Quotes About Generosity

If he had had all Peru in his pocket, he would certainly have given it to this dancer; but Gringoire had not Peru in his pocket; and besides, America was not yet discovered. (p. 66)

Oh! if the good hearts had the fat purses, how much better everything would go!

Ah! There you are! he exclaimed, looking at Jean Valjean. I'm so glad to see you. Well, but how is this? I gave you the candlesticks too, which are of silver like the rest, and for which you can certainly get two hundred francs. Why did you not carry them away with your forks and spoons?

The first proof of charity in a priest, especially a bishop, is poverty.

Is it not when the fall is the lowest that charity ought to be the greatest?

There are men who dig for gold; [Monseigneur Bienvenu] dug for compassion.

Large sums passed through his hands. Nevertheless, nothing changed his way of life or added the slightest luxury to his simple life. Quite the contrary, As there is always more misery at the lower end than humanity at the top, everything was given away before it was received, like water on parched soil. No matter how much money came to him, he never had enough. And then he robbed himself.

Do not ask the name of the person who asks you for a bed for a night. He whose name is a burden to him needs shelter more than any one.

You need not tell me who you are. This is not my house; it is the house of Christ. It does not ask any comer whether he has a name but whether he has an affliction.

This is not my house; it is the house of Jesus Christ. This door does not demand of him who enters whether he has a name, but whether he has a grief. You suffer, you are hungry and thirsty; you are welcome. And do not thank me; do not say that I receive you in my house. No one is at home here, except the man who needs a refuge. I say to you, who are passing by, that you are much more at home here than I am myself.

Aie dans les veines le doux lait de ta mère, et le généreux esprit de ton père ; sois bon, sois fort, sois honnête, sois juste ! Et reçois, dans le baiser de ta grand-mère, la bénédiction de ton grand-père.

S'il avait eu le Pérou dans sa poche, certainement il l'eût donné à la danseuse ; mais Gringoire n'avait pas le Pérou, et d'ailleurs l'Amérique n'était pas encore découverte.

A person may not want any more of his cake; but that is no reason for giving it away.

Il visitait les pauvres tant qu'il avait de l'argent; quand il n'en avait plus, il visitait les riches.

Jean Valjean disconcerted him. All the axioms which had served him as points of support all his life long, had crumbled away in the presence of this man. Jean Valjean's generosity towards him, Javert, crushed him.

For sixteen sous he had a smile and a dinner.

All generous social irradiations spring from science, letters, arts, education. Make men, make men. Give them light that they may warm you. Sooner or later the splendid question of universal education will present itself with the irresistible authority of the absolute truth; and

Do not ask the name of the person who asks you for a bed for the night. He whose name is a burden to him needs shelter more than anyone.

Chapter1 M. Myriel

Our mind is enriched by what we receive, our heart by what we give.

If he had had Peru in his pocket he would certainly have given it to the dancer, but Gringoire had no Peru there, and, besides, America was not yet discovered.

Trí tu? giàu lên nh? cái nó nh?n ???c. Con tim giàu lên nh? cái nó cho Ä'i

And it is from his heart that he adheres to the wishes and the efforts of the generous men of every nation, who for several years have worked to overthrow the gallows, the only tree which is not uprooted by the Revolution.

provide enough for those who have too little. —FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT