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Top 15 William MacAskill Quotes (2025 Update)

William MacAskill Quote: “We’re about one hundred times richer than the poorest billion people in the world, and we can do several hundred times more to help them than we can to help others in the rich countries we live in.”

1. “We’re about one hundred times richer than the poorest billion people in the world, and we can do several hundred times more to help them than we can to help others in the rich countries we live in.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “Whether the future is wonderful or terrible is, in part, up to us.”

2. “Whether the future is wonderful or terrible is, in part, up to us.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “The challenge for us is this: How can we ensure that, when we try to help others, we do so as effectively as possible?”

3. “The challenge for us is this: How can we ensure that, when we try to help others, we do so as effectively as possible?”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “We should certainly feel outrage and horror at the conditions sweatshop laborers toil under. The correct response, however, is not to give up sweatshop-produced goods in favor of domestically produced goods. The correct response is to try to end the extreme poverty that makes sweatshops desirable places to work in the first place.”

4. “We should certainly feel outrage and horror at the conditions sweatshop laborers toil under. The correct response, however, is not to give up sweatshop-produced goods in favor of domestically produced goods. The correct response is to try to end the extreme poverty that makes sweatshops desirable places to work in the first place.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “We very often fail to think as carefully about helping others as we could, mistakenly believing that applying data and rationality to a charitable endeavor robs the act of virtue. And that means we pass up opportunities to make a tremendous difference.”

5. “We very often fail to think as carefully about helping others as we could, mistakenly believing that applying data and rationality to a charitable endeavor robs the act of virtue. And that means we pass up opportunities to make a tremendous difference.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “Distance in time is like distance in space. People matter even if they live thousands of miles away. Likewise, they matter even if they live thousands of years hence.”

6. “Distance in time is like distance in space. People matter even if they live thousands of miles away. Likewise, they matter even if they live thousands of years hence.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “We don’t usually think of achievements in terms of what would have happened otherwise, but we should. What matters is not who does good but whether good is done; and the measure of how much good you achieve is the difference between what happens as a result of your actions and what would have happened anyway.”

7. “We don’t usually think of achievements in terms of what would have happened otherwise, but we should. What matters is not who does good but whether good is done; and the measure of how much good you achieve is the difference between what happens as a result of your actions and what would have happened anyway.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “If, for example, encouraging someone to buy fair-trade causes that person to devote less time or money to other, more effective activities, then promoting fair-trade might on balance be harmful.”

8. “If, for example, encouraging someone to buy fair-trade causes that person to devote less time or money to other, more effective activities, then promoting fair-trade might on balance be harmful.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “If the international response to natural disasters was rational, we would expect a greater amount of funding to be provided to larger disasters and to disasters that occur in poorer countries, which are less able to cope. But that’s not what happens. Funding seems to be allocated in proportion with how evocative and widely publicized the disaster is, rather than on the basis of its scale and severity.”

9. “If the international response to natural disasters was rational, we would expect a greater amount of funding to be provided to larger disasters and to disasters that occur in poorer countries, which are less able to cope. But that’s not what happens. Funding seems to be allocated in proportion with how evocative and widely publicized the disaster is, rather than on the basis of its scale and severity.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “When it comes to doing good, fat-tailed distributions seem to be everywhere. It’s not always true that exactly 80 percent of the value comes from the top 20 percent of activities – sometimes things are even more extreme than that, and sometimes less. But the general rule that most of the value generated comes from the very best activities is very common.”

10. “When it comes to doing good, fat-tailed distributions seem to be everywhere. It’s not always true that exactly 80 percent of the value comes from the top 20 percent of activities – sometimes things are even more extreme than that, and sometimes less. But the general rule that most of the value generated comes from the very best activities is very common.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “In buying Fairtrade products, you’re at best giving very small amounts of money to people in comparatively well-off countries. You’d do considerably more good by buying cheaper goods and donating the money you save to one of the cost-effective charities mentioned in the previous chapter.”

11. “In buying Fairtrade products, you’re at best giving very small amounts of money to people in comparatively well-off countries. You’d do considerably more good by buying cheaper goods and donating the money you save to one of the cost-effective charities mentioned in the previous chapter.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “People who had previously purchased a “green” product were significantly more likely to both lie and steal than those who had purchased the conventional product. Their demonstration of ethical behavior subconsciously gave them license to act unethically when the chance arose.”

12. “People who had previously purchased a “green” product were significantly more likely to both lie and steal than those who had purchased the conventional product. Their demonstration of ethical behavior subconsciously gave them license to act unethically when the chance arose.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “But just as the world does not stop at our doorstep or our country’s borders, neither does it stop with our generation, or the next.”

13. “But just as the world does not stop at our doorstep or our country’s borders, neither does it stop with our generation, or the next.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “Writing gave ideas the power to influence society for thousands of years; artificial intelligence could give them influence that lasts millions.”

14. “Writing gave ideas the power to influence society for thousands of years; artificial intelligence could give them influence that lasts millions.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “The good I do is not a matter of the direct benefits I cause. Rather, it is the difference I make.”

15. “The good I do is not a matter of the direct benefits I cause. Rather, it is the difference I make.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “A better word would be “eutopia,” meaning “good place” – something to strive for.”

16. “A better word would be “eutopia,” meaning “good place” – something to strive for.”

— William MacAskill

William MacAskill Quote: “Your choice of career is a choice about how to spend more than eighty thousand hours over the course of your life, which means it makes sense to invest a considerable amount of time in the decision. If you were to spend just 1 percent of your working time thinking about how to spend the other 99 percent, that would mean you’d spend eight hundred hours, or twenty working weeks, on your career decision.”

17. “Your choice of career is a choice about how to spend more than eighty thousand hours over the course of your life, which means it makes sense to invest a considerable amount of time in the decision. If you were to spend just 1 percent of your working time thinking about how to spend the other 99 percent, that would mean you’d spend eight hundred hours, or twenty working weeks, on your career decision.”

— William MacAskill

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