Jacqueline Novogratz Quotes

Why do some people stop growing at age 30, just going from work to the couch and television, when others stay vibrant, curious, almost childlike into their nineties?

You should focus on being more interested than interesting.

How you see where you are always depends on where you've been.

Poverty is not only about income levels, but for lack of freedom that comes from physical insecurity

If we have learned anything, it is the horror that can happen when people don't think for themselves, but instead follow authority blindly.

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I took mine and fell flat on my face. As a young woman, I dreamed of changing the world. In my twenties, I went to africa to try and save the continent, only to learn that Africans neither wanted nor needed saving. Indeed, when I was there, I saw some of the worst that good intentions, traditional charity, and aid can produce... I concluded that if I could only nudge the world a little bit, maybe that would be enough. But nudging isn't enough.

In today's world, the elites are growing even more comfortable with one another across national lines, yet at the same time, less comfortable with low-income people who share their nationality. How we create those bonds of community that are truly global as well as national is one of our generation's great challenges.

As is so often the case, the supposedly insignificant understood the psychology of the strong, while the strong didn't have a clue about the other.

you don’t plan your way into finding your purpose. You live into it.

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.” – George Bernard Shaw

Our actions, and inaction, touch people we may never know and never meet across the globe.

if you want to serve, you must begin by listening, not assuming.

Rather than being rewarded for what we give, we’re too often affirmed by what we take.

be more interested than interesting.

As Eleanor Roosevelt wrote long ago, the work of renewing a world based on extending dignity to every being on the planet begins in small places, close to home.

Though either choice was good, one was truer to myself... Ultimately, I reflected on Geothe's invocation to 'make a commitment and the forces of the universe will conspire to make it happen' and chose the uncharted path.

I've learned that there is no currency like trust and no catalyst like hope. There is nothing worse for building relationships than pandering, on one hand, and preaching, on the other. And the most important quality we must all strengthen in ourselves is that of a deep human empathy, for that will provide the most hope of all--and the foundation for our collective survival.

Poverty is too complex to be answered with a one-size-fits-all approach, and if there is any place that illustrates that complexity, as well as a better way forward, it is Rwanda.

The point is this: We are the system. We decide how to define success, and we can reject purely individualistic terms.

the urgent challenge for our times is to reimagine capitalism as a tool to enable our wholeness rather than to reinforce our separation

With those you aim to serve or lead, your job is to be interested, to help make another person shine, not demonstrate how smart or good or capable you yourself are.

Solving complex problems is rarely accomplished with a silver bullet or a single approach.

We are made from what came before. We make ourselves out of the promises that lie ahead. And we are always in the process of becoming.

learn to listen with your whole body. Listen with your ears, your eyes, all your senses. Listen not to convince or to convert, but to change yourself, spark your moral imagination, soften your hardened edges, and open yourself to the world.

If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.” – Marian Wright Edelman

Language has very little to do with the words you say and everything with how you say them. Everyone understands what you are doing, even if the words sometimes don’t follow.

Buddhist monk Maha Ghosananda was quoted by author Jacqueline Novogratz in The Blue Sweater: “If you move through the world only with your intellect, then you walk on only one leg. If you move through the world only with your compassion, then you walk on only one leg. But if you move through the world with both intellect and compassion, then you have wisdom.

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” – Arundhati Roy

cynics don’t build the future.

When we dare to understand the other, we find the seeds of our best selves.

Moral leadership requires the judgment to make the right short-term compromises so as to realize the long-term change we seek.

We can end poverty if we start by looking at all human beings as part of a single global community that recognizes that everyone deserves a chance to build a life worth living.

When individual listening is ingrained in collective culture, the whole community is more likely to shine.

Each of us needs to develop the courage to listen with our whole heart and mind, to give love without asking for thanks in return, and to meet each person as a chance to know a new individual, not as a way of reaffirming prejudices. (284)

I've learned that generosity is far easier than justice and that, in the highly distorted markets of the poor, it is all too easy to veer only toward the charitable, to have low--or no--expectations for low-income people. This does nothing but reaffirm prejudices on all sides.

Don't wait for perfection. Just start and let the work teach you. No one expects you to get it right in the beginning, and you'll learn more from your mistakes than you will from your early successes anyway. So stop worrying so much and just look at your best bets and go. (221)

This is the secret of accompaniment. I will hold a mirror to you and show you your value, bear witness to your suffering, and to your light. And over time, you will do the same for me, for within the relationship lies the promise of our shared dignity and the mutual encouragement needed to do the hard things. Whatever you aim to do, whatever problem you hope to address, remember to accompany those who are struggling, those who are left out, who lack the capabilities needed to solve their own problems. We are each other’s destiny. Beneath the hard skills and firm strategic priorities needed to resolve our greatest challenges lies the soft, fertile ground of our shared humanity. In that place of hard and soft is sustenance enough to nourish the entire human family.

This book assumes that you are interested in being part of world-changing human capital that will help solve problems big and small. Maybe you are a teacher or a communicator, an activist or a doctor, a lawyer or an investor, or some new force for positive change. I have seen people like you alter the lives of schoolchildren and street children, refugees, the formerly incarcerated; of people living in forgotten communities and in places ravaged by war, poverty, or toxic industries.

There would always be naysayers, we told ourselves; in fact, it was this spirit that ultimately inspired the organization’s name, Duterimbere, which means to go forward with enthusiasm.

What happens to the earth if we see it as a resource but not a responsibility?

I should learn to be a bird on the outside and a tiger within.

If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.”   —MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN

Hope is a path on the mountainside. At first there is no path. But then there are people passing that way. And there is a path.”   —LU XUN

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.”   —BUDDHA

power corrupts on an equal-opportunity basis.

Today, poor people the world over are seeking opportunity and choice to have greater dignity in their lives - and they want to do it themselves, even if they need a little help. Today we have the tools and technologies to bring real opportunities to people all across the world.

Just look at the track record of these giveaway programs," I protested. "Broken mills, lower production levels of rice after 20 years of work and money. This can't be right...the only way this will work for the farmers is if they own it themselves, if they can see their own lives getting better because of their efforts and ability to control their own futures and not have to wait around for the government.

I also took issue with the practice of donors typically only funding programs instead of institutions...That is a fine strategy for providing alms or direct charity. At the same time, no one would invest in a company and not expect it to pay for hiring great people, paying the rent, and keeping the lights on. We need philanthropists to build institutions in the social sector too.

By the end of the summer, we were in a bit of a panic, and a wise CEO from a healthcare company gave me advice I will never forget. "just start," he said. "Don't wait for perfection. Just start and let the work teach you. No one expects you to get it right the very beginning, and you'll learn more from your mistakes than your early successes anyway. So stop worrying so much and just look at your best bets and go.

We run Aravind like McDonald's," he explained, "clean and organized, with every process known and understood so that we get maximum efficiency. Two-thirds of the patients pay nothing or nearly nothing, and yet the hospital is consistently profitable - and growing.

I am so happy, too, though I never married. You know, there are many paths in a life. But the best ones are the ones where you are living the truth and search for good and giving to others.

Philanthropists should find innovations that release the energies of people. Individuals don't want to be taken care of --they need to be given a chance to fulfill their own potential. (142)

My first grade nun had instructed me that from those to whom much is given, much is expected. I was learning that this lesson had to be combined with Shakespeare's wisdom that one must 'to thine own self be true.' Add to this humility, empathy, a sense of curiosity, courage, and plain old hard work, and I was finally seeing the real path to leadership. Of course, humor is always a plus. (158)

Honorata's story reminds me of the extraordinary power of the human spirit to withstand almost anything. Her story also speaks to the power of service, to living a life of purpose, and to keeping the flame of hope alive. (175)

As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, we need to find better solutions that will include everyone in today's opportunities. (197)

The genocide had exposed the dangers of a country overly reliant on aid, illuminated the perils of government power concentrated in too few hands and depends on systems lacking accountability, and shown the fault lines of idealism without tough pragmatism. (200)

I've learned that solutions to poverty must be driven by discipline, accountability, and market strength, not easy sentimentality. I've learned that many of the answers to poverty lie in the space between the market and charity and that what is needed most of all is moral leadership willing to build solutions from the perspectives of poor people themselves rather than imposing grand theories and plans upon them.

If you move through the world with only your compassion, then you walk on only one leg. But if you move through the world with both intellect and compassion, then you have wisdom.

We are connected, but the weave is sometimes fragile. (192)

Our most most effective leaders, therefore, will strengthen their knowledge of how to build organizations while also having the vision and heart to help people imagine that change is possible in their lives. (277)

What we need is a moral revolution, one that helps us reimagine and reform technology, business, and politics, thereby touching all aspects of our lives. By “moral,” I don’t mean strictly adhering to established rules of authority or convention regardless of consequence. I mean a set of principles focused on elevating our individual and collective dignity: a daily choice to serve others, not simply benefit ourselves. I mean complementing the audacity that built the world we know with a new humility more attuned to our interdependence.

Purpose does not reveal itself to those sitting safely at the starting block. In other words, you don’t plan your way into finding your purpose. You live into it.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

defining success by how others fare because of your efforts,

every problem is an opportunity for us to act.

We can disagree on the specifics of what humans need to succeed, but if our starting point is an environmentally sustainable world that enables all its inhabitants to flourish, then we’ve got the foundation for a moral framework.

In a world of extreme inequality, what kind of economic system is just? By conforming to a system structured solely to maximize shareholder returns, we avoid taking personal responsibility for the answer to that moral question.

The current economic system keeps the attention on what we can count (profits) rather than on what we most value (our children’s health and education, the quality of the air we breathe, just compensation to the poorest, etc.).

thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi: “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the ocean in a drop.

The more you are aware of the power you maintain in each situation, the more likely you are to gain a truer understanding of others.

Ultimately, our future as a human race depends on all of us subscribing to a revolution of morals in which we each commit ourselves to something beyond ourselves.

But if you want to play it safe, you shouldn’t get into the business of change. Change involves risk, and risk, which is not the same as recklessness, requires courage.

We are the ones who choose the kind of economy and society we inhabit. We can continue to play by tired rules that work only for the few, at the expense of the many, or we can imagine and build new rules that work for everyone.

Changing systems for the poor, not just the rich, requires understanding how to use markets and how to partner with government, which means moving from small-scale purity to the messy and complex thickness of scale.

In times of both success and failure, we can choose with whom we stand. Going beyond yourself to enable others not just to persevere but to thrive lies at the heart of accompaniment.

The job of the moral leader—which is the job of all of us—is to learn to tell the stories that matter,

As the philosopher Plato wrote, “What is honored in a country is cultivated there.

Anger can go a long way, yet it eventually whittles the soul.

Beauty is an expression of human dignity.

We are on dangerous ground when “faith” becomes associated with political parties, or when nonbelievers are seen as heretics rather than seekers.

We commit ourselves to being members of a single human family, beyond any nation or religion, caste or tribe. This work is difficult and it is long, but it is the work of the moral revolution, the only way to build a future that will sustain us.

the decision we face is not to chart the perfect way forward; it is simply to embark on a journey.

Privilege can deafen us to those who feel less worthy or valuable. Those for whom the system “works” can easily become accustomed to the world rolling out a welcome mat and learn to behave as if every place were our exclusive domain.

No one escapes life without broken parts.

If you define patriotism as being the best at the expense of other peoples and nations, and if you blame others for your own problems or refuse to engage, then you cannot be a patriot and a global citizen.

As the American civil rights advocate Bryan Stevenson has said, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

John’s was a lived and practical wisdom. “The self-renewing man,” he wrote, “looks forward to an endless and unpredictable dialogue between his potentialities and the claims of life—not only the claims he encounters but the claims he invents.” He was a half century older than me, but John’s enduring curiosity, his sense of possibility and willingness to try made him seem the youngest person I knew. So, just start.

Jacqueline Novogratz has her own spin24 on this concept, phrased in the question What are you doing when you feel most beautiful? In her travels for the Acumen Fund, she sometimes asks her question in unlikely settings: “I decided to try it out on women living in a slum in Bombay.” At first, it didn’t go over well: “One woman said, ‘There’s nothing in our lives that’s beautiful.’ But finally another woman, who worked as a gardener, said, ‘Well, I can think of one time. All winter long I slog and slog, but when those flowers push through the ground, I feel beautiful.

For the umpteenth time, I reminded myself that traveling as a single woman is not the same as traveling as a man.

Honorata asked me to accompany her to visit the group of widows she supported. “They need to give you their stories for their own healing,” she said. This notion of “giving” stories was new, but I would soon learn the power of bearing witness and of transferring pain through storytelling. By listening and acknowledging the truths of those women, I had the honor of playing a miniscule part in their healing.

Moral imagination means to view other people’s problems as if they were your own, and to begin to discern how to tackle those problems. And then to act accordingly. It summons us to understand and transcend the realities of current circumstances and to envision a better future for ourselves and others. Moral imagination starts with empathy, but it does not content itself simply to feel another’s pain. Empathy without action risks reinforcing the status quo. Rather, moral imagination is muscular, built from the bottom up and grounded through immersion in the lives of others. It involves connecting on a human level, analyzing the systemic issues at play, and only then envisioning how to go beyond applying a Band-Aid to making a long-term difference.

The key is to find local leaders who own the dream and will make it happen.

I think that was the moment when humility in its truest form—rather than an easy but false humbleness—began to creep in. Until then, I’d been too vested in knowing the answers and in being right. For the first time in my life, being right had nothing to do with being successful or effective. I also began to be more honest about what was happening around me—I couldn’t stand all talk without action, and too many expatriates and elite Africans seemed to revel in it. I wanted to work directly with poor women themselves.

Strategically, as my friend and founding Acumen board member Stuart Davidson says, “If you want advice, ask for money. If you want to raise money, ask for advice.” We all yearn to be recognized.

And while the first or second or sometimes tenth time I tried something might still feel uncomfortable, each experience expanded my worldview, even the most incremental of victories imparting me with the belief that life could be a great adventure if you were willing to dare.

The challenge wasn’t whether to buy a couple of bottles of champagne; it was instead not to take our privilege for granted and to use it in a way that served the world and our highest purpose.

After more than 20 years of working in Africa, India, and Pakistan, I’ve learned that solutions to poverty must be driven by discipline, accountability, and market strength, not easy sentimentality. I’ve learned that many of the answers to poverty lie in the space between the market and charity and that what is needed most of all is moral leadership willing to build solutions from the perspectives of poor people themselves rather than imposing grand theories and plans upon them.

Power without love,” Martin Luther King Jr. said in one of his last speeches, “is reckless and abusive,” and, he continued, “love without power is sentimental and anemic.

Only by knowing ourselves can we truly understand others—and knowing from where you come is an important part of knowing who you are.

Temía vivir una vida de tranquila desesperación, por citar a Thoreau, y ansiaba una vida rica en aventuras.