- “One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.” Anon.Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 73
- “I believe this to be the most marvelous age in all the history of the world. For some reason you and I have been permitted to come on the scene at this time…” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 2000, 52)
- “Family philanthropy offers family the chance to feed itself – to develop leadership, to develop links across generations that mean something. There just aren’t that many places where you can add to the social interaction of the family relationship as a piece of work. Work adds meaning and intensity to the family’s relationships that nothing else can – not being, not playing, not talking together. There is a wholly legitimate purpose to philanthropy as a source of meaning to a donor and a family. This is essential to the continued vitality of the American philanthropy experience.” NCFP, “The Value of Family in Philanthropy
- “Philanthropic families have the chance to turn their life experiences to empathy and concern for community issues. But you may be drawn to the issue by that empathy and quickly realize you need knowledge. That may prompt you to set up a learning process for family members and be open to it: the community will teach you; their proposals will teach you; the experts in the fields of interest will teach you. You end up with a tremendous opportunity to do it well and, over time, you begin to realize that ongoing learning is a very important component – and benefit – of the process.” NCFP, “The Value of Family in Philanthropy
- “Family foundations and funds often are safe places in which to make sense of the swirl of modern life. They usually begin with a nuclear family – a donor couple and their children. The manageable number and the intimacy of the family changes quickly as the second and certainly the third generation includes spouses, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and a host of others – across generations and branches of the family. Depending on the donor’s goals for family involvement and perpetuity, participation may mean everyone is a potential trustee or advisor.” NCFP, “The Value of Family in Philanthropy
- “In every culture that I’ve encountered in China, Latin America, and Europe, for example- I run into the same proverb. In China, rice paddy to rice paddy; in Ireland, clogs to clogs. It appears that financial wealth is destined to disappear in three or four generations. The proverb means that the first generation makes the money, the second generation preserves it, the third generation spends it, and the fourth generation must re-create it. I prefer the rice paddy idiom; for example, imagine a poor couple in China wearing torn clothing. They pull rice every day and make a financial fortune. They don’t leave their home or change their way of life. The second generation moves to the city, joins the opera board, and becomes significant members of society. The third generation, having no experience of work, spends the money, and the fourth generation goes back to working in the rice paddy.” Wealth in Families Third Edition (Charles W. Collier) Page 35-36