It is more blessed to give than to receive.

—Acts of the Apostles, c. 80

A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.

—Ralph Nader, 2000

Without virtue, both riches and honor, to me, seem like the passing cloud.

—Confucius, c. 350 BC

Every gift has a personality—that of its giver.

—Nuruddin Farah, 1992

I love everyone now that I have gray hair.

—Polatkin, c. 1855

Do not ask me to be kind; just ask me to act as though I were.

—Jules Renard, 1898

Charity is murder and you know it.

—Dorothy Parker, 1956

Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.

—Alexander Pope, 1738

Too many people have decided to do without generosity in order to practice charity.

—Albert Camus, 1956

They say that gifts persuade even the gods. 

—Euripides, 431 BC

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

—Mark Twain, 1894

Unfortunately, humanitarianism has been the mark of an inhuman time.

—G.K. Chesterton, 1932

I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received.

—Antonio Porchia, 1943

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.

—Maya Angelou, 1993

The friend of all humanity is no friend to me.

—Molière, 1666

If you would help another man, you must do so in minute particulars.

—William Blake, 1804

The gratitude is greater than the gift.

—Pierre Corneille, 1641

The deed is everything, the glory naught.

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1832

Almsgiving tends to perpetuate poverty; aid does away with it once and for all.

—Eva Perón, 1949