The cultivation of generosity is the beginning of spiritual awakening. Generosity has tremendous force because it arises from an inner quality of letting go. Being able to let go, to give up, to renounce, and to give generously all spring from the same source, and when we practice generosity ... we open up these qualities within ourselves. --Sharon Salzberg (in American Generosity, Surveyed)

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 (in Empty Pockets, Full Heart)

One great reason why men practice generosity so little in the world is their finding so little there. Generosity is catching; and if so many men escape it, it is in a great degree from the same reason the countrymen escape the smallpox -- because they meet no one to give it to them. --Sir Fulke Greville (in Secret Santa 2.0)

Fear is the mind's reaction against the inherent generosity of the heart. Because the heart knows no bounds to it's giving, the mind feels called upon to define limits. --Amanda Gerhart (in Untitled)

There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity. --Nathaniel Branden, author and psychologist (in Untitled)

Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present. --Albert Camus (in Untitled)

An elderly Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life... He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil---he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego. The other is good -- he is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too." They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed." --Author Unknown (in Untitled)

In judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one's social position, influence and popularity, wealth and standard of education ... But internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one's development as a human being: honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, purity, generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve your fellow men - qualities within the reach of every soul - are the foundation of one's spiritual life. Never forget that a saint is a sinner that keeps on trying. --Nelson Mandela (in Untitled)

There is no such thing as generosity. No such thing at all. There is only the awareness of need and the natural impulse of the heart to address it. If you are hungry and your hand puts food in your mouth, you don't think of the hand as generous, do you? If people in front of you are hungry and you feed them, it's the same, isn't it? --Poonjaji (in Untitled)

It appeals to our ego to consider what "we" have and what "they" need. I went to South Africa once, to a small village about 800km from Cape Town. The people were extremely poor; conditions were basic; alcoholism was rife. My first impression was typical of a Westerner. I thought 'These poor people...' and I thought about what "we", in the prosperous North, could offer people in poor developing countries. But, by the time I left, having been invited into homes, eaten and laughed with both kids and adults, talked to folk wherever I roamed, I came away thinking more about what they had to offer to us. The visit made me realize that in our greedy pursuit of wealth we have lost a great deal of what money cannot buy. Our value system has gotten out of kilter with what is important in life. The people I met had an abundance of natural generosity, exuberance, lust for life, sense of community and family. I am now more worried for us and the road we are walking, blinded by unconscious greed because we always look after number one. We all, rich and poor alike, have something very valuable to gain if we share the world resources more fairly, and if we look again at what is really valuable in life. --Fran Healey, singer and songwriter with 'Travis' (in We Have, They Need)

One of the great joys that comes from generosity is the understanding that no matter how much or how little we have by the world’s standards, if we know we have enough, we can always give something. --Sharon Salzberg (in Advertising for Global Good)

The practice of generosity is about creating space. We see our limits and we extend them continuously, which creates an expansiveness and spaciousness of mind that's deeply composed. --Sharon Salzberg (in America's Nicest Homeless Shelter)

If we want to make the imagination feel at home, generosity shows us the way. How else can imagination thrive but in a place where welcoming comes first and where judgment feels no need to speak and finally feels no need to be? --Sarah Wider (in Why Sharing Makes Sense)

No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure. --Emma Goldman (in Kids Embrace The Giving Spirit)

We all have the drum major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. ... And the great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct. It is a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity. --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (in Dr. King's Definition of Service)

True generosity requires more of us than kindly impulse. Above all it requires imagination -- the capacity to see people in all their perplexities and needs, and to know how to expend ourselves effectively for them. --I.A.R Wylie (in Rescued Dog Pays It Forward)

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present. --Albert Camus (in Ben Kennedy: Living Frugal, Giving Big)

Generosity consists not in the sum given, but the manner in which it is bestowed. --Unknown (in Kidney Transplant Record)

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving your all to the present. --Albert Camus (in The Business of Giving)

To be rich in admiration and free from envy, to rejoice greatly in the good of others, to love with such generosity of heart that your love is still a dear possession in absence or unkindness - these are the gifts which money cannot buy. --Robert Louis Stevenson (in Less Give More)

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present. --Albert Camus (in The Monday Night Soup Master)

What I call the depth of generosity is when people are very fond of giving away what they need most themselves. --Oscar Wilde (in Generous Vegetable Seller)

No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure. --Emma Golmam (in Tiny Superheroes Don Capes and Do Good)

It takes generosity to discover the whole through others. If you realize you are only a violin, you can open yourself up to the world by playing your role in the concert. --Jacques Yves Cousteau (in Retailing With Heart)

No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. --Emma Goldman (in What a 10-Year-Old Did for the Tar Sands)

Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do. --Kahlil Gibran (in The Geography of Giving)

It takes generosity to discover the whole through others. If you realize you are only a violin, you can open yourself up to the world by playing your role in the concert. --Jacques Yves Cousteau (in Radical Generosity: From Me to We)

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. --Simone Weil (in 5 People Who Changed The World Through Extreme Compassion)

To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. --Confucius (in Four Years of Compassion College)

No one is self-sufficient. And it's not a one-way thing -- the generosity of spirit from one side provokes a response in kind from the other side. --Desmond Tutu (in Desmond Tutu & His Daughter: On Ubuntu and More)

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. --Kahlil Gibran (in The Love Kitchen )

Happiness exists on earth, and it is won through prudent exercise of reason, knowledge of the harmony of the universe, and constant practice of generosity. --Jose Marti (in Why Free Money Day Makes You Richer)

That's what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing. --Simone de Beauvoir (in The Joys of Giving Large)

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. --Simone Weil (in A Life-Saving Coat for the Homeless)

Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present. --Albert Camus (in Today is a Gift)

Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.
--Dennis Prager (in Why Looking for the Good in Others Matters)

The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion and humor and style and generosity and kindness.
--Maya Angelou (in Grateful Changemakers: Karma Kitchen)

Be like the sun for grace and mercy.
Be like the night to cover others faults.
Be like running water for generosity.
Be like death for rage and anger.
Be like the earth for modesty.
Appear as you are. Be as you appear. --Rumi (in The Quality of Mercy)

Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present --Albert Camus (in Wish You Were Here: Postcards from the Future)

That's what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing. --Simone de Beauvoir (in On Generosity)

If we are to work together more intelligently, we will need to choose processes that evoke our curiosity, humility, generosity and wisdom. --Margaret Wheatley (in Solving Complex Problems Relying on Diversity and Inclusion)

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. --Simone Weil (in Is Our Attention for Sale?)