Freeman Dyson Quotes

We should be focused on how to make people's lives better. That is the purpose of technology.

Imagine what we could do for the world's grand challenges with a trillion hours of focused attention.

General consultant to mankind.

I want to make a difference in the world because I believe that's what science is for.

I don't work on a project unless I believe that it will dramatically improve life for a bunch of people.

I felt sometimes too responsible as an actor because people promote violence or weird things that I don't want to be part of.

Technologists provide tools that can improve people's lives. But I want to be clear that I don't think technology by itself improves people's lives, since often I'm criticized for being too pro-technology. Unless there's commensurate ethical and moral improvements to go along with it, it's for naught.

In contemplating what to do with my life, I felt like I had two possible paths: one was to move to New York and work in a design house; the other was to move to Africa and deliver food aid. That's when the idea of the FEED bag came to me. It's for those who want to put their consumer dollars to good use.

When you work as a humanitarian, you are conscious that politics have to be considered. Because if you really want to make an extreme change, then you have a responsibility.

Business has a responsibility and opportunity to be the driving force for the advancement of universal human rights.

Whenever technological advancement is made it can always be used both for good or for bad.

It was a privilege to be president and it is a privilege to be a former president and I believe that I have got a chance to be a part of something that is influential - but not for my sake, but for the sake of people dying in Africa or people worried about a free society in their countries or people who wonder whether there will be a free market.

I don't see any negativity with what Brad Pitt is doing with his Make It Right Foundation, or what Sean Penn is trying to do in Haiti.

Running a business is making a difference in people's lives

What we are finding out now is that there are not only limits to growth but also to technology and that we cannot allow technology to go on without public consent.

I'm certainly well taken care of in terms of food and clothes ... Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organization and getting the resources out to the poorest in the world.

What's to become of the morally sound? Left out in the cold, I suppose. We must heal the sick.

We cannot close ourselves off to information and ignore the fact that millions of people are out there suffering. I honestly want to help. I don't believe I feel differently from other people. I think we all want justice and equality, a chance for a life with meaning. All of us would like to believe that if we were in a bad situation someone would help us.

Philanthropy is lost. The human spirit is suppressed. Most people want a legacy; they want to give something back, a library, a hospital wing, a donation to their church. This is a form of socialism that must go.

Giving back has to do with the way I was brought up and the fact that I've traveled widely and seen terrible situations in the world. To sleep well at night, those of us who are in a position to help must address these situations. I'd get far greater satisfaction out of, say, walking into a hospital I'd built in South Africa than I would by sitting on a beach. I'm fortunate enough to be in a position to make a difference, and I don't want to waste that. I suspect I was also lucky to have parents who drove me from a young age.

This [philanthropy] work is even more fascinating. It requires us to think harder about how we build partnerships, who we get behind. And yet we get to see progress that in some ways is even more profound than the great advances that digital technology has provided.

Philanthropy is not about the money. It's about using whatever resources you have at your fingertips and applying them to improving the world.

The humanitarian wishes to be a prime mover in the lives of others. He cannot admit either the divine or the natural order, by which men have the power to help themselves. The humanitarian puts himself in the place of God.

If we see someone who needs help, do we stop? There is so much suffering and poverty, and a great need for good Samaritans.