Kofi Annan Quotes

People with lower incomes tend to give a greater percentage of their incomes to help others and show greater empathy and compassion - perhaps because they know they might face the same circumstances.

It's very, very hard to be generous and compassionate if you haven't got a dollar in you back pocket to pay for it, to actually pay for those services that people need.

This idea of selfishness as a virtue, as opposed to generosity: That, to me, is unnatural.

The world is so competitive, aggressive, consumive, selfish and during the time we spend here we must be all but that.

The depths of the Depression. You didn't ask what the job was, what the pay was, you didn't ask about stock options, or - you said yes.

I am convinced that the majority of people would be generous from selfish motives, if they had the opportunity.

The most frivolous disaster which could befall himself would occasion a more real disturbance. If he was to lose his little finger to-morrow, he would not sleep to-night; but, provided he never saw them, he will snore with the most profound security over the ruin of a hundred millions of his brethren, and the destruction of that immense multitude seems plainly an object less interesting to him, than this paltry misfortune of his own.

The major forces in human nature: self interest and caring for others

The fact of the matter is, people care about their own human interests: the people they love, their families, and their communities.

There is some pretty powerful self-interest in wanting a future that is not just running storm-to-storm. The argument that I make is not that we aren't competitive and selfish and greedy. We are. We're all of these things. We're complicated, competitive, greedy and nasty, and kind and generous and compassionate.

The poverty of a man of benevolence is not to be considered as poverty but only as his temporary inability to exercise his inherent duty.

I'm not a naturally giving person.

We all have a responsibility in life to do what we can to help those less fortunate.

I was having trouble making ends meet, and my beginnings weren't meeting either.

We seldom find people ungrateful so long as it is thought we can serve them.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'

A coldly rationalist individualist can deny that he has any obligation to make sacrifices for the future.

He who lives only to benefit himself confers on the world a benefit when he dies.

I believe that the human motive to share is very powerful. The human motive to profit is also very powerful, and I think that the profit motive and the sharing motive are not exclusive.

When we see people that are impoverished and people who are dealt an unfair hand, then if we have the power to help them, we should try to do that.

I don't know why we choose to reach out to help another person, or why we decide that we can't, and withdraw and try to care only for ourselves, but I'm fascinated by that choice.

I just feel that I'm compelled; that I have a responsibility to give back to those less fortunate.

There's no such thing as altruism.

The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question.

There is a moral obligation that those who have should give to those who don't.