The Greek Secret

Those who have yet to see the video, can do so by clicking here.

The video suggests that the secret to extraordinary Hellenic excellence – personally and as a people – may spring from the uniquely Greek word philotimo.  Those interviewed defined philotimo as not only the “love of honor” but also as finding pleasure in sacrificing for:  the good of others; doing the right thing; improving themselves and their families; and seeking to achieve respect and love from others.  The Foundation and many of those interviewed believe that philotimo may in great part explain the Greeks’ spectacular achievements throughout history as well as their close family and community relationships.

The 29 leading Hellenes who each share their definition of a concept that only the Greek language has one word to describe – philotimo – are listed below:

• Art Agnos, Former Mayor of San Francisco
• Kary Antholis, HBO Miniseries & Cinemax Programming, President
• William Antholis, Brookings Institution, Managing Director
• John P. Calamos, Sr., Calamos Investments, Chairman, CEO & CIO
• John Catsimatidis, Red Apple Group, Inc., President, Chairman & CEO
• Jim Chanos, Kynikos Associates, LP, President
• Philip Christopher, International Coordinating Committee — Justice for Cyprus (PSEKA), President
• Bob Costas, NBC and Major League Baseball Network, Broadcaster,
• His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America
• Antonis H. Diamataris, National Herald, Publisher & Editor
• Andreas Dracopoulos, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Director and Co-President
• Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post Media Group, President and Editor-in-Chief
• Father Alexander Karloutsos, Order of St. Andrew, Spiritual Advisor / Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Public Affairs Officer / Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism, Exec. Advisor
• George Logothetis, Libra Group, Chairman & CEO
• Andy Manatos, Washington Oxi Day Foundation, President
• Mike Manatos, Washington Oxi Day Foundation, Executive Director
• George Marcus, Marcus & Millichap, Chairman
• Dennis Mehiel, U.S. Corrugated, Inc, Chairman and CEO,
• Dean Metropoulos, Businessman and Philanthropist
• Nikos Mouyiaris, Mana Products, Founder and CEO
• Gregory Nagy, Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, Director
• Peter J. Pappas, Sr., P.J. Companies, Chairman
• Ted Spyropoulos, Plant Your Roots In Greece, President
• George Stephanopoulos, ABC News, Chief Anchor
• Chris P. Tomaras, Tomaras Investments, Ltd., Pres. / Panhellenic Scholarship Foundation, Founder
• Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, Former US Ambassador to Hungary
• Loucas Tsilas, Onassis Foundation (USA), Executive Director / Former Ambassador of Greece to the US
• George Tsunis, Chartwell Hotels, Founder, Chairman and CEO
• Pavlos Yeroulanos, Former Greek Minister of Culture and Tourism