Thirst Quotes

“Imagine you’re standing on an island, looking at water on all sides. You think that this little piece of real estate, which represents your capacity for love, is all there is. Then you have your first child, and a bubbling happens off in the distance and a giant new island appears. You realize that the new island was part of your heart all along, just submerged. And then you think you could never love another child like this one, but you look off to the left, and a brand-new island appears: your second child. And your heart expands even more. You’re not borrowing from or shutting down other parts to feel more love. It’s an additive process, like reclaiming land from the sea.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“The ISMs comprise a sixteen-page manifesto stating charity: water’s eleven core values and practices—We don’t objectify the poor…We love feedback, even when it hurts…We tell the truth: no white lies, please….Every new employee has to read and sign them. Adhering to the ISMs is a condition of employment at charity: water—something we take very seriously.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“One of Ross’s biggest gripes was the way I operated in meetings, something that had always driven the team crazy, too. He called out my bad habits: I was notoriously impatient, prone to distraction, and a fidgety nail-biter. I also talked over people and dismissed underdeveloped ideas that deserved more conversation. Ross said, “You can’t put all of your attention on the content in meetings. You have to reserve at least 10 percent of it to observe what’s happening in the room, to watch the body language and pick up on how people are truly feeling.” It was a radical notion for me, the idea that I was responsible for reading the room. And I wasn’t even sure why it was important, until Linda sharpened Ross’s point: “Everything you do is a clue for other people about how it is and isn’t okay to behave,” she said. “When you yawn during a presentation, or miss a deadline, or interrupt a speaker, you’re telling everyone that that behavior is acceptable.” Until then, I’d been oblivious to how I was being perceived. So, to prove the point, Ross made me stand on a conference room table during a staff meeting and look down at everyone while we had a conversation. It felt ridiculous, totally uncomfortable, but it taught me about the CEO’s megaphone effect. “You know when you say things like ‘Hey, we should go and do this,’ but you don’t really mean it? In fact, you’ve given it no more than five seconds of thought?” Ross said. “Someone is going to go run and waste time doing that thing you didn’t even want them to do, because you’re the guy with the megaphone. You’re standing on top of the table.” Other times, I’d explode into the office on a Friday morning and announce, “I want to wrap every water tower in New York in a charity: water banner,” and I’d expect everyone to leap into action. Ross had a shorthand for my impulsive ideas. He’d say, “Scott. Squirrel”—as in “Don’t be like a dog chasing after every squirrel you see.” Sometimes I’d fight back and say, “No, this is not a squirrel. Doing this one thing is the whole point.” But most of the time, I’d back off, and my team would breathe a huge sigh of relief.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“I once shot him a one-line email after we got a commitment from a new Well member because, okay, I get excited sometimes. But instead of patting me on the back, Ross chastised me for being the kind of CEO who gets emotionally attached to small victories. “You’re celebrating the present tense. That’s what EVERYONE else needs to do. Their job is the NOW. Your job is TOMORROW…If you decide you want to be CEO, this is what it has to feel like.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“When a school in Bangladesh or the Democratic Republic of the Congo gets water and latrines, teenage girls don’t have to skip class during the days they’re menstruating. These teenage years are critical for girls; when they stay home from school, many of their parents start to depend on the extra help, and will tell them, “You don’t need school, anyway. Go collect the water, find the firewood, clean the house.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“Back in 2009, Vik and I started working on mycharity: water, a social fundraising website, while sitting at the round kitchen table in Michael and Xochi’s five-story San Francisco home. It was one of those uneven wooden farm tables where if you push too hard, your pencil pokes through the paper.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“Basically, it was a numbers game—I felt like I had to outpitch and outwork everyone else because I’m not a naturally strategic thinker. I can’t count the number of times I kicked myself for not getting three more introductions or not doing more research before going into a meeting to make the right ask. Just the other day, I backpedaled into a major donor meeting unprepared. I thought to myself afterward, How is it possible that I just met with a guy worth six billion dollars and I knew so little about him?”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“People always ask how we scored so many wins early on and what my process was for turning a no into a yes. Truthfully, the nos stayed nos most of the time. No, we don’t have the budget. No, that’s not a part of our giving strategy. No, sorry, but touch base with me next year. But I simply asked so many people that eventually I gathered enough yeses to get things done.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“Journalist Nicholas Kristof once wrote that “toothpaste is peddled with far more sophistication than the life-saving work of aid groups.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“Lani grew up in New Hampshire, studied at the University of Connecticut, and had planned to attend medical school after graduation. But during her stint with Mercy Ships, she discovered that she enjoyed haggling with businessmen over the price of mud bricks and bunk beds as she worked to improve the orphanage. She felt drawn to humanitarian aid work, and her interest in practicing medicine soon faded.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“The word charity is derived from the Latin caritas, which means love. I once heard it defined as “helping your neighbor in need and not getting anything in return.” That sounded so beautiful and simple to me. Regardless of one’s religion or politics, regardless of race or geography, we all could use a little more caritas. More action motivated by love, with no strings attached.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“God isn’t asking you to do everything,” he continued. “Take care of the two or three things you can, and leave the other eight to Him. Remember: Actions, not words, are what people need from us.” And yet Dr. Gary’s words were exactly what I needed. To this day, I can still hear his voice reminding me, “Actions, not words.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“Later that week, on the plane home, Ross wrote me a scathing eleven-page confidential report. He called my "$2 billion by 2020" vision "statistically impossible" and "ridiculous," and listed my blind spots as a leader.
"Charity: water is a shop of 15 people, but a team of exactly one. You," Ross wrote. "You control everything, You even run everything. You are the product design guy. The merchandising guy. The fundraising guy. The message guy. Probably even the check-signing guy ... Metaphorically, if you're still in the club biz, you can either be the bartender or running the show ... You can't mix the drinks and run the whole club."
Ross said I needed to start thinking like a CEO, which meant grow up, stop worrying about day-to-day details, and start focusing on big-picture, multi-year goals.
"Whether history records you as a success or failure," Ross warned, "will depend on whether you can shift from living in today to living in tomorrow."
It was some of the best advice I'd ever gotten. p221”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World

“Three nights later, at 12:30 a.m. I was sitting in bed working, and worrying about charity: water's future, when an email came in:
Hey, Scott,
The wire should have gone through today for $1M. Let me know if any issues.
Please use this in whatever way you see as most benefiting the charity.
Keep on rocking!
Michael p194”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World

“try to focus on the hope the people we will help"

"the hopes and dreams in a mother's heart are the same anywhere in the word”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World

“Pope Francis said something that I can’t get out of my head: “A single individual is enough for hope to exist. And that individual can be you.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst

“He would quote from Matthew 25, where Jesus says, rather provocatively, that at the end of our lives, God will judge us by whether we fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, offered hospitality to the outcast, clothed the unclothed, healed the sick, and visited people in prison. Do these things for them, and you do them for Him.”
― Scott Harrison, Thirst