Quotes about giving

I have somewhere met with the epitaph on a charitable man which has pleased me very much. I cannot recollect the words, but here is the sense of it: What I spent I lost; what I possessed is left to others; what I gave away remains with me.

— Joseph Addison

It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well.

— Henri Frederic Amiel

The trick is to realize that after giving your best, there's nothing more to give.

— Sparky Anderson

The human contribution is the essential ingredient. It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live.

— Ethel Percy Andrus

No matter what age you are, or what your circumstances might be, you are special, and you still have something unique to offer. Your life, because of who you are, has meaning.

— Barbara De Angelis

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.

— Arthur Ashe

It is rare indeed that people give. Most people guard and keep; they suppose that it is they themselves and what they identify with themselves that they are guarding and keeping, whereas what they are actually guarding and keeping is their system of reality and what they assume themselves to be.

— James Baldwin

Sharing is sometimes more demanding than giving.

— Mary Bateson

Nature does not give to those who will not spend...

— R.J. Baughan

There never was a person who did anything worth doing, who did not receive more than he gave.

— Henry Ward Beecher

Getters don't get -- givers get.

— Eugene Benge

Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock.

— Walter Benjamin

Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. [2 Corinthians 9:7]

— Bible

The Liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. [Proverbs 11.25]

— Bible

It is more blessed to give than to receive. [Acts 20:35]

— Bible

Give, and it shall be given to you. For whatever measure you deal out to others, it will be dealt to you in return.

— Bible

Give and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over... [Luke 6:38]

— Bible

One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. [Proverbs 11-24]

— Bible

It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.

— Richard Braunstein

He who bestows his goods upon the poor shall have as much again, and ten times more.

— John Bunyan

All who joy would win must share it. Happiness was born a Twin.

— Lord Byron

I do detest everything which is not perfectly mutual.

— Lord Byron

It is normal to give away a little of one's life in order not to lose it all.

— Albert Camus

When you're nice to people, they want to be nice back to you.

— Jack Canfield

The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of oneself to others.

— Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

You cannot hold on to anything good. You must be continually giving -- and getting. You cannot hold on to your seed. You must sow it -- and reap anew. You cannot hold on to riches. You must use them and get other riches in return.

— Robert Collier

You have to sow before you can reap. You have to give before you can get.

— Robert Collier

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.

— Pierre Corneille

Look around for a place to sow a few seeds.

— Henry Van Dyke

In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us.

— Flora Edwards

What we gave, we have; What we spent, we had; What we left, we lost.

— Tryon Edwards

One must be poor to know the luxury of giving.

— George Eliot

Always think in terms of what the other person wants.

— James Van Fleet

The more sympathy you give, the less you need.

— Malcolm S. Forbes

The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.

— Henry Ford

For it is in giving that we receive.

— St. Francis of Assisi

He that bringeth a present findeth the door open.

— Thomas Fuller

It is better to give than to lend, and it costs about the same.

— Philip Gibbs

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

— Kahlil Gibran

Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you.

— Andre Gide

Giving presents is a talent; to know what a person wants, to know when and how to get it, to give it lovingly and well. Unless a character possesses this talent there is no moment more annihilating to ease than that in which a present is received and given.

— Pamela Glenconner

God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.

— Billy Graham

You give before you get.

— Napoleon Hill

There would be no advantage to be gained by sowing a field of wheat if the harvest did not return more than was sown.

— Napoleon Hill

The nine-tenths prove man's love, but the one-tenth tests man's legal obedience.

— Herschel Hobbs

Men are rich only as they give. He who gives great service gets great rewards.

— Elbert Hubbard

A check or credit card, a Gucci bag strap, anything of value will do. Give as you live.

— Jesse Jackson

To give is to receive...

— Gerald G. Jampolsky

Giving half answers won't make the conversation half as long.

— Dave Johnson

While you have a thing it can be taken from you... but when you give it, you have given it. No robber can take it from you. It is yours then for ever when you have given it. It will be yours always. That is to give.

— James Joyce

He that loveth, flieth, runneth, and rejoiceth. He is free, and cannot be held in. He giveth all for all, and hath all in all, because he resteth in one highest above all things, from whom all that is good flows and proceeds.

— Thomas Kempis

To whom much is given is much required. [Luke 12:48]

— Bible

In the long run, we get no more than we have been willing to risk giving.

— Sheldon Kopp

You only get to keep what you give away.

— Sheldon Kopp

We read on the foreheads of those who are surrounded by a foolish luxury, that fortune sells what she is thought to give.

— Jean De La Fontaine

If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence.

— Lao-Tzu

He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.

— Lao-Tzu

Before he left, Aunt William pressed a sovereign into his hand guiltily, as if it were conscience money. He, on his side, took it as though it were a doctor's fee, and both ignored the transaction.

— Ada Leverson

Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.

— C. S. Lewis

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.

— C. S. Lewis

To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own.

— Anne Morrow Lindbergh

There is only one way to succeed in anything and that is to give everything. I do and I demand that my players do. Any man's finest hour is when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle... victorious.

— Vince Lombardi

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

— Norman Macewan

All that this world knows of living lies in giving -- and more giving; He that keeps, be sure he loses -Friendship grows by what it uses.

— Alexander Maclaren

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

— Fiona Macleod

We must give more in order to get more, It is the generous giving of ourselves that produce the generous harvest.

— Orison Swett Marden

It is like the seed put in the soil -- the more one sows, the greater the harvest.

— Orison Swett Marden

In Giving, a man receives more than he gives; and the more is in proportion to the worth of the thing given.

— George Mcdonald

The gifts that one receives for giving are so immeasurable that it is almost an injustice to accept them.

— Rod Mckeun

Blessed are those who give without remembering. And blessed are those who take without forgetting.

— Bernard Meltzer

We may give without loving, but we cannot love without giving

— Bernard Meltzer

It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.

— Mother Teresa

When people grow gradually rich their requirements and standard of living expand in proportion, while their present-giving instincts often remain in the undeveloped condition of their earlier days. Something showy and not-too-expensive in a shop is their only conception of the ideal gift.

— Hector Hugh Munro

What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away, you keep forever.

— Axel Munthe

Any person who contributes to prosperity must prosper in turn.

— Earl Nightingale

Plant a kernel of wheat and you reap a pint; plant a pint and you reap a bushel. Always the law works to give you back more than you give.

— Anthony Norvell

What we are doing is satisfying the American public. That's our job. I always say we have to give most of the people what they want most of the time. That's what they expect from us.

— William Paley

What we are doing is satisfying the American public. That's our job. I always say we have to give most of the people what they want most of the time. That's what they expect from us.

— William Paley

Why is it no one ever sent me yet one perfect limousine, do you suppose? Ah no, it's always just my luck to get one perfect rose.

— Dorothy Parker

Give a lot, expect a lot, and if you don't get it, prune.

— Thomas J. Peters

A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.

— Proverb

Sow much, reap much; sow little, reap little.

— Chinese Proverb

You must give to get, You must sow the seed, before you can reap the harvest.

— Scott Reed

It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute... that gives meaning to our lives.

— Anthony Robbins

I wonder if it isn't just cowardice instead of generosity that makes us give tips.

— Will Rogers

Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.

— Jim Rohn

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

He who gives while he lives, get to know where it goes.

— Percy Ross

To get, give.

— Bob Roth

Give little love to a child, and you get a great deal back.

— John Ruskin

For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow.

— Antoine De Saint-Exupery

When you give yourself, you receive more than you give.

— Antoine De Saint-Exupery

There is only one real deprivation... and that is not to be able to give one's gifts to those one loves most.

— May Sarton

There is no delight in owning anything unshared.

— Seneca

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.

— Seneca

Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

— George Bernard Shaw

The big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.

— Fulton John Sheen

Giving opens the way for receiving.

— Florence Scovel Shinn

The more we give of anything, the more we shall get back.

— Grace Speare

Giving is true having.

— Charles Haddon Spurgeon