Pay it forward is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying it
to others instead of to the original benefactor. The concept is old, but the phrase may have
been coined by Lily Hardy Hammond in her 1916 book In the Garden of Delight.
"Pay it forward" is implemented in contract law of loans in the concept of third party
beneficiaries. Specifically, the creditor offers the debtor the option of paying the
debt forward by lending it to a third person instead of paying it back to the original
creditor. Debt and payments can be monetary or by good deeds. A related type of transaction,
which starts with a gift instead of a loan, is alternative giving.
History Pay it forward was used as a key plot element
in the denouement of a New Comedy play by Menander, Dyskolos. Dyskolos was a prizewinning
play in ancient Athens in 317 BC; however, the text of the play was lost and it was only
recovered and republished in 1957. The concept was rediscovered and described
by Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Benjamin Webb dated April 25, 1784:
I do not pretend to give such a deed; I only lend it to you. When you [...] meet with another
honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him
to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with
another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave
that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little
money.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his 1841 essay Compensation, wrote: "In the order of nature we cannot render
benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive
must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody."
In 1916, Lily Hardy Hammond wrote, "You don't pay love back; you pay it forward."
Woody Hayes was a college football coach who is best remembered for winning five national
titles and 13 Big Ten championships in 28 years at The Ohio State University. He misquoted
Emerson as having said "You can pay back only seldom. You can always pay forward, and you
must pay line for line, deed for deed, and cent for cent." He also shortened thequotation
into "You can never pay back; but you can always pay forward" and variants.
The 1929 novel, Magnificent Obsession, by Lloyd C. Douglas, also espoused this philosophy,
in combination with the concept that good deeds should be performed in confidence.
An anonymous spokesman for Alcoholics Anonymous said in the Christian Science Monitor in 1944,
"You can't pay anyone back for what has happened to you, so you try to find someone you can
pay forward." Also in 1944, the first steps were taken in
the development of what became the Heifer Project, one of whose core strategies is "Passing
on the Gift". The term "pay it forward" was popularized
by Robert A. Heinlein in his book Between Planets, published in 1951:
The banker reached into the folds of his gown, pulled out a single credit note. "But eat
first—a full belly steadies the judgment. Do me the honor of accepting this as our welcome
to the newcomer." His pride said no; his stomach said YES! Don
took it and said, "Uh, thanks! That's awfully kind of you. I'll pay it back, first chance."
"Instead, pay it forward to some other brother who needs it."
Heinlein both preached and practiced this philosophy; now the Heinlein Society, a humanitarian
organization founded in his name, does so. Author Spider Robinson made repeated reference
to the doctrine, attributing it to his spiritual mentor Heinlein.
The concept appears in the novel Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, published in 1957, when
the main character Douglas Spaulding is reflecting on his life being saved by Mr. Jonas, the
Junkman:
How do I thank Mr. Jonas, he wondered, for what he's done? How do I thank him, how pay
him back? No way, no way at all. You just can't pay. What then? What? Pass it on somehow,
he thought, pass it on to someone else. Keep the chain moving. Look around, find someone,
and pass it on. That was the only way....
Bradbury has also advised that writers he has helped thank him by helping other writers.
The mathematician Paul Erdős heard about a promising math student unable to enroll
in Harvard University for financial reasons. Erdős contributed enough to allow the young
man to register. Years later, the man offered to return the entire amount to Erdős, but
Erdős insisted that the man rather find another student in his situation, and give the money
to him. Some time in 1980, a sixteen-page supplemental
Marvel comic appeared in the Chicago Tribune entitled “What Price a Life?” and was
subsequently reprinted as the backup story in Marvel Team-Up #126 dated February, 1983.
This was a team-up between Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk, in which Spider-Man helps
the Hulk escape from police who mistakenly thought that he was attacking them. Afterwards,
they meet in their secret identities, with Peter Parker warning Bruce Banner to leave
town because of the Hulk’s seeming attack on police. But Banner is flat broke, and cannot
afford even bus fare. As a result, Parker gives Banner his last $5 bill, saying that
someone had given him money when he was down on his luck, and this was how he was repaying
that debt. Later, in Chicago, the Hulk confronts muggers who had just robbed an elderly retired
man of his pension money, all the money he had. After corralling the muggers, the Hulk
turns towards the victim. The retiree thinks that the Hulk is about to attack him as well,
but instead, the Hulk gives him the $5 bill. It transpires that the very same old man had
earlier given a down-on-his-luck Peter Parker a $5 bill.
In 2000, Catherine Ryan Hyde's novel Pay It Forward was published and adapted into a film
of the same name, distributed by Warner Bros. and starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and
Haley Joel Osment. In Ryan Hyde's book and movie it is described as an obligation to
do three good deeds for others in response to a good deed that one receives. Such good
deeds should accomplish things that the other person cannot accomplish on their own. In
this way, the practice of helping one another can spread geometrically through society,
at a ratio of three to one, creating a social movement with an impact of making the world
a better place. The Pay it Forward Movement and Foundation
was founded in the USA helping start a ripple effect of kindness acts around the world.
The newly appointed president of the foundation, Charley Johnson, had an idea for encouraging
kindness acts by having a Pay it Forward Bracelet that could be worn as a reminder. Since then,
over a million Pay it Forward bracelets have been distributed in over 100 countries sparking
acts of kindness. Few bracelets remain with their original recipients, however, as they
circulate in the spirit of the reciprocal or generalized altruism.
On April 5, 2012, WBRZ-TV, the American Broadcasting Company affiliate for the city of Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, did a story on The Newton Project, a 501(c)(3) outreach organization created
to demonstrate that regardless of how big the problems of the world may seem, each person
can make a difference simply by taking the time to show love, appreciation and kindness
to the people around them. It is based on the classic pay-it-forward concept, but demonstrates
the impact of each act on the world by tracking each wristband with a unique ID number and
quantifying the lives each has touched. The Newton Project’s attempt to quantify the
benefits of a Pay It Forward type system can be viewed by the general public at their website.
Inspired by John F. Kennedy who profoundly declared, "Let us think of education as the
means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope
and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength
for our nation", The Student Body of America Association, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization,
has initiated its Project Pay it Forward program to implement education with the pay-it-forward
concept. See also
Random act of kindness Reciprocity
Reciprocity Six degrees of separation
Social business Social responsibility
Gift economy References
^ a b Hammond, Lily Hardy. In the Garden of Delight. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co. p. 209.
Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. ^ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Compensation, 1841,
^ "Group to Combat Alcoholism Grows Apace in Anonymity" Christian Science Monitor Jan
8, 1944; pg. 3 ^ "Passing on the gift" is fundamental to
Heifer's entire approach. ^ "The Heinlein Society".
^ Hoffman, Paul. The Man Who Loved Only Numbers. Fourth Estate. ISBN 1-85702-829-5.
^ Sjœrdsma, Al. "Review of "What Price a Life?"". ComicBoards.com. SpiderFan.org. Retrieved
6 March 2012. ^ Pay It Forward Foundation
^ Pay It Forward Experience ^ The Newton Project
^ Student Body of America Association ^ Project Pay It Forward
External links Pay it Forward Day UK
Pay It Forward Foundation International Pay it Forward Day
Be A Kind Voice to someone in need.