quotations about charity
We seek not merely to make Government a mechanical implement, but to give it the vibrant personal character that is the very embodiment of human charity.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
speech accepting the renomination for the Presidency, June 27, 1936
The small charity that comes from the heart is better than the great charity that comes from the head.
IVAN PANIN
Thoughts
He that distributeth not
That which he hath received--
His food, his drink, his sustenance--
Unto devotee, brahman, beggar, wayfarer--
Such a low man as he, they say, is like
Unto a lack of rain.
GAUTAMA BUDDHA
Iti-Vuttaka
Charity begins at home.
SIR THOMAS BROWNE
Religio Medici
If you combine all the spectral rays into a single beam, you get white light; and, if you combine all the virtues into a single beam, you get charity.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
Shut not thy purse-strings always against painted distress. Act a charity sometimes. When a poor creature (outwardly and visibly such) comes before thee, do not stay to inquire whether the "seven small children," in whose name he implores thy assistance, have a veritable existence. Rake not into the bowels of unwelcome truth, to save a halfpenny. It is good to believe him.
CHARLES LAMB
"Decay of Beggars", Elia
Once you go on welfare it changes you. Even if you get off welfare, you never escape the stigma that you were a charity case. You're scarred for life.
JEANNETTE WALLS
The Glass Castle
Charity no sooner begins to take root in the heart, but it makes all those weaknesses vanish at once. It softens what is hard and rough; it cures that presumption and haughtiness that pretends to decide and judge of every thing; it instructs us how to doubt, and how to reflect; to be teachable and not to rely too much on our own wisdom and understanding. It destroys all manner of positiveness, and moderates the very tone of our voice; and in such persons, as are already polite and endowed with the qualities that render people lovely to the rest of mankind, it gives this charming outside a motive and an inward principle far different from self-love.
WELLINS CALCOTT
Thoughts Moral and Divine
Charity is ... a universal remedy against discord, and an holy cement for mankind.
WILLIAM PENN
Some Fruits of Solitude
A benefactor is a representative of God.
BENJAMIN WHICHCOTE
Moral and Religious Aphorisms
The existence of poverty is the proof of an unjust and ill-organised society, and our public charities are but the first tardy awakening in the conscience of a robber.
SRI AUROBINDO
Thoughts and Aphorisms
Do not give alms promiscuously. Select the unworthy poor and make them happy. To give to the deserving is a duty, but to help the improvident, drinking class is clear generosity, so that the donor has a right to be warmed by a selfish pride and count on a most flattering obituary.
GEORGE ADE
"The Fable of the Old Fox and the Young Fox", True Bills
No one has ever become poor by giving.
ANNE FRANK
The Diary of Anne Frank
Charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor. Charity allows us to go ahead with our own lives without worrying about the lives of the poor. Charity appeases our consciences.
MUHAMMAD YUNUS
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
Instead of offering me charity
You should've tried to put some faith in me
Instead of making me a better man,
You kept reminding me of what I am
THE KINKS
"Once a Thief", State of Confusion
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.
Strength to Love
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.
DOM HELDER CAMARA
Dom Helder Camara: Essential Writings
Charity is the note that resolves the discord.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
When Charity walks into the lower places of Want, we most distinctly see the purity of her robes.
ELIZA COOK
Diamond Dust
A charitable man is like an apple tree--he gives his fruit and is silent; the philanthropist is like the successful hen.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought