Creating Social Wealth

Fascinating article on creating and keeping financial wealth by Paul Graham, an entrepreneur. Does anyone know of a comparable work on creating and propagating social benefit? Let's say a crazy person were willing to live in poverty, work miracles, forgo wordly power, and die a horrible death in order to maximize total social return? What would be his best move at he enters the treacherous public square? "Without a parable spake he not unto them; and when they were alone he expounded all things to his disciples." 

C