Generosity Quotes

...The happy Warrior... is the generous Spirit, who, when brought among the tasks of real life, hath wrought upon the plan that pleased his boyish thought: whose high endeavors are an inward light that makes the path before him always bright.

~ William Wordsworth

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.

~ Henry Melvill

It was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome. . . . Children must early learn the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving. . . . The Indians in their simplicity literally give away all that they have—to relatives, to guests of other tribes or clans, but above all to the poor and the aged, from whom they can hope for no return.

~ Charles Alexander Eastman

To paraphrase Lucretius, there's nothing more useful than to watch a man or woman in times of contagious deadly disease peril combined with his or her assumptions of financial adversity to discern what kind of man or woman they really are.

~ T.k. Naliaka

Hollow Horn Bear knew that to be leader and adviser of his people he must be honest and reliable, and that his word once given in promise must never be taken back. He knew that he must be a man of will-power, standing for the right no matter what happened to him personally; that he must have strength of purpose, allowing no influence to turn him from doing what was best for the tribe. He must be willing to serve his people without thought of pay. He must be utterly unselfish and kind-hearted to the old and poor and stand ready to give to those in need. Above all, he must be unafraid to deal equal justice to all.

~ Luther Standing Bear

Wagging tongues from prejudiced, sophisticated facade of show-off people can never blemish any honest, genuine, golden heart.

~ Angelica Hopes

Good deeds are seeds of generosity.

~ Lailah Gifty Akita

The brief story of the supper at Emmaus carries within it a number of core principles of the Christian life as Luke understands it. First, the idea that one comes to know Christ through acts of generosity to other human beings. It is because of their kindness to a stranger that the disciples find the beloved teacher whom they had lost. Second, there is the idea that they can conjure his presence in prayer and in communal acts such as the breaking of bread - by remembering his life, death, and resurrection - even in an undistinguished house in an anonymous village. The simple acts of generosity and community in daily life are the acts that make real the living presence of Jesus.

~ Kate Cooper

I've learned that generosity is far easier than justice and that, in the highly distorted markets of the poor, it is all too easy to veer only toward the charitable, to have low--or no--expectations for low-income people. This does nothing but reaffirm prejudices on all sides.

~ Jacqueline Novogratz

I try not to speak about all the charities and people I help, because I believe we can only be truly generous when we expect nothing in return.

~ Muhammad Ali

Now yes, yes, creation sometimes screams a confusing message—fear, pain, grief. Fire burns, rivers flood, winds go hurricane, the earth shudders so hard it levels cities. But you must remember—this was not so in Eden. Mankind fell, surrendering this earth to the evil one. St. Paul says that creation groans for the day of its restoration (see Rom. 8:18–22), making it clear that everything is not as it was meant to be. People come to terrible conclusions when they assume this world is exactly as God intended. (An assumption that has wrought havoc in the sciences.) The earth is broken.Which only makes the beauty that does flow so generously that much more astounding. And reassuring.

~ John Eldredge

Not to be greedy is, paradoxically, the highest form of looking after one's true interests.

~ Idries Shah

On his way offstage, the president shook hands with Lin and said, I'm proud of you, man. (In a gesture of self-restraint, Lin had stuck to the performance calendar they had announced before learning that President Obama was coming, the one that said Javier Muñoz would play Hamilton that afternoon.)

~ Lin-Manuel Miranda

Humility, gratitude, and generosity – three things you can never go wrong with.

~ Kevin J. Donaldson

Like humility, generosity comes from seeing that everything we have and everything we accomplish comes from God’s grace and God’s love for us… Certainly it is from experiencing this generosity of God and the generosity of those in our life that we learn gratitude and to be generous to others. - God Has a Dream, p. 86.

~ Desmond Tutu

Appearances, beauty, value and life have their unique mysteries and essence. I prefer that essence to be breathing with humility, honesty, compassion, respect and a timeless love.

~ Angelica Hopes

If you will only consider, you will remember many a person of whom the world never heard and will never hear, whose years have been as full of generosity, loyalty to duty, faith in God, fidelity to every day's work, as those of Franklin or Garfield, Lincoln or Emerson. They, also, have put their hands to the plough and have not looked back. Having made up their minds to what ought to be done, they did not hesitate, did not procrastinate, did not worry or grow anxious, but faithfully performed the duty of the hour. They had faith in Providence, and so did with their might what their hands found to do. They gave, and it was given to them again, full measure, pressed down and running over. They did good, hoping for nothing again, and the reward came in lives full of content; in cheerfulness, peace, and satisfaction.

~ James Clarke

Give thanks to the earth for the hospitality and generosityShow gratitude for life, light and every little beauty.

~ Debasish Mridha

By simple mathematics giving is key to the world you seek to live in. If I take I alone gain. If I give or share then two at least are enriched.

~ Rasheed Ogunlaru

Generous people are likely to receive more respect from their peers.

~ Arthur P. Ciaramicoli

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

~ Kahlil Gibran

Pride only helps us to be generous; it never makes us so, any more than vanity makes us witty.

~ George Eliot

If somebody accepts you as you are, it doesn't mean that you're talented, it means they are generous enough to give you a chance to prove your worth. Stay humble!

~ Ramana Pemmaraju

But I give best when I give from that deeper place; when I give simply, freely and generously, and sometimes for no particular reason. I give best when I give from my heart.

~ Steve Goodier

Choose altruism, because selfishism is a lonely, cold, dark hole.

~ Richelle E. Goodrich

Practice giving things away, not just things you don't care about, but things you do like. Remember, it is not the size of a gift, it is its quality and the amount of mental attachment you overcome that count. So don't bankrupt yourself on a momentary positive impulse, only to regret it later. Give thought to giving. Give small things, carefully, and observe the mental processes going along with the act of releasing the little thing you liked. (53)(Quote is actually Robert A F Thurman but Huston Smith, who only wrote the introduction to my edition, seems to be given full credit for this text.)

~ Huston Smith

The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident.

~ Francesco Guicciardini

Sacrifice” and “self” both begin with the same letter, but the spelling is way different after that.

~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Our greatest dreams and desires abide in the mental and spiritual realm. In order to transfer them in the physical plane we need to invert subject and object. You will receive from the world what you deeply long to receive the day when you give to the world what you deeply long to receive. Today could be that day.

~ Franco Santoro

In a pocket of his knapsack he'd found a last half packet of cocoa and he fixed it for the boy and then poured his own cup with hot water and sat blowing at the rim.You promised not to do that, the boy said.What?You know what, Papa.He poured the hot water back into the pan and took the boy's cup and poured some of the cocoa into his own and then handed it back.I have to watch you all the time, the boy said.

~ Cormac Mccarthy

If I am not touching a life, I am not touching life.

~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

To calculate sacrifice is to attempt to sacrifice safely, and safe sacrifice is one of the most outrageous oxymoron’s I can think of.

~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Giving when you can is generosity. Giving when you can't is sacrifice.

~ J.r. Rim

Our gifts are very pleasant to Him. He loves to see us lay our time, our talents, our substance on the altar not for the value of what we give, but for the sake of the motive from which the gift springs.

~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Giving out of your surplus does not make you generous, it makes your selfishness more tolerable! Giving while you are lacking is what pleases the Lord.

~ William Branks

I gave you all my secrets, and you lost them all. You lost a lot of things.But the treasure of it was in the giving, not the keeping.

~ Julio Alexi Genao

Whenever you feel short or need of something, give what you want first, and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money, a smile, love or friendship. I know it is often the last thing a person may do, but it has always worked for me. I trust that the principle of prosperity is true, and I give what I want. I want money, so I give money, and it comes back in multiples. I want sales, so I help someone else sell something, so sales come to me. I want contacts, and I help someone else get contacts. Like magic, contacts come to me. I heard a saying years ago that went: god does not need to receive, but humans need to give. My rich dad would often say: poor people are more greedy than rich people. He would explain that if a person is rich, that person is providing something that other people wanted...whenever I think people aren't smiling at me, I simply began smiling and saying hello. Like magic, the next thing I know: I'm surrounded by smiling people. It is true that you world is only a mirror of you. So that's why I say, teach and you shall receive.

~ Robert T. Kiyosaki

Generosity is a mark of bravery, so all Sioux boys were taught to be generous.

~ Luther Standing Bear

Generosity is also marked by doing what one says one will do. Saadi teaches: ‘when the generous promise, they perform

~ Idries Shah

But the minimum human duty is to serve others: it is no great attainment.

~ Idries Shah