# Generosity

Generosity is a disposition to good will towards others, exemplified by the habit of giving without coercion. Often equated with charity as a virtue, generosity is widely accepted in society as a desirable trait.

## Quotes

* Taking pain to remove the pain of others is the true essence of generosity.
** Abu Bakr, Abdul Jaleel Qureshi
* Generosity is to help a deserving person without his request, and if you help him after his request, then it is either out of self-respect or to avoid rebuke.
** Ali, Nahj al-Balagha. Peak of eloquence: Nahjul Balagha ; sermons, letters and sayings (Eleventh revised ed.). Accra Bombay Freetown Karachi London New York: Islamic seminary publications. 1984. ISBN 0-941724-18-2.
* GENEROUS, adj. Originally this word meant noble by birth and was rightly applied to a great multitude of persons. It now means noble by nature and is taking a bit of a rest.
** Ambrose Bierce, The Cynic's Dictionary (1906); republished as The Devil's Dictionary (1911).
* There are people who are known to be very liberal, yet they never give without scolding or pride or even insolence.
** John Calvin Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life, Page 39
* I have confidence not so much in my own abilities as in the generosity of everyone else.
** Rosario Castellanos "Genesis of an Ambassador" (1971) In Another Way to Be: Selected Works of Rosario Castellanos translated from Spanish by Myralyn Allgood
* My friends, Dr. King realized that the only real wealth comes from helping others.
** César Chávez, in a speech, Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (1990)
* Generosity is a virtue for individuals, not Governments. When governments are generous it is with other people's money, other people's safety, other people's future.
** P. D. James, The Children of Men (1992)
* Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
** Jesus, Gospel of Luke 12:33-34
* Generosity is a virtue more frequently found in the small top layers than among the masses. After all, it takes intelligence to suspect that generosity very often pays while egotism does not.
** Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Monarchy and War (2000)
* You've been so kind and generous. I don't know how you keep on giving. For your kindness, I'm in debt to you. For your selflessness, my admiration. And for everything you've done, you know I'm bound... I'm bound to thank you for it.
** Natalie Merchant, Kind & Generous, from Ophelia (1998)
* By no means shall you attain to righteousness until you spend (benevolently) out of what you love; and whatever thing you spend, God surely knows it.
** Quran 3:92
* Be generous! Give to those whom 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.
** W. Clement Stone, Be Generous!
* Your most precious, valued possessions and your greatest powers are invisible and intangible. No one can take them. You, and you alone, can give them. You will receive abundance for your giving. The more you give — the more you will have!
** W. Clement Stone, Be Generous!
* I wonder if those who advocate generosity for its rewards notice the inconsistency, or if what they call generosity is an attractive investment strategy.
** Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010) Preludes, p.6.
* He who gives only what he would as readily throw away gives without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self-sacrifice.
** Henry Taylor, Money, from Notes From Life (1853)
* When you give, therefore, take to yourself no credit for generosity, unless you deny yourself something in order that you may give.
** Henry Taylor, Money, from Notes From Life (1853)

## External links

Virtues Altruism • Asceticism • Beneficence • Benevolence • Bravery • Carefulness • Charity • Cheerfulness • Cleanliness • Common sense • Compassion • Constancy • Courage • Dignity • Diligence • Discretion • Earnestness • Faith • Fidelity • Forethought • Forgiveness • Friendship • Frugality • Generosity • Gentleness • Goodness • Grace • Gratitude • Holiness • Honesty • Honor • Hope • Hospitality • Humanity • Humility • Integrity • Intelligence • Justice • Kindness • Love • Loyalty • Mercy • Moderation • Modesty • Optimism • Patience • Philanthropy • Piety • Prudence • Punctuality • Poverty • Purity • Self-control • Simplicity • Sincerity • Sobriety • Sympathy • Temperance • Tolerance
Vices Aggression • Anger • Apathy • Arrogance • Bigotry • Contempt • Cowardice • Cruelty • Dishonesty • Drunkenness • Egotism • Envy • Evil speaking • Gluttony • Greed • Hatred • Hypocrisy • Idleness • Ignorance • Impatience • Impenitence • Ingratitude • Inhumanity • Intemperance • Jealousy • Laziness • Lust • Malice • Neglect • Obstinacy • Philistinism • Prejudice • Pretension • Pride • Recklessness • Self-righteousness • Selfishness • Superficiality • Tryphé • Unkindness • Usury • Vanity • Worldliness