"You must have a genius for charity..." - Quote by Henry David Thoreau
You must have a genius for charity as well as for anything else.
More by Henry David Thoreau
“If some are prosecuted for abusing children, others deserve to be prosecuted for maltreating the face of nature committed to their care.”
“I have just been through the process of killing a cistudo for the sake of science; but I cannot excuse myself for this murder, and see that such actions are inconsistent with the poetic perception, however they may serve science, and will affect the quality of my observations. I pray that I may walk more innocently and serenely through nature. No reasoning whatever reconciles me to this act. It affects my day injuriously. I have lost some self-respect. I have a murderer's experience to a degree.”
“There is all the poetry in the world in a name. It is a poem which the mass of men hear and read. What is poetry in the common sense, but a hearing of such jingling names? I want nothing better than a good word. The name of a thing may easily be more than the thing itself to me.”
More on Charity
“Simple rules for saving money: To save half, when you are fired by an eager impulse to contribute to a charity, wait and count to forty. To save three quarters, count sixty. To save all, count sixty-five.”
“Be grateful that the poor man is there, so that by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself”
“I wish to become rich, so that I can instruct the people and glorify honest poverty a little, like those kind hearted, fat, benevolent people do.”
More on Skill
“Talent does things tolerably well; genius does then intolerably better”
“You must always work not just within but below your means. If you can handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then handle only five. In that way the ones you do handle, you handle with more ease, more mastery, and you create a feeling of strength in reserve.”
“I outwit them, and then I outhit them”