On Giving

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?      

     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 by need itself? 

     Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is 

unquenchable? 

     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; 

     They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into 

space. 

     Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind 

their eyes. He smiles upon the earth. 

 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, or 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? 

     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 freehearted earth for mother, and God for father.

--Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebanese-American author, poet, and artist, from The Prophet, 1923