An aphorism is nothing else but the slightest
QUOTES AND APHORISMS ON GENEROSITY
Watch lest prosperity destroy generosity.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887, American preacher, orator, writer)
Each of you who has been the recipient of somebody's generosity should try to remember that in your life, and preferably while you are living, do something about that.
Terry Bennett
How delightful is the company of generous people, who overlook trifles and keep their minds instinctively fixed on whatever is good and positive in the world about them.
Van Wyck Brooks
The more he cast away the more he had.
John Bunyan (1628-1688, British author)
I take as my guide the hope of a saint: in crucial things, unity... in important things, diversity... in all things, generosity.
George H. Bush (1924-, American President (41st))
Too many have dispensed with generosity to practice charity.
Albert Camus (1913-1960, French existential writer)
Generosity should never exceed ability.
Marcus T. Cicero (c. 106-43 BC, Roman orator, politician)
Generosity is not merely a trait that pleases God; it is a practice which releases us from bondage to the ego, and also to things.
Albert E. Day
Shall we call ourselves benevolent, when the gifts we bestow do not cost us a single privation?
Joseph Degerando
Men of the noblest dispositions think themselves happiest when others share their happiness with them.
Barry Duncan
It is always so pleasant to be generous, though very vexatious to pay debts.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882, American poet, essayist)
Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882, American poet, essayist)
To generous souls every task is noble.
Euripides (BC 480-406, Greek tragic poet)
Generous deeds would be repeated oftener if more gratitude had been shown for the first ones.
William Feather (1888-19, American writer, businessman)
Lavishness is not generosity.
Thomas Fuller (1608-1661, British clergyman, author)
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931, Lebanese poet, novelist)
Generosity is not in giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is in giving me that which you need more than I do.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931, Lebanese poet, novelist)
Generosity is not in giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is in giving me that which you need more than I do.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931, Lebanese poet, novelist)
Giving is the business of the rich.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist)
True generosity is a duty as indispensably necessary as those imposed on us by law.
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774, Anglo-Irish author, poet, playwright)
Generosity is good deeds that are done quietly, inconspicuously and are immediately forgotten.
Dave Grant
A generous man places the benefits he confers beneath his feet; those he receives, nearest his heart.
Lord Greville (1554-1628, British poet)
People who think they're generous to a fault usually think that's their only fault.
Sidney J. Harris (1917-, American journalist)
Generosity is the flower of justice.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864, American novelist, short story writer)
Sometimes give your services for nothing, calling to mind a previous benefaction or present satisfaction. And if there be an opportunity of serving one who is a stranger in financial straits, give full assistance to all such.
Hippocrates (Ancient Greek physician)
There is sublime thieving in all giving. Someone gives us all he has and we are his.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983, American author, philosopher)
I cannot say that I am the slightest degree impressed by your bigness, or your material resources. The great issue is what are you going to do with all these things?
Thomas H. Huxley (1825-1895, British biologist, educator)
The record of a generous life runs like a vine around the memory of our dead, and every sweet unselfish act is now a perfumed flower.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899, American orator, lawyer)
All my experience of the world teaches me that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the safe and just side of a question is the generous and merciful side.
Anna Jameson (1794-1860, British essayist)
Sir, he throws away his money without thought and without merit. I do not call a tree generous that sheds its fruit at every breeze.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784, British author)
How much easier is it to be generous than just.
Junius (1769-1771, Anonymous British letter writer)
Beneficence is a duty; and he who frequently practices it and sees his benevolent intentions realized, at length comes to love him to whom he has done good.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804, German philosopher)
Beneficence is a duty; and he who frequently practices it and sees his benevolent intentions realized, at length comes to love him to whom he has done good.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804, German philosopher)
Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.
Jean De La Bruyere (1645-1696, French classical writer)
What is called generosity is usually only the vanity of giving; we enjoy the vanity more than the thing given.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680, French classical writer)
What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680, French classical writer)
What we call generosity is often just the vanity of giving, which we like more than what we give away.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680, French classical writer)
Takers ultimately lose, but givers win forever. This is a rule the universe never breaks.
Douglas M. Lawson
Generosity during life is a very different thing from generosity in the hour of death; one proceeds from genuine liberality and benevolence, the other from pride or fear.
Horace Mann (1796-1859, American educator)
One of the finest virtues is generosity -- a quality characteristic of the person who thinks more highly of others than he does of himself.
Malcolm D. Maxwell
Benevolence is the distinguishing characteristic of man. As embodied in man's conduct, it is called the path of duty.
Mencius (Mengzi Meng-tse) (c.370-300 BC, Chinese philosopher)
It's hard to outdo the Lord in generosity.
Jerold Panas
There is not another country in the world that can come close to matching the generosity of Americans. And each year we give more.
Jerold Panas
Generosity is something we learn, from our parents, schools and community.
H. Ross Perot (1930-, American businessman, founder of EDS)
If a man be endowed with a generous mind, this is the best kind of nobility.
Plato (BC 427?-347?, Greek philosopher)
Many people are capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744, British poet, critic, translator)
He who is narrow of vision cannot be big of heart.
Chinese Proverb (Sayings of Chinese origin)
What I gave I have, what I spent I had; and what I left I lost.
Robert of Doncaste
I can remember way back when a liberal was one who was generous with his own money.
Will Rogers (1879-1935, American humorist, actor)
The dead hold in their hands only what they have given away.
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967, American poet)
Generosity is nothing else than a craze to possess. All which I abandon, all which I give, I enjoy in a higher manner through the fact that I give it away. To give is to enjoy possessively the object which one gives.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980, French writer, philosopher)
The poor don't know that their function in life is to exercise our generosity.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980, French writer, philosopher)
When it comes to generosity, the spirit of service to our fellow human beings regardless of nationality or race or creed, I risk incurring the sin of pride by saying no nation exceeds our own.
Richard F. Schubert
Is it not odd that the only generous person I ever knew, who had money to be generous with, should be a stockbroker.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822, British poet)
Benevolence is a natural instinct of the human mind; when A sees B in distress, his conscience always urges him to entreat C to help him.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845, British writer, clergyman)
Be generous! Give to those you love; give to those who love you; give to the fortunate; give to the unfortunate -- yes, give especially to those to whom you don't want to give. You will receive abundance for your giving. The more you give, the more you will have!
W. Clement Stone (1902-2002, American businessman, author, founder of Combined Insurance Companies)
It's in our self-interest to help one another. The important thing is to give of yourself.
Timothy Striver
He who gives what he would as readily throw away, gives without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self sacrifice.
Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886, British author)
We simply cannot delegate the exercise of mercy and generosity to others.
Margaret Thatcher (1925-, British Prime Minister (1979-90))
Be generous, and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped.
The Holy Bible (Sacred scriptures of Christians and Judaism) Source: Proverbs 11:25
Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
The Holy Bible (Sacred scriptures of Christians and Judaism) Source: Deuteronomy 15:10
Good will comes to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.
The Holy Bible (Sacred scriptures of Christians and Judaism) Source: Psalms 112:5
Let them do good, and be rich in well-doing. Be ready to give generously and share with others.
The Holy Bible (Sacred scriptures of Christians and Judaism) Source: Timothy 6:18
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them.
The Holy Bible (Sacred scriptures of Christians and Judaism) Source: Matthew 6:1
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
The Holy Bible (Sacred scriptures of Christians and Judaism) Source: 2 Corinthians 9:11
Generosity is a principle -- not an amount.
Millie Thornton
Benevolence is the characteristic of the righteous descendants of the seed of Abraham, our father.
Author Unknown
If you're a generous person you'll have no trouble admitting that somebody else is good. If you're a better person you'll find it's total impossibility.
Author Unknown
Real charity doesn't care if it's tax-deductible or not.
Author Unknown
The test of generosity is not how much you give, but how much you have left.
Author Unknown
Benevolence doesn't consist in those who are prosperous pitying and helping those who are not. Benevolence consists in fellow-feeling that puts you upon actually the same level with the fellow who suffers.
Woodrow T. Wilson (1856-1924, American President (28th))
Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore of nicely -- calculated less or more.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850, British poet)
I would have a man generous to his country, his neighbors, his friends, and most of all his poor friends. Not like some who are most lavish with those who are able to give most to them.
Pliny the Younger
Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation -- to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe.
Jon Kabat Zinn
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