Pay It Forward

To whom much is given, much is expected.

No exercise is better for the human heart than reaching down and lifting up another person.

Though you win a Nobel Prize in physics and literature, in a sense it is more important that you keep physics and literature alive, to be passed on to the generations that follow you.

Your B.A. does not belong to you alone, just as the earth does not belong to its present tenants alone. Your education was lent to you by women of the past, and you will give some back to living women, and to your daughters seven generations from now.

Seventy-five percent of your education was paid for by your tuition, but twenty-five percent was paid for by people who never met you, through direct contributions to your endowment. They did not know who you were but gave generously so you could have your education.

You can pay back only seldom. But you can always pay forward, and you must pay forward.

A cleaner neighborhood begins with your own broom. A more beautiful city begins with a seed in your own garden. A more just society begins in your own heart.