Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.

Generosity is nothing else than a craze to possess. All which I abandon, all which I give, I enjoy in a higher manner through the fact that I give it away. To give is to enjoy possessively the object which one gives.

What is called generosity is usually only the vanity of giving; we enjoy the vanity more than the thing given.

If you're a generous person you'll have no trouble admitting that somebody else is good. If you're a better person you'll find it's total impossibility.

Generosity during life is a very different thing from generosity in the hour of death; one proceeds from genuine liberality and benevolence, the other from pride or fear.

To generous souls every task is noble.

Sir, he throws away his money without thought and without merit. I do not call a tree generous that sheds its fruit at every breeze.

What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.

Many people are capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing.

Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts well-timed.