#generosity

At last I see it, I feel it; I penetrate to the predestinated purpose of my life. I am content. Others may have loftier parts to enact; but my mission in this world, Bartleby, is to furnish you with office-room for such period as you may see fit to remain. I believe that this wise and blessed frame of mind would have continued with me, had it not been for the unsolicited and uncharitable remarks obtruded upon me by my professional friends who visited the rooms. But thus it often is, that the constant friction of illiberal minds wears out at last the best resolves of the more generous. ↗

— Herman Melville

#influence #purpose-of-life #life

Give a bowl of rice to a man and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to grow his own rice and you will save his life. ↗

— Confucius

#enduring-good #generosity #life #wise-advice #work

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

#generosity #gift #giving #non-attachment #practice

Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness. ↗

— Dalai Lama XIV

#generosity #inspirational #loving-kindness #spiritual #attitude

It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second. ↗

— John Steinbeck

#always #detest #egotism #failure #feeling

Candor and generosity, unless tempered by due moderation, leads to ruin. ↗

— Tacitus

#due #generosity #leads #moderation #ruin