Do not ask me to be kind; just ask me to act as though I were.

They say that gifts persuade even the gods. 

The gratitude is greater than the gift.

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

Too many people have decided to do without generosity in order to practice charity.

Without virtue, both riches and honor, to me, seem like the passing cloud.