The Concept of Paying it Forward

Youval Ziv has spent nearly 15 years with Pacific Holdings Partnership in Los Angeles, California, and continues to lead the organization as a managing partner and chief executive officer. An active philanthropist, Youval Ziv strongly believes in the charitable philosophy of “paying it forward.”

The first use of the phrase “pay it forward” can be traced back to science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein’s 1951 novel “Between Planets,” which inspired the film Pay It Forward in 2000. In the film a young boy, played by Haley Joel Osment, is tasked with bringing about world change as part of a school assignment. To this end, Osment’s character develops the idea of paying it forward.

An altruistic idiom, the concept involves an individual performing a selfless deed for another person or group as a response to a good deed they have benefited from. If everyone in the world lived their lives by this philosophy, individuals would consistently enjoy charity from others while at the same time helping their fellow human beings on a regular basis, without asking for or expecting anything in return.

An early example of paying it forward involves Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Webb. Mr. Franklin provided Mr. Webb with financial assistance in 1784. In a letter to Webb, Franklin expressed a desire not to be repaid, but for Webb to assist someone else as soon as he was financially capable of doing so.