Gifts: received, identified and given

This coming weekend I'll be giving some talks with a group of middle schoolers surrounding the topic of gifts. I've begun some pondering and broken down the segments into three categories: gifts received, gifts identified and gifts given.

Below are some amazing quotes on gifts to help get the juices going....

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

What is bought is cheaper than a gift. ~Portuguese Proverb

A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver. ~Thomas á Kempis

The only gift is a portion of thyself. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers. ~Seneca

We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays

But it is a cold, lifeless business when you go to the shops to buy something, which does not represent your life and talent, but a goldsmith's. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Gifts," Essays, Second Series, 1844

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. ~George MacDonald

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

Tell me about your gifts or the ones you've received. What is the greatest gift you ever received and why? What did this gift allow you to do, be, or have?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section and thanks for helping me to prepare for these upcoming discussions.

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Uphill idealist

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