Generosity Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old generosity quotes, generosity sayings, and generosity proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines. Benjamin Franklin
A thing is bigger for being shared. Gaelic (on generosity)
Be just before you are generous. E. Haywood
Give even an onion, graciously. Afghan (on generosity)
Good words are worth much and cost little. George Herbert
Great spenders are bad lenders. Benjamin Franklin
If you have, give; if you lack, seek. Malay (on generosity)
It is better to return a borrowed pot with a little something you last cooked in it. Omaha (Native American) (on the conduct of life)
It is said that you can't take it with you; I say there are two things you can take with you: the things you do for others and the things you do to others Harold H Cornett Jr.
Nice words are free, so choose ones that please another's ears. Vietnamese (on courtesy and respect)
No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted. Aesop
Nothing is impossible to the willing heart. John Heywood
One good turn deserves another. Aesop
One hand for yourself and one for the ship. unknown
Please all and you will soon please none. Aesop
Poor people share with the heart. Haitian (on generosity)
Sacrificing means more. unknown
Scatter with one hand; gather with two. Welsh (on thrift)
What you do to others will bear fruit in you. Singhalese (on generosity)
Without kindness there can be no true joy. Thomas Carlyle
You can't please everyone. unknown
You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Benjamin Franklin
You may light another's candle at your own without loss. Danish (on generosity)
Your time is the greatest gift you can give to someone. unknown
Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present. Albert Camus
True generosity is an offering; given freely and out of pure love. No strings attached. No expectations. Suze Orman
Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out. Frank A. Clark
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. Khalil Gibran
Generosity is nothing else than a craze to possess. All which I abandon, all which I give, I enjoy in a higher manner through the fact that I give it away. To give is to enjoy possessively the object which one gives. Jean-Paul Sartre
Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others. Barbara Bush
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
Generosity could be as contagious as the zombie plague as long as enough people were willing to be carriers. Jonathan Maberry
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
Being generous often consists of simply extending a hand. That's hard to do if you are grasping tightly to your righteousness, your belief system, your superiority, your assumptions about others, your definition of normal. Patti Digh
Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else's life forever. Margaret Cho
What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. Albert Pike
He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either. Friedrich Nietzsche
Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Generosity consists not the sum given, but the manner in which it is bestowed Anonymous
One would give generous alms if one had the eyes to see the beauty of a cupped receiving hand. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing Alexander Pope
It is through generous giving, that we affirm before the world, our nation's faith in the inalienable right of every man, to a life of freedom, justice and security. Harry S. Truman
Giving is God's way. It is the way that I now understand is the truth of the Universe. Giving multiplies me and makes me feel complete and fulfilled. Giving makes me feel that I make a real and important difference. Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen
Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity. Albert Camus
It is a powerful practice to be generous when you are the one feeling in need. Allan Lokos
As desire abates, generosity is born. When we are connected and present, what else is there to do but give? Jack Kornfield
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
Never measure your generosity by what you give, but rather by what you have left. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
Generosity is the flower of justice. Nathaniel Hawthorne
The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving. Albert Einstein
Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. Albert Schweitzer
Because that’s what kindness is. It’s not doing something for someone else because they can’t, but because you can. Andrew Iskander
Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty. Anne Herbert
For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. Audrey Hepburn
Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. Barbara De Angelis
The law of prosperity is generosity. If you want more, give more. Bob Proctor
Generosity is the best investment. Diane Con Furstenberg
Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be tough. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more. H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are. Harold S. Kushner
Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. Henry James
Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life. Jackie Chan
There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up. John Holmes
You often say, I would give, but only to the deserving. The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture. They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish. Kahlil Gibran
Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution. Kahlil Gibran
Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers. Kahlil Gibran
I've been searching for ways to heal myself, and I've found that kindness is the best way. Lady Gaga
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. Lao Tzu
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. Leo Buscaglia
I've been so bothered with my property, that I'm tired of it, and don't mean to save up any more, but give it away as I go along, and then nobody will envy me, or want to steal it, and I shan't be suspecting folks and worrying about my old cash. Louisa May Alcott
Gentleness, self-sacrifice, and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion. Mahatma Gandhi
Be must be the change you wish you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi
The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity. Marcus Garvey
Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Martin Luther King
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good. Minor Myers
If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one. Mother Teresa
Our only hope lies in the power of our love, generosity, tolerance and understanding and our commitment to making the world a better place for all. Muhammad Ali
Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. Og Mandino
To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart and a free mind. Pearl S. Buck
Being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live. Pete Seeger
Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness. R.J. Palacio
You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style. Rebecca Solnit
Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows. Robert Green Ingersoll
We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan
Help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return. Roy T. Bennett
Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. Scott Adams
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
Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. Simone Weil
True generosity is an offering, given freely and out of pure love. No strings attached. No expectations. Time and love are the most valuable possession you can share. Suze Orman
Generosity takes an open heart and a love that asks for nothing in return. unknown
Kindness makes you the most beautiful person in the world, no matter what you look like. unknown
When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves. William Arthur Ward
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Winston Churchill