Sterling Terrell

smart ideas from books (mostly)

In Praise Of Giving Anonymously

In Praise Of Giving Anonymously

Here’s to giving anonymously.

Now don’t get me wrong. Giving in and of itself is great. I believe that charity with both time and money should be lauded.

Understand: The very act of participating is more than most are willing to do.

But giving to others anonymously speaks volumes about one’s character, for it takes the ego out of it.

You are doing that which is right, because it is right. Not because you are going to be praised for it.

I give, sure.

But saying much more than that wouldn’t make it anonymous, now would it?

Give! And show us who you are by doing it quietly.

Rothstein was no longer an observing Jew, but here he was living the Jewish experience—giving anonymously. No one but Arnold and God would know of this gift. No matter the bad things Rothstein did, I like to think this act carried weight with God. Rothstein was looking after his father long after his father stopped looking after him.

-Rich Cohen, Tough Jews

Mad At The World, But What Are You Doing?

Mad At The World, But What Are You Doing?

You can’t be mad at the world about global poverty. Can you?

I mean, as a trained economist, I am not sure how much global poverty that America is responsible for.

Or even what “America being responsible for global poverty” even means or implies…

But I do know one thing.

If you do nothing about poverty, on a personal level, you are a bit of a hypocrite.

“The thing I realized on the day we protested, on the day I had beers with Tony, was that it did me no good to protest America’s responsibility in global poverty when I wasn’t even giving money to my church, which has a terrific homeless ministry. I started feeling very much like a hypocrite.”

–Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

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