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ON GIVING

  

You give but little

when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

There are those who give little of the much which they have—

and they give it for recognition

and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life,

 and their coffer is never empty.

It is well to give when asked,

but is is better to give unasked, through understanding.

All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours

and not your inheritors.

—Khalil Gibran, The Prophet.