)

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything. - Samuel Johnson

Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware, we would want to help out, we'd want to get involved. - Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Every single pressing social and global issue of our time is a business opportunity. Peter Drucker, management guru (1909-2005)

Philanthropy is not about the money. It s about using whatever resources you have at your fingertips and applying them to improving the world. Melinda Gates, Co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

If you're in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%. Warren Buffet, U.S. investor, businessman, and philanthropist who has pledged 85% of his fortune to the Gates Foundation

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life. Arthur Ashe

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave. - Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States 1923-1929

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. Maya Angelou