- “Earlier we cited a statistic from the Boston College of Social Welfare, which estimated that over the next four decades some forty-one trillion dollars will be transferred from one generation to the next. Paul Schervish, one of the authors of the study, estimates that as much as six trillion dollars of that transfer might be devoted to philanthropic purposes. Schervish also says there has been a fundamental shift in the motivation for giving. ‘The rich used to give money only when they were scolded into it,’ he says. ‘Now they are increasingly giving out of a sense of doing something they want to do, that meets the needs of others, that they can do better than commercial interests, government or existing philanthropy. They can express gratitude for their wealth, and their identification with others less fortunate, and that makes them happy.’” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 148 -149
- “The same principle can be applied to children: ‘Don’t over fund children- you’ll ruin them. It will impair their character and destroy their motivation to succeed.’ When children study the plight of people in need, and they understand that they have the wherewithal to do something about it, it is a powerful experience. That is especially true of children who have never experienced scarcity in any respect. With knowledge about the needs of others, children can experience scarcity from the vantage point of the helping hand in the field. As one advisor put it, ‘Instead of merely sailing on a sea of riches, children can experience an ocean of needs.” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 150
- “It is only when a man supremely gives that he supremely finds.” Joshua Lawrence Chamberlaine, Address to 16th Maine, 1898
- Jacob 2:12 -21…12 And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and for all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully. 13 And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they. 14 And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you. 15 O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust! 16 O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls! 17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. 18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. 19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. 20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it? 21 Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever.