Inspiring Generosity

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“This book is a great act of generosity on Barbara Bonner’s part, opening your hand, your heart, and your life in new and unexpected ways. Read it and you will love it!”—Robert A. F. Thurman, Columbia University

INSPIRING GENEROSITY

Barbara Bonner

The desire to act generously arrives like uninvited guest, unexpectedly, like a lightning bolt, in a mere moment. A gesture, a news story, a quotation in a book, a passing remark can change everything. For many, that moment is enough for generosity to move into their hearts and minds and become central to their lives.

This book will help readers open their hearts to the power of their own innate generosity, their desire to make a difference in the world, to help make someone’s day a little brighter or their world a bit more secure. It will kindle a spark in readers’ hearts that moves them into the sunshine of a more generous life. If one life is more generous, we all prosper. That is one of generosity’s most wonderful qualities: it is utterly contagious.

Barbara Bonner’s Inspiring Generosity is an invitation to savor a sampling of the very best inspirations on the subject of generosity. It includes fourteen contemporary stories of “generosity heroes” whose lives have been transformed by the power of generosity. Sprinkled throughout these stories are writings, poems, and quotes from Shakespeare, Hafiz, Emily Dickinson, George Eliot, Wendell Berry, Sharon Olds, Naomi Shibab Nye, Donald Justice, Winston Churchill, Mother Teresa, Maya Angelou, Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Steinbeck, James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Goethe, Seneca, Albert Schweitzer, Anne Frank, and many others.

book information
  • Paperback
  • 216 pages, 8.00 x 8.00 inches
  • $19.95
  • ISBN 9781614291107
  • ebook
  • 216 pages
  • $11.99
  • ISBN 9781614291305
about the author
Inspiring Generosity

After starting her professional life as an art historian, Barbara Bonner has devoted her career to nonprofit management, fundraising and philanthropy. In New York she held leadership positions in three of the city’s distinguished museums. She then served as Vice President of Bennington College and of the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Since 2009 she has had her own consulting company that helps nonprofit organizations transform their board leadership and philanthropic support. In addition, Barbara has served on ten nonprofit boards, most recently as Board Chair of The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Several years ago she started a major fund for helping women with cancer in her region. After 30 years in New York City, Barbara now lives in a converted barn in the Berkshire hills of Western Massachusetts.
Her first book, Inspiring Generosity, was published in 2014; her second book, Inspiring Courage, was published in 2017. Barbara has spoken widely on the subjects of generosity and leadership and is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.

Praise for Barbara’s Books

Praise for Inspiring Generosity
“I am amazed every day by the stories of people around the world who give of themselves to help others. Inspiring Generosity is a beautiful book.”
—President Bill Clinton
“This book serves as a reminder of the kindness of the American people, and we are grateful for your support of our shared vision for our Nation’s future.”
—President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
“A thoughtful presentation.”
—Pope Francis
“This book is a great act of generosity on Barbara Bonner’s part, opening your hand, your heart, and your life in new and unexpected ways. Read it and you will love it!”
—Robert A. F. Thurman, Columbia University

Praise for Inspiring Courage
“Inspiring Courage touches the heart and fills you with spirit.”
—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart
“Barbara Bonner brings together stories, poems, and quotes about courage in a wonderful way that reveals the power, coherence and variety in our collective, indeed global, voices of courage. Inspiring Courage is an inspiration!”
—Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness
“Courage is a timeless strength, and particularly relevant in these turbulent times. Barbara Bonner, once again, weaves together inspiring stories, poems and words of wisdom from a wide range of courageous beings.  This wonderful book uplifts the heart and helps us engage more passionately with our lives and the world.”
—Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

“In this beautifully presented book, you will find illustrations of courage that enliven your own capacity to live, serve, savor and love without holding back.”
—Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge

Other books by Barbara Bonner:
Inspiring Forgiveness
Inspiring Courage

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