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Generosity

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Generosity is freely sharing what you have with others. It is being willing to offer money, help or time when it is needed. To be generous means giving something that is valuable to you without expectation of reward or return. Many traditions measure generosity not by the size of the gift, but by what it cost the giver.


Sometimes generosity requires pushing past a feeling of reluctance because we all instinctively want to keep good things for ourselves. Even so, we can structure our lives in ways that make generosity more spontaneous and fun. When we intentionally "live below our means" and avoid overcommitment, we cultivate a sense of bounty or surplus that makes us want to share. When we give, we reap the pleasure of knowing we have made someone else's life a little happier.

Generosity


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Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.

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Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.

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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.

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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.

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Noblesse oblige; or, superior advantages bind you to larger generosity.

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A really great man is known by three signs: generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.

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No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.

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It always seemed strange to me that 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, aquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and selfinterest are the traits of sucess. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second.

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We'd all like a reputation for generosity, and we'd all like to buy it cheap.

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Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation-to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe.

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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.

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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.

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Anticipate charity by preventing poverty; assist the reduced fellow man, either by a considerable gift or a sum of money or by teaching him a trade or by putting him in the way of business so that he may earn an honest livelihood and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding out his hand for charity. This is the highest step and summit of charity's golden ladder.

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You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.

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The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give.

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So I would hope they would develop some kind of habit that involves understanding that their life is so full they can afford to give in all kinds of ways to other people. I consider that to be baseline spirituality.

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There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else.

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Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.

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It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.

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" Want now,and want later, give and never lack"

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Contribution #3497


Recipients of our appreciation are apt to express their own gratitude to others, lengthening the unending, golden chain of connections-in-goodness that stretches across the world.

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Source type: Book
The Way of Mary
http://
Contribution #3454


Giving is an essential for spiritual unfoldment, for until we give and give abundantly, we don’t really realize that we are not the giver; we are just a channel for giving.

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Gurudeva Weekly Calendar
http://www.minimela.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=69_70&products_id=477
Contribution #3449


Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it.

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Source type: Book
Good News Bible
Page Proverbs 3:27
http://
Contribution #3423


Selfless service to mankind makes you free in the world of mortals.

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Gurudeva Weekly Calendar
http://www.minimela.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=69_70&products_id=477
Contribution #3409


The man of great wealth owes a particular obligation to the state because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government.

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God will not call you to account for what is futile in your oaths, but He will call you to account for your deliberate oaths: for expiation, feed then indigent persons, on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom.

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Source type: Sacred Text
Koran
The Table Spread 5:92
http://
Contribution #2694


He that gives should never remember, he that receives should never forget.

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Source type: Sacred Text
Talmud
http://
Contribution #2614


Do not kiss your children so they will kiss you back but so they will kiss their children, and their children’s children.

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Starbucks - The Way I See It #27
http://www.starbucks.com/retail/thewayiseeit_featuredauthor_benshea.asp
Contribution #2609


A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.

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But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

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Source type: Sacred Text
Bible
1 John 3:17
http://
Contribution #1921


And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

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Source type: Sacred Text
Bible
Malachi 3:5
Version or Translation KJV
http://
Contribution #1908


All you have shall some day be given; Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

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Source type: Book
The Prophet
Page 21
Published by Alfred A Knopf , New York , 1992
http://
Contribution #1819


To the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.

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Source type: Book
The Prophet
Page 21
Published by Alfred A Knopf , New York , 1992
http://
Contribution #1816


At the heart of our public morality is the idea that he who gives generously is most virtuous and morally praiseworthy; that there is no greater citizen than she who sacrifices; and that there is no greater measure of worth than contribution.  These are values we can be proud of.  After all, there is no moral system or religion on earth where the guiding ethic is "grab more for yourself."

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Source type: Book
The True Patriot
Page 37-38
Published by True Patriot Network , Seattle, USA , 2007
http://truepat.org
Contribution #1659


The higher the rank I attain, the more humbly I behave.  The greater my power, the less I exercise it.  The richer my wealth, the more I give away.  Thus I avoid envy, spite and misery.

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

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By what we get, we make a living.
By what we give, we make a life.

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When giving to others
do not linger on thoughts of
    I a giving,
    what was given, or
    the one who has received.

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Source type: Book
Heart of a Buddha
Published by Amitabha Publications , Temple City, CA , 2003
http://
Contribution #1449


Power is the ability to do good things for others.

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Source type: Website
Brooke Astor
http://www.quotations.about.com
Viewed on May 1, 2008
Contribution #1262


Happiness never decreased by being shared.

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Thousands of candles can be
lighted from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not
be shortened.

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To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue...[They are] gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

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Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.

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Source type: Website
Buddha
http://216.93.167.235/quotation/teach_this_triple_truth_to_all-a_generous_heart/199773.html
Viewed on April 24, 2008
Contribution #1098


That which is selfish is immoral, and that which is unselfish is moral. 

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Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possesions of no one race or religion.

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Source type: Website
Mohandas Gandhi
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mohandasga160794.html
Viewed on April 22, 2008
Contribution #1007


A candle loses none of its light by lighting another candle.

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Unknown
http://www.boloji.com/quotes/cis.htm
Viewed on April 16, 2008
Contribution #861


How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single minute before starting to improve the world.

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Source type: Website
Anne Frank
http://www.boloji.com/quotes/cis.htm
Viewed on April 16, 2008
Contribution #860


Generosity gives assistance rather than advice.

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Source type: Website
marquis de Vauvenargues Luc de Clapiers
http://www.learningtogive.org/search/quotes/Display_Quotes.asp?subject_id=10&search_type=subject
Viewed on April 15, 2008
Contribution #844


Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

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Source type: Sacred Text
Bible
2 Corinthians 9:7
Version or Translation KJV
http://
Contribution #782


Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing.

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Source type: Website
Alexander Pope
http://www.learningtogive.org/search/quotes/Display_Quotes.asp?subject_id=10&search_type=subject
Viewed on March 1, 2008
Contribution #780


You will always have to live with yourself, and it is to your best interest to see that you have good company -- a clean, pure, straight, honest, upright, generous, magnanimous companion.

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Source type: Website
Orison Swett Marden
Viewed on April 14, 2008
Contribution #700


And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 

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Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.

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Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect praise or reward.

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Source type: Website
Achaan Chah
Viewed on April 7, 2008
Contribution #152


He who gives what he would as readily throw away gives without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self-sacrifice.

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Men of the noblest dispositions think themselves happiest when others share their happiness with them.

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Duncan
Viewed on March 1, 2008
Contribution #46