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Quotes about charity

103 quotes from 72 people

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So give to the poor; I’m begging you, I’m warning you, I’m commanding you, I’m ordering you.
Augustine of Hippo354–430Sermons, 61:13
Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.
Scott Adams1957–2026“A Kind Word”, in DNRC Newsletter #9 (December 1995)
For kindness begets kindness evermore,
But he from whose mind fades the memory
Of benefits, noble is he no more.
Sophocles496–406 BCAjax, Line 522–524 (tr. R. C. Trevelyan, 1919)
- Character
For myself, I want no advantage over my fellow man, and if he is weaker than I, all the more is it my duty to help him.
Eugene V. Debs1855–1926The Negro and His Nemesis (1904)
- Responsibility
If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Walden (1854), p. 85In context
It is immoral to use private property in order to alleviate the horrible evils that result from the institution of private property.
Oscar Wilde1854–1900The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
- Economics
Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lamaborn 1935“Kindness and Compassion” p. 47.
- Religion
Generosity is to help a deserving person without his request, and if you help him after his request, then it is either out of self-respect or to avoid rebuke.
AAli599–661Nahj al-Balagha
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lamaborn 1935“Kindness and Compassion” p. 52
- Religion
Generous, adj. Originally this word meant noble by birth and was rightly applied to a great multitude of persons. It now means noble by nature and is taking a bit of a rest.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
- Comedy
He who gives himself entirely to his fellow-men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
He who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars;
General good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer:
For art and science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars.
William Blake1757–1827Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820), Ch. 3, plate 55, line 60
- Morality
Every hand and every hour should be devoted to rescue the world from its insanity of guilt, and to assuage the pangs of human hearts with balm and anodyne. To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is Godlike.
Horace Mann1796–1859Lectures on Education (1855), Lecture 6
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Jesus7 BC–AD 30The Gospel of Matthew (1611), Matthew 25:40 (KJV)In context
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
John F. Kennedy1917–1963John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address (1961)
- Money