"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."
-Maha Ghosandanda
I found this eloquent and simple gem in a book called The Blue Sweater, which I spied on a Barnes and Noble table, and upon getting a vague sense from the back cover that it talked about economics and development, two of my prime favorite subjects, decided to pick it up from the local library (one of prime favorite places, as it happens. And I just love that phrase--"local library"--it brings back fond Reading Rainbow memories. Ah Lavarr.)
In any case, it's turned out to be a highly interesting and inspiring book. It was written as a memoir by Jacqueline Novogratz, who unbeknownst to moi at the time, is the lovely lady who founded Acumen Fund, an organization for which I actually applied to do an on-campus internship (among other social enterprise groups-- it didn't work out, but who knows? Maybe next time.) It's a great account of her early efforts in humanitarian work, the beginnings of Acumen Fund and most centrally, the development of the idea of "patient capital," the middle ground between traditional, unaccountable notions of charity and the unsentimental yet highly effective rules of traditional business. It also contains a wrenching account of her personal experience in Rwanda, both pre- and post-genocide, and the lessons to be learned there.
The quote above, from Maha Ghosandanda, comes from Novogratz's interview with the Buddhist monk and Cambodian peace activist. It really helped me distill how I feel about development, and how I believe I need to approach life in general. These two things--intellect, and compassion--are both so, so important to me. But you cannot rely just on facts, analysis, numbers. But you can't indulge in pure sentimentality and idealism and give and give money and stuff, without giving those whom you are trying to help a chance and an expectation to prove themselves. That's what I think Martin Burt (another amazing individual, and speaker at the Hunger Banquet last year) meant when he said that if you give a man who is capable of providing for himself free stuff, like blankets, you may actually be taking away his dignity. You have to respect people and hold them, and aid groups, accountable and show trust in them to succeed.
I highly recommend The Blue Sweater to anyone looking to delve deeper into the changing world of international development, to anyone who won't balk at a "call to action that challenges us to grant dignity to the poor and to rethink our engagement with the world." It certainly has given me a lot to think on.
