To know when to be generous and when firm–that is wisdom.

Edith Wharton
About This Quote

To know when to be generous and when firm—that is wisdom. It takes wisdom to know when it is best to be generous and when it is best to be firm. Generosity is a virtue, not only because it makes us feel good, but also because it makes us feel important. When we give our time, our money, or our talents away, we feel that we are making a difference in the lives of others. When we give quietly and in secret, however, we feel that we are doing something for ourselves.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. - William Shakespeare
  2. The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times. - Paulo Coelho
  3. It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. - Aristotle
  4. The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them. - Paulo Coelho
  5. By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. - Confucius
More Quotes By Edith Wharton
  1. Each time you happen to me all over again.
  2. There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one's self, the very meaning of one's soul.
  3. Do you remember what you said to me once? That you could help me only by loving me? Well-you did love me for a moment and it helped me. It has always helped me.
  4. Genius is of small use to a woman who does not know how to do her hair.
  5. To know when to be generous and when firm–that is wisdom.
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