Love....................

 

God loved the world so much that he gave his son and he gave him to a virgin, the blessed virgin Mary, and she, the moment he came in her life, went in haste to give him to others. And what did she do then? She did the work of the handmaid, just so. Just spread that joy of loving to service. And Jesus Christ loved you and loved me and he gave his life for us, and as if that was not enough for him, he kept on saying: Love as I have loved you, as I love you now, and how do we have to love, to love in the giving. For he gave his life for us. And he keeps on giving, and he keeps on giving right here everywhere in our own lives and in the lives of others.

It was not enough for him to die for us, he wanted that we loved one another, that we see him in each other, that’s why he said: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.

-Mother Teresa, from her 1979 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

proportionate....................

 

"Our rewards in life will always be in direct proportion to our contribution."  This is the law that stands as the supporting structure of all economics and of our personal well being. . . .

Most people concentrate on the bowl marked "Rewards."  That is, they want things—more money, a better home, education for the kids, travel, retirement and so on—all rewards.  They're hungering for the rewards, but the rewards aren't materializing because they're forgetting the bowl marked "Contributions."  In other words, they're concentrating on the wrong bowl.  They're like the man who sat in front of the stove and said, "Give me heat, and then I'll give you wood."  He could sit there until he froze to death.  Stoves don't work that way, and neither does life or economics.

-Earl Nightingale

connection and support............

 

We've been saying that human beings are social creatures; in essence this simply means that each of us as individuals cannot provide everything we need for ourselves.  We can't confide in ourselves, romance ourselves, mentor ourselves, or help ourselves move a sofa.  We need others to interact with and to help us, and we flourish when we provide that same connection and support to others.  This process of giving and receiving is the foundation of a meaningful life.  How we feel about our social universe is directly related to the kinds of things we are receiving from and giving to other people.

-Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, The Good Life: Lessons From the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness

Hey.....what?....wait a minute...........

 

I’ve seen all sorts of estimates for the coming wealth transfer from baby boomers to the next generation.  $16 trillion. $84 trillion. $124 trillion. . . .

Here’s the one part of this conversation we’re not really touching on — The Great Wealth Transfer requires that the baby boomer generation dies off. Death and taxes, right?

-Ben Carlson, from here

gain...............................

 

Has a man gained anything who has received a hundred favors and rendered none?

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, from his essay Compensation

pay it forward.................

 

Figure out what you're good at, and start helping other people with it.  Give it away.  Pay it forward.  Karma works because people are consistent.  On a long enough timescale, you will attract what you project.  But don't measure—your patience will run out if you count.

-Eric Jorgenson, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

Harder than it looks..............

 

The money I have accumulated I will give away, in due time, through sources that will do the least amount of harm and the greatest possible good; but my real wealth—that portion of it which I wish to donate for the good of mankind—consists of the principles of personal achievement which I am entrusting to you.

-Napoleon Hill, quoting Andrew Carnegie in How to Raise Your Own Salary

supremely........................

 There is a way of losing that is finding. When soul overmasters sense. When the noble and divine self overcomes the lower self. When duty and honor and love immortal things bid the mortal perish. It is only when a man supremely gives that he supremely finds.

-Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

On giving............................

 It is impossible for you to become poor by giving.  It is impossible for you to become wealthy without giving.

-Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier

wisdom...................

 Perhaps the most counterintuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others, the more you'll get.  Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.

-Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier

believe.....................

 Those people who believe that money cannot buy happiness have not given enough away.

-Jon Hanson

On charity...................

 A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog.

-Jack London

Quest...........................

 

What makes this country great, I think, is not what it gives us (which is considerable), but what it allows us to give to others.

When we talk about American enterprise, this is what we mean. When we talk about “building something”, that is what we’re really after. The opportunity to be a net positive on this Earth. A producer of something meaningful and lasting, not just a passive consumer of bread and circuses.

That is the real American Dream. Lest we forget.

-Gaping Void, from here

The secret.........................

"The secret . . . is in the awareness that when we seek to give instead of to get, all of our own needs are automatically fulfilled."

-David R. Hawkins,  Letting Go:  The Pathway Of Surrender

a human community.....................

Out here, surrounded by trees and the presence of wild beasts, we are a human community of three.  Individuals made more by our trinity.  People help each other grow through shared endeavor.  I am traveling miles beyond where I could go alone.  Alex has goon beyond where he could go, and Renias has had his life opened because of us.  True giving gives in every direction.

-Boyd Varty,  The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life

Joyful..........................

     The people who radiate a permanent joy have given themselves over to lives of deep and loving commitment.  Giving has become their nature, and little by little they have made their souls incandescent.  There's always something flowing out of the interiority of our spirit.  For some people it's mostly fear or insecurity.  For the people we call joyful, it's mostly gratitude, delight, and kindness.

-David Brooks,  The Second Mountain:  The Quest for a Moral Life

Common Good...................

"I don't think there's anything exceptional or noble in being philanthropic. It's the other attitude that confuses me."

-Paul Newman

    My favorite Kroger carries a decent selection of Cabernet wine.  Recently I started buying the Newman's Own brand.  Reasonably priced, easy to drink.  Sort of a win-win.  Just passing on information here.

Good vibrations.........................

Feelings are energy and all energy gives off a vibration.  We are like sending and receiving stations.  The less negativity we are holding, the more aware we can be of what others are really holding about us.  The more we love, the more we find ourselves surrounding by love.  The replacement of a negative feeling by a higher one accounts for the many miracles one can experience in the course of life.   These become more and more frequent as one continues to surrender.
     As we surrender, life becomes more and more effortless.  There is a constant increase in happiness and pleasure, which requires less and less from the outer world to be experienced.  There is a diminution of needs and expectations of others.  We stop looking "out there" for what we now experience as coming from within ourselves.  We let go of the illusion that others are the source of our happiness.   Instead of looking to get from others, we now look to give.

-David R. Hawkins, Letting Go:  The Pathway of Surrender

On giving and interest....................

"It is better to give than to receive.  Look for opportunities to do something for the other person, such as sharing knowledge or offering an introduction to someone that person might not know but would be interested in knowing.  Do not be transactional about networking.  Do not offer something because you want something in return.  Instead, show a genuine interest in something you and the other person have in common."

-Adam Rifkin, as quoted by Eric Barker

A few thoughts..........................

.........................................on Jeff Bezos's philanthropic impulses:

Because he is presumably uniquely good a creating businesses, probably the best way for him to maximize the use of his money and time in improving the lives of a maximum number of people is to go start another business.  Certainly Amazon has created value for the rest of us that dwarfs the amount he has earned from it.  Taken another way, via Amazon he has hugely improved the lives of many, many people and in turn taken just a small commission for himself on this value created. He has lowered prices for us, he has saved us time, he has brought us many more choices.  He has created a platform for small businesses to sell their product that they could never duplicate themselves.  He has nearly single-handedly created the self-publishing business and provided an outlet for a ton of new authors (myself included).  He helps keep Apple and Google honest (and vice versa) from his competition with them.

-Warren Meyer, as culled from here