Charles Bronfman Quotes

Philanthropy and social change work are at their best when they are driven by your values and connected to what you care about most.

Giving should be entered into in just the same way as investing. Giving is investing.

Though easy to define, it is important to understand the significance of philanthropy. I believe it is really a state of mind: where one feels empowered and equipped to fill the huge gaps in the existing system.

I launched Chefs for Humanity, a national nonprofit, with my voice, heart and money from my own pocket. Money gives you the ability to make a difference in the world and, when used in a positive way, is a lot of fun.

Traditional charity is still fairly focused on how it makes donors feel as opposed to outcomes for people that need help.

All of the charities we're involved with have touched me in one way or another on a personal level. There are about eight or nine charities that I support.

My grandmother was a Greenpeace supporter. We've always done that sort of thing; we've always believed in helping others - it's part of our ethos.

Acting is a smaller piece in a big puzzle. There are charity things I want to immerse myself in and want to have the time to go and give back to people who don't have the opportunities I have. It's a very important thing to me.

Money can add very much to one's ability to lead a constructive life, not only pleasant for oneself, but, hopefully, beneficial to others. My grandfather, along with Carnegie, was a pioneer in philanthropy, which my father then practiced on a very large scale. The Christian ethic played an essential part in my upbringing.

There is a place and a time for philanthropy, and there is only so much money you can give away.

If you're an enthusiast and you love the world like I do, it comes naturally. But I think charity must become more fun to give, more interactive and imaginative.

In my view, a philanthropist is anyone who gives anything - time, money, experience, skills or networks - in any amount, to create a better world. This is not how we once thought about philanthropy. The word used to conjure up something rather passive - sitting down and writing checks.

Anybody doing philanthropy has to find something that appeals to them from their own personal background or from intellectual curiosity.

I want to be more than just an artist and be a people's person and do a lot of stuff for people.

I give to panhandlers on occasion, especially around the holidays, but have always been involved with charity, which was an important part of the way I was brought up. My siblings and I knew early on in life that we were incredibly fortunate and have never taken that for granted, so we recognize the importance of giving back.

I love charity shops.

Everyone has needs, but Food for the Hungry is something that people can grasp onto as a practical way to step outside of themselves, take a risk, and give.

Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?

It went beyond idealism and that ridiculous term "activism," which basically means talking about something but doing nothing. . . . We made giving exciting.

Giving does not just feel good, but it's really, really good for business, and it's good for your personal brand.

People do not give from the top of their purses but from the bottom of their hearts. If you desire to become a more generous person do not change your income. Change your heart.

The difference between charity and philanthropy is the distance of the soul... To be philanthropic is to give something, to be charitable is to give one's own heart.

I believe you should help people.

Suggest your children try tithing - giving 10 percent of their allowance to a charity every month.

I've been a philanthropist for all my life, and... I've had many involvements in humanitarian and environmental issues.