giving 2 - generosity

We make a living by what we get,
but we make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill

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Thou that has given so much to me,
Give one thing more--a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

George Herbert

But what parent can tell when some . . . fragmentary gift of knowledge or
wisdom will enrich her children's lives?  Or how a small seed of information
passed from one generation to another may generate a new science,
a new industry--a seed which neither the giver nor the receiver
can truly evaluate at the time.

Helena Rubinstein

Of all the dear sights in the world, nothing
is so beautiful as children when they are
giving something.  Any small thing they give.
Children give the world to you.  They open
the world to you as if it were a book you'd
never been able to read.  But when a gift
must be found, it is always some absurd
little thing, passed on crooked. . . an angel
looking like a clown.  Children have so
little that they can give, because they
never know they have given you everything.

Margaret Lee Runbeck

The Golden Ladder of Giving
1. To give reluctantly, the gift of the hand, but not of the heart.
2. To give cheerfully, but not in proportion to need.
3. To give cheerfully and proportionately, but not until solicited.
4. To give cheerfully, proportionately, and unsolicited, but to put the gift
    into the poor person's hand, thus creating shame.
5. To give in such a way that the distressed may know their benefactor,
    without being known to him or her.
6. To know the objects of our bounty, but remain unknown to them.
7. To give so that the benefactor may not know those whom he has relieved,
    and they shall not know him.
8. To prevent poverty by teaching a trade, setting a person up in business,
    or in some other way preventing the need of charity.

Maimonides

I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all;
but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

Martin Luther

One has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of
human life when one plants shade trees under which one
knows full well one will never sit.

Elton Trueblood

  giving 2 - generosity    

Not what we give, but what we share,--
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,--
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.

James Russell Lowell

As Coleridge said, "We receive but what we give."  The happy life is a life
of continual generosity in which we go out to meet and acclaim the world.

Gerald Brenan

Love grows through giving.  Fear makes us afraid to give.  What are
you able to give to others or to your community?  What have you
been able to give in the past 24 hours?  To whom did you give it?

Jennifer James

There are those who give little of the much they have--and they give it
   for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
There are those believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving,
    nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks,
    and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

Khalil Gibran

Behold!  I do not give lectures on a little charity.
When I give, I give myself.

Walt Whitman

Simply give others a bit of yourself; a thoughtful act, a helpful
idea, a word of appreciation, a lift over a rough spot, a sense
of understanding, a timely suggestion.  You take something
out of your mind, garnished in kindness out of your heart,
and put it into the other person's mind and heart.

Charles H. Burr

To give and then not feel that one has given
is the very best of all ways of giving.

Max Beerbohm

Sometimes it seems to me that in this absurdly random life
there is some inherent justice in the outcome of personal relationships.
In the long run, we get no more than we have been willing to give.

Sheldon Kopp

They serve best who give most of themselves.  Self is forgotten
by the one who serves, for such a one rejoices to see
success coming to others through his or her efforts.

James Cash Penney

Receiving and giving are opposite energies that are inextricably linked together
in the natural flow of life, like inhaling and exhaling.  If one aspect of that cycle
doesn't function, the entire cycle ceases to function and the life force cannot
move freely.  If you can't inhale, you will soon have nothing to exhale,
and before long, your body will be unable to continue living.

Shakti Gawain

The measure of life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.

Peter Marshall

Fill yourselves first and then only will you be able to give to others.

Augustine of Hippo

A handful of pine-seed will cover mountains with the green majesty
of forest.  I too will set my face to the wind and
throw my handful of seed on high.

Fiona MacLeod

The kindness of the woman with food came back to him, and
that of Martina.  They had offered him comfort and shelter, even
when he was afraid of taking them, and in accepting he had learned
something new.  It was as much of a gift to receive as it was to give,
requiring as it did both courage and humility.

Rachel Joyce
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

No person has ever been honored for what he or she received.
Honor is our reward when we give.

Calvin Coolidge

What are we going to get out of life?  This can understandably be
a question of fundamental importance to us.  We begin with certain
basic needs and desires.  It is important to have a comfortable
home, plenty of food, a meaningful and well-paying job, comfort,
companionship, and joy.  However, many of us have not fully
realized a simple, basic principle:  for our receiving to take place,
we must first give.  Giving and receiving are two
aspects of the same law of life.

John Marks Templeton
Worldwide Laws of Life

Those who think they have nothing to give should remember that
they can always give themselves, and that they can always render
some kind of service even if it be nothing more than a few words of cheer.

Lowell Fillmore

Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections;
some literally give their blood. . . but everyone has something to give.

Barbara Bush

It is necessary to give freely if we are to receive freely.  The law of
receiving includes giving.  The knowledge that substance is
omnipresent and that people cannot, therefore, impoverish themselves
by giving (but rather will increase their supply) will enable us to give
freely and cheerfully.

Charles Fillmore
The Revealing Word

Do not wait for acts of love, generosity, or kindness to be returned to you.
If you sit around expecting favors to come back, you miss the point of giving.
The act of giving blesses you with the experience of prosperity at the moment
you give.  What comes later, or does not come, is not worth thinking or
worrying about.  There are greater gifts to be counted.

Alan Cohen
The Tao Made Easy 

giving 2 - generosity

Blessed are those who can give without remembering
and take without forgetting.

Elizabeth Bibesco

The parable of the talents is a good analogy of what happens
when we give.  When we merely try to hold on to what is given
or entrusted to us, life may seem to take away even that.  But
when we choose to use what life has given us, the return of
abundance can include friendship, companionship, financial
blessings, homes, transportation, and security in wonderful
ways.  The universe holds nothing back from the one
who lovingly and sincerely gives.

John Marks Templeton
Worldwide Laws of Life

quotations - contents - welcome page - obstacles
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Daily Meditations, Year One - Year Two - Year Three - Year Four
     
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Under the law of compensation there is no such thing as getting something for
nothing.  We must give full measure for all that we receive at some time.  Every
day is a day of judgment in which the balance between giving and receiving is
struck.  Every instant of time, the state of mind, body, and circumstance
shows just where we stand, just how well or how poorly we
have observed the spirit of the law.

Georgiana Tree West
Prosperity's Ten Commandments

One always receiving, never giving, is like a stagnant pool, in which
whatever flows remains, whatever remains corrupts.

John A. James

The real test of a person is not:  How much has he or she got?
The measure of a person is:  How much does he or she
give that he or she can afford to give?

Fred Van Amburgh

The soul lives forever by giving, not receiving.  This is the grand paradox.
You get most by giving most.  Conversely, by receiving much you impoverish
yourself.  By selfish accumulation you become bankrupt.

Julian P. Johnson

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.

Pierre Corneille