the.com/generous
the quiet flex of having enough and giving it anyway
means willing to give freely — more money, time, kindness, or benefit of the doubt than is strictly required.
from From Latin generosus, 'of noble birth,' built on genus, gener- ('birth, kind, stock') — the same root behind 'genus,' 'genesis,' and 'gene.' At first 'generous' meant high-born, but the idea drifted: nobility was supposed to come with open-handedness, so over time the word shifted from describing your bloodline to describing your character. A cousin of nearly every 'gen-' word in English, all tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to give birth, beget.'
- latin root
- from genus, meaning noble birth and breeding
- brain reward
- giving lights up the same circuit as eating
- original meaning
- once meant aristocratic, not charitable
- longevity link
- givers show measurably lower stress and mortality
bill gates foundation — donated $50 billion to global health and development by 2022
effective altruism — peter singer's movement: wealthy adherents donate majority of income to causes, earning six figures but giving away most
ryan hreljac — ugandan well-builder who at age 6 started drilling wells, has brought water to 900,000 people across africa
dalio bridgewater associates — ray dalio donates ~$500 million annually through his foundation to education and other causes