Warren Buffett, American investor and philanthropist, answers this question very directly and simply: “The only way to get love is to be lovable. It’s very irritating if you have a lot of money. You’d like to think you could write a check: ‘I’ll buy a million dollars’ worth of love.’ But it doesn’t work that way. The more you give love away, the more you get.” What Mr. Buffet is saying it that the world belongs to “Givers” not “Takers.” Takers are all about exploiting others which makes them not very loveable, so most of us avoid them like the plague. As a result, takers are, for the most part, lonely and unsuccessful people. Givers, on the other hand, are people who are kind to others without expecting anything in return. All of us absolutely love givers and we tend to fall all over ourselves to do kind things for them. This is why givers are so much more successful than takers and why they lead profoundly happier lives as well.

One Sentence Wisdom

• “If you want to be loved, be lovable.” — Ovid
• “Self-esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable.” — Jack Canfield

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