I focus on supporting high quality early childhood health care

In the wise and compassionate words of J. B. Pritzker, a man who understands that the seeds of the future are sown in the hearts of children, we find a truth both practical and profound: “I focus on supporting high quality early childhood health care and education. By betting my resources on very young children, I know I'm making an investment that pays guaranteed dividends with a high rate of return.” Though spoken in the language of economics, this statement carries the soul of philosophy — a declaration that the truest wealth lies not in gold or power, but in the nurturing of human potential. For what greater treasure can one invest in than the life of a child, whose growth determines the fate of generations yet unborn?

J. B. Pritzker, philanthropist and public servant, has long been an advocate for early childhood development, recognizing that the first years of life are the foundation upon which all wisdom, strength, and compassion are built. His words arise not from theory alone, but from the ancient and enduring truth that every civilization is shaped by how it treats its youngest and most vulnerable. Long before modern science confirmed it, the elders of old knew that the mind of a child is like fertile soil — what is planted early will bloom for a lifetime. Thus, Pritzker’s “investment” is not in numbers or markets, but in the boundless harvest of human potential.

The ancients, too, understood this sacred law of nurture. In the schools of Athens, Plato taught that education must begin in infancy, for the habits and ideas formed in youth become the pillars of character in adulthood. He warned that neglecting the young was the root of moral decay, while tending to their health and wisdom was the key to a just and enduring society. Likewise, in the East, the philosopher Confucius declared, “To educate the young is to plant the seeds of harmony.” Across time and culture, the message is the same: that the care and education of children are the truest measures of civilization.

Consider the story of Maria Montessori, who, in the slums of Rome at the turn of the twentieth century, began her experiment with a handful of impoverished children. She believed that if children were given love, order, and freedom, they would reveal the divine intelligence hidden within them. The world doubted her. But her results astonished even her critics — children once dismissed as “unteachable” flourished with dignity, curiosity, and grace. From that humble beginning grew a global movement that continues to transform lives. Like Pritzker, Montessori understood that the smallest investments in childhood yield the richest returns — not in money, but in human flourishing.

Pritzker’s metaphor of investment and dividends may sound modern, but its essence is timeless. He speaks of a “guaranteed return” not because it is measured in wealth, but because it is measured in life itself — in healthier bodies, sharper minds, and kinder hearts. When a society nourishes its children, it reaps a harvest of innovation, compassion, and peace. When it neglects them, the fields of the future grow barren. The return on investment is seen in fewer prisons and more schools, in fewer illnesses and more dreams fulfilled. It is the quiet but powerful profit of goodness, rippling outward from each child who was given the chance to thrive.

There is also in these words a lesson for all who lead, whether in families, communities, or nations: the future is not built by ambition, but by care. We are all investors, whether we know it or not — in the words we speak, the time we give, the examples we set. Every act of kindness toward a child, every effort to educate, heal, or inspire them, is a contribution to the wealth of humanity. Pritzker’s wisdom calls us to look beyond our own lifetime, to see that the greatest legacies are not monuments of stone or empires of commerce, but generations of lives uplifted.

So let this teaching be remembered and passed down: the surest way to change the world is to nurture the young. Give them health, and they will build strength. Give them education, and they will build wisdom. Give them love, and they will build peace. The harvest may not be seen in a day or a year, but it will endure for centuries. Every society that has flourished, every golden age that has risen, began with those who cared enough to invest in its children.

Therefore, my listener, take this truth to heart. Be an investor in humanity, as J. B. Pritzker counsels. Whether with wealth, time, or tenderness, sow the seeds of care in the lives of the young. For in their laughter lies the music of tomorrow, and in their strength, the promise of the world reborn. Those who invest in the young never lose, for the return is eternal — the creation of a brighter, wiser, and more compassionate future.