Eric Alterman Quotes

The extraordinary genius of John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie 100 years ago was their recognition that the great wealth they had amassed could be put to public good and used to solve the complex problems for which there were no other sources of capital.

I get great satisfaction from both business and philanthropy.

At least once a year, I meet with a group called the Giving Pledge. It's a group of billionaires - including me, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Ted Turner - who have pledged to give away most of their money to charity. We meet for three days to talk about what we're doing to help make the planet a better place to live.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have their 'Giving Pledge,' where billionaires promise to give away the majority of their wealth when they die. My Social Security Pledge is better - to give money to good causes when you are alive. Besides, more Americans can participate.

I feel that India lacks a level of philanthropy that is proportional to the wealth that is here, particularly among the top 5,000 industrialists and entrepreneurs.

A lot of people making a lot of money, billion, billions of dollars accumulating. Why are they coming for, finally, for philanthropy? Why the need for accumulating money, then doing philanthropy? What if one decided to start philanthropy from the day one?

Many Chinese entrepreneurs are now donating for education; others support foundations in health care and research. None of us wants to be the richest guy in the cemetery.

Generous people can become more generous as they become richer, giving away vast fortunes to worthwhile causes as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing.

Today, we don't blink an eye when the world's wealthiest individuals donate enormous sums of money to charitable causes. In fact, we expect them to do so.

For us, my wife and I and all of my partners believe that corporations have to be corporate citizens, and individuals who benefit from them, or who have built them, need to give back.

There's a lot of good that's done for society in building businesses, but it's also great to be involved in those things where you can be connected to the community, to the world, and think about how you can use what you're creating, both in terms of your personal skills as well as your products or services to do good things for others.

The Zach Johnson Foundation, for my wife and I, is very much a part of what we do and why we do what we do. It's a great platform for us to give back to the community that started me in the game and other communities.

I would say to young entrepreneurs and budding philanthropists - are you giving to feel good or do good?

If you've been fortunate enough to have some success in business, I think it's important to put something back.

I always thought that I would spend the first half of my life making money so I can spend the second half of my life giving it all away. And one of the defining moments of my life was when I realized that I could do both at the same time with TOMS.

Effective philanthropy requires a lot of time and creativity - the same kind of focus and skills that building a business requires.

In a world where most billionaires are all about talking about taking care of and helping people, Jim Irsay walks it.

When you incorporate giving into your business, you attract the most amazing partners.

I have drifted away from thinking about these philanthropic things. And it was only as the wealth got large enough and Melinda and I had talked about the view that wealth wasn't something that would be good to just pass to the children.

I didn't want my epitaph to read 'Here lies John Caudwell, billionaire.' I knew that wasn't enough. I've had a charitable instinct all my life, but working gave me no time for it.

For centuries, the arts and philanthropists have worked well together: look at the Tate family and the Courtaulds. If you've been fortunate enough to have some success in business, I think it's important to put something back.

I will give away at least half my wealth during my lifetime and after my death. In the meantime, I'll continue to grow my wealth as much as possible so that the amount I bequeath to charities and worthy causes can be as substantial as possible.

I have always encouraged my restaurant operators and team members to give back to the local community.

The money that we make from the company goes into The Body Shop Foundation, which isn't one of those awful tax shelters like some in America. It just functions to take the money and give it away.

Causes brings over 140 million people together to form the world's largest giving community. The belief that everyone has something to give is at the core of what we do; people just need a little inspiration, and to know that whoever they are, there is something meaningful they can do.