 The Buddha said that
if we understood the
power of generosity as
deeply as he did, we
would never sit down
to a meal without
sharing it.
 Generosity is giving of
one’s self through either
spirit, time, money, or
anything else to someone
who is in need.
 Synonyms: magnanimity,
lavishness,
openhandedness,
unselfishness, kindness,
charity, goodness
 “The modern English
word ‘generosity’ derives
from the Latin word
generōsus, which means
‘of noble birth,’ which
itself was passed down to
English through the Old
French word genereu.”

(University of Notre Dame, 2014)
 Generosity came
increasingly to identify
with various admirable
qualities that could now
vary from person to
person, depending not
on family history but on
whether a person
actually possessed the
qualities.

(University of Notre Dame, 2014)
 Established in 2009 with a
$5 million grant from the
John Templeton
Foundation.
 Notre Dame research
group conducting
interviews around the
country in order to
understand why some
people practice generosity
and others don’t.

(University of Notre Dame, 2014)
 http://generosityresearch.nd.edu/more-about-the-
initiative/what-is-generosity/
 How interdisciplinary
research is helping drive
the questions behind
“why are people
generous?”
 http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=2Lsenpo7G
1U
 What makes people
generous? Why would
someone go to the Red
Cross and let someone
put a needle in their
arm?
 http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=wVsPUKSK
W8k
 Bill Gates

 “It doesn’t relate to any particular
religion; it’s about human dignity and
equality,” he says. “The golden rule
that all lives have equal value and
we should treat people as we would
like to be treated.”
 “I’m certainly well taken care of in
terms of food and clothes,” he says,
redundantly. “Money has no utility to
me beyond a certain point. Its utility
is entirely in building an organization
and getting the resources out to the
poorest in the world.”
(Tweedie, 2013)
 Warren Buffett
 Buffett has committed
that his entire Berkshire
Hathaway holding, north
of $58 billion, will be
donated before or at his
death, with a further
mandate that it will be
put to use within ten
years of the latter.
(Lane, 2013)
 You don't give someone a
goat for a gift and still
hold on to the rope.
 After a devastating fire in
2011, Jenn Leary formed her
organization and teamed up
with the local chapter of the
American Red Cross.
 Now, whenever the Red Cross
responds to a disaster and
discovers that an animal is
involved, they call Leary. She
believes it's the only
partnership of its kind in the
United States -- one she
hopes to replicate in other
cities.
 http://www.cnn.com/2014/
04/10/us/cnnheroes-leary/
 Maya Angelou on
Nelson Mandela’s
amazing generosity
despite being jailed for
27 years –
 http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=z39aNGSX
byI
 “People tend to measure
themselves by external
accomplishments, but
jail allows a person to
focus on internal ones;
such as honesty,
sincerity, simplicity,
humility, generosity and
an absence of
variety. You learn to look
into yourself.” Nelson
Mandela
 Kids
 Just talk about it.
 Use the course of a year to introduce kids
to opportunities. That way, they won’t be
shocked when you ask them to stuff their
own money into an envelope.
 Give children a small amount of
money on a regular basis, then teach
them to save some, spend some and
give some away.
 Pick a family charity for the year and have
a conversation about how you all can help
throughout the year.
 Think of this not as something you
must teach, but as something to
expose them to.
(Joyce, 2013)

Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."

And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your
possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things you
keep and guard for fear you may need them
tomorrow?

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.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their
reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is
their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in
giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness
of virtue;

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the
overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless
sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?


Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst
that is unquenchable?
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its
fragrance into space.

Though the hands of such as these God speaks, and
from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

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It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give
unasked, through understanding;
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall
receive is joy greater than giving
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be
yours and not your inheritors'.
You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in
your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his
nights is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of
life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be than that which
lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity,
of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and
unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked
and their pride unabashed?

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
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an
instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who
deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
And you receivers - and you are all receivers - assume
no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself
and upon him who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on
wings;
For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his
generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother,
and God for father.
---Khalil Gabron
 To see generosity in
action, the movie “The
Blind Side” epitomizes
what it means to give to
someone in need.
 Sandra Bullock won an
Oscar for her portrayal of
Leigh Anne Tuohy.
 The Giving Tree
 by Shel Silverstein
 http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=1TZCP6Oq
RlE
 “That's what I consider true
generosity: You give your all,
and yet you always feel as if it
costs you nothing.”
― Simone de Beauvoir
 “Give what you have. To
someone, it may be better
than you dare to think.”
― Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow
 “The wise man does not lay
up his own treasures.
The more he gives to others,
the more he has for his own.”
― Lao Tzu
Joyce, A., November 21, 2013. How to help a young child learn generosity. The Washington Post. Retrieved
from http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/on-parenting/how-to-help-a-young-child-learngenerosity/2013/11/21/ea55bfa2-514f-11e3-9e2c-e1d01116fd98_story.html
Lane, R., Dec 2, 2013. Forbes.com, The 50 Philanthropists Who Have Given Away The Most Money.
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2013/11/18/the-50-philanthropists-who-have-givenaway-the-most-money/
University of Notre Dame 2014, College of Arts and Letters. The Science of Generosity. Retrieved from
http://generosityresearch.nd.edu
Toner, K., April 10, 2014, Former firefighter rescues pets in disasters. www.cnn.com.
Tweedie, N., January 18, 2013. Bill Gates interview: I have no use for money. This is God’s work. The
Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/bill-gates/9812672/Bill-Gates-interviewI-have-no-use-for-money.-This-is-Gods-work.html