My foundations support people in the country who care about an open society. It's their work that I'm supporting. So it's not me doing it. But I can empower them. I can support them, and I can help them.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of supporting and empowering those who strive for an open society rather than claiming personal credit for their work.
In this quote, George Soros expresses his belief that his contributions are not about his individual efforts but about the support and empowerment of others who work towards maintaining an open and democratic society. He conveys that true impact comes from lifting up those who share his vision, highlighting the collaborative nature of social change and the importance of collective action in fostering an inclusive community.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech at a charity event to underline the importance of collective efforts.
The securitisation of mortgages added a new dimension of systemic risk. Financial engineers claimed they were reducing risks through geographic diversification: in fact they were increasing them by creating an agency problem. The agents were more interested in maximising fee income than in protecting the interests of bondholders. That is the verity that was ignored by regulators and market participants alike.
The collapse of the global marketplace would be a traumatic event with unimaginable consequences. Yet I find it easier to imagine than the continuation of the present regime.
Regulating and taxing marijuana would simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs, while providing many billions of dollars in revenue annually.
We are the most powerful nation on earth. No external power, no terrorist organization can defeat us. But we can defeat ourselves by getting caught in a quagmire.
The criminalization of marijuana did not prevent marijuana from becoming the most widely used illegal substance in the United States and many other countries. But it did result in extensive costs and negative consequences.
Stock market bubbles don't grow out of thin air. They have a solid basis in reality, but reality as distorted by a misconception.
I prayed for the city to be cleared of people, for the gift of being alone—a-l-o-n-e: which is the one New York prayer that rarely gets lost or delayed in channels, and in no time at all everything I touched turned to solid loneliness.
Evolution does not make happiness its goal; it aims simply at evolution and nothing else.
Speak about Christ only when you are asked. But live so that people ask about Christ!
Neurosis is the result of a conflict between the ego and its id, whereas psychosis is the analogous outcome of a similar disturbance in the relation between the ego and the external world.
To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.
Life is an unanswered question, but let's still believe in the dignity and importance of the question.
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