Alms Quotes

Not what we give, but what we share, for the gift without the giver is bare.

James Russell Lowell

Friendship, Thank You, Giving

James Russell Lowell (1871). “The poetical works of James Russell Lowell”, p.122

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Where there is plenty, charity is a duty, not a courtesy

Owen Feltham

Charity, Courtesy, Duty

12 Copy quote
We must give alms. Charity wins souls and draws them to virtue.

Angela Merici

Winning, Giving, Soul

87 Copy quote
Give, if thou can, an alms; if not, a sweet and gentle word.

Robert Herrick

Sweet, Giving, Gentle

6 Copy quote
To give alms is nothing unless you give thought also.

John Ruskin

Giving, Literature

John Ruskin (2015). “Lectures on Architecture and Painting”, p.66, John Ruskin

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One would give generous alms if one had the eyes to see the beauty of a cupped receiving hand.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Eye, Hands, Giving

8 Copy quote
The rich man who gives to the poor does not bestow alms but pays a debt.

Ambrose

Men, Giving, Doe

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Almsgiving above all else requires money, but even this shines with a brighter luster when the alms are given from our poverty. The widow who paid in the two mites was poorer than any human, but she outdid them all.

Saint John Chrysostom

Two, Shining, Widows

Saint John Chrysostom, Paul William Harkins (1963). “Baptismal Instructions”, p.185, Paulist Press

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We may cover a multitude of sins with the white robe of charity.

Henry Ward Beecher

White, Charity, May

6 Copy quote
As far as you can, do some manual work so as to be able to give alms, for it is written that alms and faith purify from sin.

Poemen

Giving, Able, Sin

16 Copy quote
Alms are an inheritance and a justice which is due to the poor and which Jesus has levied upon us.

Francis of Assisi

Jesus, Justice, Saint

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To drive men from independence to live on alms, is itself great cruelty.

Edmund Burke

Men, Independence, Welfare

Edmund Burke (1852). “The Works and Correspondance of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke”, p.237

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In giving alms, let us rather look at the needs of the poor than his claim to your charity.

Jean Antoine Petit-Senn

Giving, Charity, Needs

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It's more blessed to give than to receive - especially kittens.

Bill Cosby

Bible, Jesus, Blessed

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Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

Khalil Gibran

Love, Inspirational, Motivational

Prophet (1923) "On Work"

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When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what they right hand doeth.

Matthew McConaughey

Hands, Left Hand, Philanthropy

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Yet, when we must put aside our wrath, quench our envy, soften our anger, offer our prayers, and show a disposition which is reasonable, mild, kindly, and loving, how could poverty stand in our way? For we accomplish these things not by spending money but by making the correct choice.

Saint John Chrysostom

Prayer, Wrath, Envy

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Who gives himself with his alms feeds three, himself, his hungering neighbor and me.

James Russell Lowell

Giving, Three, Charity

James Russell Lowell (2012). “The Vision of Sir Launfal And Other Poems by James Russell Lowell, With a Biographical Sketch and Notes, a Portrait and Other Illustrations”, p.46, tredition

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Walking does good to the fat and giving alms does good to the sinners; these both make one feel lighter!

Mehmet Murat Ildan

Giving, Doe, Fats

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Love the earth and sun and animals, Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, Stand up for the stupid and crazy, Devote your income and labor to others... And your very flesh shall be a great poem.

Walt Whitman

Love, Inspirational, Crazy

Walt Whitman (1953). “The best of Whitman”

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There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.

Lord Acton

Smile, Eye, Soul

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The best remedy for dryness of spirit, is to picture ourselves as beggars in the presence of God and the Saints, and like a beggar, to go first to one saint, then to another, to ask a spiritual alms of them with the same earnestness as a poor fellow in the streets would ask an alms of us.

Philip Neri

Spiritual, Saint, Firsts

St Philip Neri (2009). “The Maxims and Sayings of St Philip Neri”, p.15, St Athanasius Press

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All religions have honored the beggar. For he proves that in a matter at the same time as prosaic and holy, banal and regenerative as the giving of alms, intellect and morality, consistency and principles are miserably inadequate.

Walter Benjamin

Time, Giving, Consistency

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Should we grieve over a little misplaced charity, when an all knowing, all wise Being showers down every day his benefits on the unthankful and undeserving?

Francis Atterbury

Wise, Grieving, Knowing

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The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode.

Henry David Thoreau

Reflection, Men, House

Henry David Thoreau (2016). “Walden”, p.232, Xist Publishing

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