Social Entrepreneurship Quotes

I used to be opposed to the idea of social entrepreneurship. I said, you know, let business be business, and philanthropy be philanthropy. Keep the two separate, don't mix it up, and this is what I did, and I did that rather successfully, but I now recognize that actually you do need to mix it up and I think there is room for social entrepreneurship.

What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up, and remake the world for the better.

Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.

To have people from every continent who are working on philanthropy, on social entrepreneurship, gives me a unique opportunity to engage.

The world must become aware of the fantastic transformational power of social entrepreneurship and the Foundation will work as a catalyst in this effort.

Social entrepreneurs are married to a vision of, for example, a better way of helping young people grow up or of delivering global healthcare. They simply will not stop because they cannot be happy until their vision becomes the new pattern.

I have a problem with the term social entrepreneurship because people say only business helps to make the world a better place.

I want to make the world a better place, for women, mainly.

Just try to make the world a better place for your having been here.

The difference between both is that social entrepreneurship has a much more financial transparency. There is no financial viability and that is where a corporate sector makes a difference because we maintain a balance between both the financial status and the social service.

We need to reverse three centuries of walling the for-profit and non-profit sectors off from one another. When you think for-profit and non-profit, you most often think of entities with either zero social return or zero return on capital and zero social return. Clearly, there's some opportunity in the spectrum between those extremes. What's missing is the for-profit finance industry coming in to that area. Look at the enormous diversity of the for-profit financial industry as opposed to monolithic nature of the non-profit world; it's quite astonishing.

Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

What are you doing for others?

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambition.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.