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To me, charity often is just about giving, because you're supposed to, or because it's what you've always done - or it's about giving until it hurts.

Strangely, charity sometimes gets dismissed, as if it is ineffective, inappropriate or even somehow demeaning to the recipient. 'This isn't charity,' some donors take pains to claim, 'This is an investment.' Let us recognize charity for what it is at heart: a noble enterprise aimed at bettering the human condition.

Charity is just writing checks and not being engaged. Philanthropy, to me, is being engaged, not only with your resources but getting people and yourself really involved and doing things that haven't been done before.

If you don't improve the lives of the poor, it's not charity.

Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.

Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this - no dog exchanges bones with another.

But charity is a very complicated thing. It's important to find an area where you can really help and you can feel the results. Charity is not like feeding pigeons in the square. It is a process that requires professional management.

It is rewarding beyond words to rescue a dog from the shelter and have that dog become part of your family.

When you share your last crust of bread with a beggar, you mustn't behave as if you were throwing a bone to a dog. You must give humbly, and thank him for allowing you to have a part in his hunger.

It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world.