Pay It Forward

When someone does you a big favor, don't pay it back... PayItForward!

To PayItForward, do an action described as this:

1. It has to be something that really helps people.
2. Something they can't do by themselves.
3. I do it for them, they do it for three other people.

Film by Mimi Leder.

http://www.payitforwardmovement.org/

---

http://www.payitforwardfoundation.com/home.html

http://www.cryanhyde.com/PIFSynopsis.html

In the spirit of WikiGnomes, I took down the broken link to cinephile, and replaced it with these. Perhaps it has something to do with the idea of PayItForward...it may be utopian, but it's still working...

---

Isn't this a little bit utopian?

Any idea to change the world for the better will always seem utopian at first. But even if only a few people do it, it's still a big step towards making life easier for everyone, and improving our quality of life. Thinking about PayItForward always makes me feel more optimistic about everything!

-- JoscelynKleingeld

It would seem to me the that essence of a society is that you put into the pot even if you don't derive direct benefit from it simply because you are weaker on your own. Hence this is not a utopian ideal - it's a necessary behaviour for a well functioning society.

-- JamesHollidge

---

I don't know if it's Utopian, but it's a concept truly simple that everybody can put it to work (even if not everybody does so, like in the movie).

• It's also something that many folks are inclined to do at a specific time in their lives. e.g.
  • Successful people as they enter their retirement years, are quite inclined to become Mentors and Charitable donors.

---

This phrase is often attributed to RobertHeinlein. I don't know if he said it first, but he apparently said it a lot.

• RobertHeinlein used the phrase when helping out younger, less established authors. I don't remember whether he had it from his own mentors; anyway, the application to programming should be obvious.

---