Inspiring Generosity - Softcover

Bonner, Barbara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1614291101 ISBN 13: 9781614291107

Publisher: Wisdom Publications, 2014

Synopsis

Inspiring stories and beautifully typeset quotations about generosity. WARNING: This book might change your life.

The desire to act generously arrives like an uninvited guest, unexpectedly, like a lightning bolt, in a mere moment. A gesture, a news story, a quotation in a book, a passing remark can change everything. For many, that moment is enough for generosity to move into their hearts and minds and become central to their lives.

This book will help readers open their hearts to the power of their own innate generosity, their desire to make a difference in the world, to help make someone's day a little brighter or their world a bit more secure. It will kindle a spark in readers' hearts that moves them into the sunshine of a more generous life.

If one life is more generous, we all prosper. That is one of generosity's most wonderful qualities: it is utterly contagious.

Inspiring Generosity is an invitation to savor a sampling of the very best inspirations on the subject of generosity. It includes fourteen contemporary stories of "generosity heroes" whose lives have been transformed by the power of generosity. Sprinkled throughout these stories are writings and quotes from Shakespeare, Hafiz, Emily Dickinson, George Eliot, Wendell Berry, Sharon Olds, Naomi Shibab Nye, Donald Justice, Winston Churchill, Mother Teresa, Maya Angelou, Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Steinbeck, James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Goethe, Seneca, Albert Schweitzer, Anne Frank, and many others.

About this title

About the Author

After starting her professional life as an art historian, Barbara Bonner has devoted her career to nonprofit management, fundraising and philanthropy. In New York she held leadership positions in three of the city’s distinguished museums. She then served as Vice President of Bennington College and of the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Since 2009 she has had her own consulting company that helps nonprofit organizations transform their board leadership and philanthropic support. In addition, Barbara has served on ten nonprofit boards, most recently as Board Chair of The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Several years ago she started a major fund for helping women with cancer in her region. After 30 years in New York City, Barbara now lives in a converted barn in the Berkshire hills of Western Massachusetts.

Her first book, Inspiring Generosity, was published in 2014. Barbara has spoken widely on the subjects of generosity and leadership and is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.

Review

"This book serves as a reminder of the kindness of the American people." Author: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama

"A thoughtful presentation." Author: Pope Francis

“Like you, I am amazed every day by the stories of people around the world who give of themselves to help others. Inspiring Generosity is a beautiful book.” Author: President Bill Clinton

"This book is a great act of generosity, opening your hand, your heart, and your life in new and unexpected ways. Read it and you will love it!" Author: Robert A. F. Thurman, Columbia University

"There is nothing more compelling than a story of generosity, the truest kind of love story there is. How fitting that Inspiring Generosity embodies the very quality it praises." Author: Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness

“This beautiful, inspiring book draws you into the heart of generosity.” Author: Rick Hanson, Ph.D., author of Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

“Barbara has given us a wonderful set of stories and poems that reinforce the connection between generous action and compassion. We have much to learn from these examples and heart connected stanzas.” Author: Jeffrey C. Walker, Chairman, MDG Health Alliance, author of The Generosity Network

Edition details

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1614291101
• ISBN 13: 9781614291107
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 216