Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World

by Bill Clinton

Book Overview

Here, from Bill Clinton, is a call to action. Giving is an inspiring look at how each of us can change the world. First, it reveals the extraordinary and innovative efforts now being made by companies... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307266745
• ISBN13: 9780307266743
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A call to action

"Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World" is an inspirational book that details the power each and every person has to make a difference. Bill Clinton focuses on two things in this book (which, by the way, is much, MUCH shorter than his autobiography, "My Life"). First, the former president provides countless examples of people and organizations that have taken on projects that have had a positive impact on the world. Second, the book demonstrates the many different ways people can give back, either by volunteering, organizing, or making monetary donations. I was extremely impressed by the scope of this book. I thought the whole focus of "Giving" would be on the work the Clinton Foundation has done over the past six years. Although Clinton does use some of his personal experiences as examples, most of the stories in this book are about outside individuals and other non-governmental organizations that are doing amazing things. Clinton praises a wide variety of people for their good works, ranging from Bill and Melinda Gates to a young girl who organized regular garbage pick-ups at a local beach. I recognized a lot of the names and organizations mentioned in this book, but many of them were unfamiliar to me, and it was great to learn about the different things people are doing. So many people (myself included) tend to focus on the negative aspects of the world we live in. We complain about the government, the economy, taxes, etc., but the reality is that there is a lot of good in the world that goes unnoticed. Reading this book was very inspirational because it illustrated how many people care enough to try to make the world a better place. I know that sounds kind of hokey, but it's the truth...and people really do make an enormous difference! Everyone has the ability to give something, regardless of age, availability, or income. After reading this book, I'm reassessing the amount that I give back and thinking about ways that I can do more. I hope other people will do the same thing.

The Power of Giving

This is a marvelously inspiring book that encourages us to find our own reasons for giving. The book assures us that each person can give regardless of whether you have money, skills, material goods or ideas to contribute to make the world a better place. You CAN make a difference! That's a very powerful message for everyone regardless of your political stripe. Religious people can use their energies in giving instead of casting stones at others. Business leaders can focus their energies on working towards a more equitable world instead of merely focusing on the bottom line. The examples given in this book, such as those of Bill and Melinda Gates through their foundation illustrate how giving can be carried out by people who feel a sense of responsibility to the world. Ordinary folks like the 6-year McKenzie, who helped to clean up benches in her community, prove that giving is possible by all of us and we can give in our own way with whatever we have to offer. The book provides many other inspiring examples of people stepping up and recognizing a need and being committed to create positive change that touches people's lives both locally and globally. President Clinton can speak with authority on the subject, since he has been involved at the forefront of many charitable activities. He has gone past partisan politics in working with George Bush Sr. to focus on relief for the Asian Tsunami or for Hurricane Katrina. President Clinton has become a model for giving and I found this book to be inspiring and encouraging. The most fascinating part I found was how each person found a greater fulfillment and purpose through their commitment to helping others. If you like this book also consider: Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light - an excellent book on an icon of compassion, Man's Search for Meaning - a classic book by Dr. Viktor Frankl on finding meaning in life and Nexus: A Neo Novel - a spiritually inspiring novel about compassion and life transformation.

For everyone who is or should be making a difference in the world

Everybody has something to give, everybody knows that. Everybody has something to give which can change the world, Bill Clinton knows that. In this book, he tells you how via means each of us has, even if we don't think we have those means through our own misconceptions and misperceptions of what we can contribute to the world, including the pretentious notion that changing the world happens all at once on some grand scale rather than one contribution for one cause and/or one person at a time. This is a book for everyone, whether you are already giving and making a difference in the world on any scale so you can do more, or whether you need to be convinced to join the giving movement gaining momentum recently but still falling short of what is really needed in the world to make it a better and more socially just place for all to live. Bill organizes ways he proposes we consider giving by means of money, time, things, skills, recognition & new beginnings, self-sustenance, examples, ideas, organization and more. Anecdotal stories proliferate the book, not as merely stories for inspiration but also serving as successful real life examples of the diversity of each theme on giving. The interesting thing I found about most of them was that many started out very small and humble, truly like things we could each do, and either grew into something large by continuous effort or equivalent efforts by others each chipping in the same small contribution. In fact, I would think most readers reading these small contribution stories would say to themselves, "I could do more than that" and follow up on it. There were also many conversational clippings Bill had with some more prominent givers, whether by amount or efforts Herculean relative to their lives. What was inspiring about these were their philosophies about giving and how simple and practical they could be to anybody, but yet, probably few think about it in those ways which was among the reasons Bill wrote the book. It really opens up the possibilities for all of us wanting to give in ways that can change the world. Overall, for the value of what this book can inspire everybody to do, no exceptions, I would not only highly recommend this book, but also give it that prestigious but generalist distinction of the one book from this year I would choose to give every person in the world if I could.

Reaching Out To People In Need

After reviewing his latest book, "Giving," I believe that Bill Clinton's main purpose of his book is to "reach out" to people in need. He wrote this book to us for three reasons and three reasons only: 1) To give generously - give the best of what we have, 2) To give humbly - ask for nothing in return and allow God to take the spotlight, and 3) To give radically - be counter-cultural. Give beyond what's comfortable from us. In MY opinion, I believe the main theme of his book is that "Money does NOT belong to us, but it belongs to God." Now of course this is NOT a religous or spiritual book, but this book sets the idea that we all live a privileged lifestyle...that we have unique opportunity to give generously out of what we have been given. Clinton feels that we are suppose to live a life of sacrifice - that we are called to love our enemies, to care for those in need, to prefer others and embrace selflessness at all costs. I believe the main vision for his book is to encourage Americans to give ourselves away in ways that will challenge and change not just how we should change the world as Americans, but how we think globally and culturally in relations to giving as well. Now of course, I am not going to summarize what he says in the book (that's for you to figure out), but I will definitely RECOMMEND this book to anyone who are interested in making a difference in our society today. Overall, an excellent book for us to to be world changers in America!! A+

Bill Clinton at his best

Even conservatives will like this book. It's interesting, inspiring, clearly written, not at all political and, believe it or not, only a tad self-centered. Filled with dozens, maybe hundreds, of specific examples of charitable individuals and successful grassroots programs, it argues -- in fact, proves -- that you don't have to be a big shot to make the world a better place. Clinton clearly believes in what he writes; the book is passionate and powerful on topics that, in other hands, would be detached and dull. Besides the subject matter, what I liked best about the book is its organization. Written so you don't have to read it all at once, it breaks down philanthropy into six different categories, and gives each its own chapter. Those are: * Giving time * Giving things * Giving skills * Giving "gifts of reconciliation and new beginnings" (citing everything from the efforts of Nelson Mandela to PeacePlayers International, a group that sets up basketball leagues in the Middle East) * Giving gifts that keep on giving (such as the work of Heifer International, which gives millions of poor farmers free cows -- as long as they agree to donate one its first offspring to someone else) * Giving to good ideas Clinton also includes descriptions of some successful charitable programs that are easy to use as model strategies for your own ideas, illustrates how businesses can make money out of acting in the public interest, and explains his views on what roles governments (not just Washington, but cities and states) can play. In the last chapter, titled "How Much Should You Give and Why," he argues that if the rich would donate five percent of their incomes to humanitarian causes, the rest of society would give even more, and that one reason to be generous and public spirited is simply that it makes you feel good. "Who's happier?" he writes. "The uniters or the dividers? The builders or the breakers? The givers or the takers? I think you know the answer." Regardless of your political views, if you're a charitable person and seriously want to make a difference in the world, this is a must-read. You'll come away from it not only inspired, but with plenty of ideas on how to accomplish your goals.