n., pl. -ties.

1. Liberality in giving or willingness to give: a scholarship funded by the generosity of anonymous donors.
2. Nobility of thought or behavior; magnanimity.
3. Amplitude; abundance.
4. A generous act.

[Middle English generosite, from Old French, from Latin generōsitās, from generōsus, generous. See generous.]

noun

The quality or state of being generous: big-heartedness, bounteousness, bountifulness, freehandedness, generousness, great-heartedness, large-heartedness, lavishness, liberality, magnanimity, magnanimousness, munificence, openhandedness, unselfishness, unsparingness. See give/take/reciprocity.

n

Definition: spirit of giving
Antonyms: greed, meanness, selfishness, stinginess

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A virtue interestingly distinct from the Christian virtue of charity, in that while the latter responds to the needs and deficiencies of others, generosity may be simply the exercise of an abundance, an overflow of good will or benevolence. Aristotle regards it as a correct mean between prodigality and meanness, but others would allow that people can be too generous, so that although they are not quite perfectly tuned, they do not thereby forfeit their title to generosity.

IN BRIEF: A disposition to give liberally or to bestow favors heartily.

Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity. — Albert Camus (1913-1960).

Quotes:

"Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation-to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe." - Jon Kabat Zinn

"Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore of nicely-calculated less or more." - William Wordsworth

"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." - Source Unknown

"He who gives what he would as readily throw away, gives without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self sacrifice." - Sir Henry Taylor

"Is it not odd that the only generous person I ever knew, who had money to be generous with, should be a stockbroker." - Percy Bysshe Shelley

"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." - Jean-Paul Sartre

See more famous quotes about Generosity

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - gavmildhed, generøsitet, rundhåndethed

Nederlands (Dutch)
vrijgevigheid, edelmoedigheid, overvloed

Français (French)
n. - générosité

Deutsch (German)
n. - Generosität, Edelmut, Großzügigkeit

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - γενναιοδωρία, γενναιοφροσύνη, μεγαλοψυχία, μεγαθυμία, γενναιοψυχία

Italiano (Italian)
generosità

Português (Portuguese)
n. - generosidade (f), liberalidade (f), magnanimidade (f)

Русский (Russian)
щедрость

Español (Spanish)
n. - generosidad, dadivosidad, desprendimiento, prodigalidad, largueza

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - generositet, ädelmod

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
慷慨, 宽大

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 慷慨, 寬大

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 관대한 마음

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 寛大, 雅量, 気前のよさ, 大きいこと

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) كرم, سخاء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮נדיבות, רוחב-לב‬

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