I agree with Balzac and 19th-century writers, black and white, who say, ‚I write for money.‘ Yes, I think everybody should be paid handsomely; I insist on it, and I pay people who work for me, or with me, handsomely.

I have somewhere met with the epitaph on a charitable man which has pleased me very much. I cannot recollect the words, but here is the sense of it: ‚What I spent I lost; what I possessed is left to others; what I gave away remains with me.‘

I think Kenny Chesney or Garth Brooks would be the coolest duet partners. I look up to them so much for their work ethics.

The more credit you give away, the more will come back to you. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you.

The Lord commonly gives riches to foolish people, to whom he gives nothing else.

We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing.

The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.

Nobody can ever make enough money for as many poor relatives as I’ve got. Somebody’s got a sick kid, or somebody needs an operation, somebody ain’t got this, somebody ain’t got that. Or to give the kids all a car when they graduate.

In a time of domestic crisis, men of goodwill and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.

There is a moral obligation that those who have should give to those who don’t.

Indeed, it is as important to learn how to receive a blessing as it is to be willing to give one.

God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.

I like gifts. I like to give them and I like to get them.

No one has ever become poor by giving.

We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.

It’s amazing how people will give when you don’t ask. Many of them send money because they believe in the message.

Most of the time, I’m not even working; I’m just helping people, because I feel that I am too lucky.

There is no rule more invariable than that we are paid for our suspicions by finding what we suspect.

I’m very proud of the Rome episode of ‚No Reservations‘ because it violated all the conventional wisdom about making television. You’re never, ever supposed to do a food or travel show in black and white.

One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

The poor don’t know that their function in life is to exercise our generosity.

The Tao teaches us to let go of things. Use the 80/20 rule. If you take all your clothes, you’ll find out that you only wear 20 percent of them. Take what you have and don’t use and circulate it. Give stuff to people who truly need it. After all, we come into this world with nothing; we leave this world with nothing.

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

The only big things I’ve purchased are my dad’s heart valve and a Rolls-Royce for my parents, for their anniversary. And that was only because my dad had a Lady Gaga license plate on our old car and it was making me crazy because he was getting followed everywhere, so I bought him a new car.

Wars are not paid for in wartime, the bill comes later.

No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions; he had money as well.

O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet.

The poorest people are the sweetest people.

It shows nobility to be willing to increase your debt to a man to whom you already owe much.

People who identify themselves as conservatives donate money to charity more often than people who identify themselves as liberals. They donate more money and a higher percentage of their incomes.

Most people would rather give than get affection.

As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.

If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

Black-and-white always looks modern, whatever that word means.

You may be rich, but there is one thing you can’t afford – that is, if you are a good sort – you can’t afford to spend money on your own luxuries while there are people around you wanting the necessaries of life.

Generous people can become more generous as they become richer, giving away vast fortunes to worthwhile causes as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing.

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

There are people in the world who aren’t necessarily Christians, but they’re just naturally nice people who do a lot for other people. Those people will almost always be prosperous people.

This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.

Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed.

Many people say that this is not an easy issue, we cannot just say that this is how it is, it’s not black and white. But I say that this is black and white. Either we stop the emissions or we don’t. There are no gray areas when it comes to survival.

There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.

It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.

The only way to get love is to be lovable. It’s very irritating if you have a lot of money. You’d like to think you could write a check: ‚I’ll buy a million dollars‘ worth of love.‘ But it doesn’t work that way. The more you give love away, the more you get.

Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.

To give alms is nothing unless you give thought also.

When I give somebody something and see their face, it just makes me so happy.

Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.

Give to everyone who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.

I am a generous man, by nature, and far more trusting than I should be. Indeed. The real world is risky territory for people with generosity of spirit. Beware.

Funny thing is that the poorer people are, the more generous they seem to be.

When I ask people to give, I can’t be on television if they don’t; I can’t help people, if I don’t – I mean, it takes money.

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.

You can’t buy love, but you can pay heavily for it.

My mother was a full-time mother. She didn’t have much of her own career, her own life, her own experiences… everything was for her children. I will never be as good a mother as she was. She was just grace incarnate. She was the most generous, loving – she’s better than me.

The most amazing philanthropists are people who are actually making a significant sacrifice.

Players now have a groin injury for months and months, and I often think they don’t really give a toss whether they’re playing or not because they’re getting paid anyway.

I bet taxpayers remember providing more than $812 billion to Citigroup and Bank of America, two Wall Street banks, in 2009 to bail them out during the 2008 financial crisis. Taxpayers remember that generosity; big banks evidently don’t.

One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!