Blake Mycoskie Quotes

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.

Personal philanthropy must be separated from corporate philanthropy. Personal philanthropy is more about giving back to society, or giving forward, as it is now referred to.

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.

I get great satisfaction from both business and philanthropy.

I think all philanthropy invests in product innovation, whether in a vaccine or a new kind of product of one sort or another, and I think we'll all continue to do that.

The thing we should all be looking for are people who want to make a difference. I'm a big believer in the Silicon Valley religion of the power of markets. But I also believe in our obligation to give back, and to give back in the way we do business, to create more value than we capture for ourselves.

The future of TOMS is really creating a whole new business model of this one-for-one giving and expanding the TOMS model from shoes into other products as well.

Over the years, we have gone beyond our businesses to take up philanthropic projects in diverse areas - from education to health care to skilling.

My brother and I made a pact that every deal we do has to have a charitable component; otherwise, we don't do it.

Purpose has always been part of Unilever's DNA. Our founder, William Lever, built a business around the sale of Lifebuoy soap that was not only profitable and sustainable but also helped transform the health of the poor in Victorian Britain.

When we started our foundation, I was less than 30 years old. We pledged that 10 per cent of our profits, whatever the amount, would be used for a social cause, and that we would be actively involved in that cause.

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.

I truly believe that philanthropy and commerce can work together.

You can spend your money on art works and sit down and look at them. Or you can use your money to help people.

I would never want to take TOMS or myself into an issues debate. That's not what we're about. We're about helping people.

It's hard to be a good philanthropist in China.

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

I can honestly say that TOMS is my future. I mean I have no desire to start any other company for as long as I live because this is the perfect blend of business and philanthropy to me.

Meeting people who want to start a charity, help out their families, or raise money for a good cause has been really fun.

I very much believe in teaching young people about philanthropy, and to give back.

I'm starting the Juicy J Scholarship Foundation. I'm going to start doing a lot of different things trying to help out and give back.

How I see my career is very much as an entrepreneur in the field of philanthropy.

When I was younger, I played sports and went to camp. As I got older, my parents began to instill in us the importance of giving back to the community, especially those places around the world that are less fortunate than my very privileged life growing up in Los Angeles.

Philanthropy is the thing that I am really excited about, and having success means I can do more.

For us, giving back is not an extracurricular activity.