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Charity should be spontaneous. Calculated altruism is an affront.
Edward Abbey
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Charity should come naturally and not from a selfish calculation, as that diminishes its true value.

Edward Abbey emphasizes the idea that true charity is an act of selfless giving that arises from genuine compassion rather than a strategic or selfish motivation. When acts of kindness are performed with the intention of self-gain or calculation, they lose their authenticity and can be seen as insincere, thus undermining the very essence of altruism.

Themes

CharityAltruismSelflessnessCompassionAuthenticity

In practice

Example use cases

During a charity event, I quoted Edward Abbey to inspire people to give from the heart.

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Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
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I love America because it is a confused, chaotic mess - and I hope we can keep it this way for at least another thousand years. The permissive society is the free society.
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If it's knowledge and wisdom you want, then seek out the company of those who do real work for an honest purpose.
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The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow's reality.
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I believe in nothing that I cannot touch, kiss, embrace.... The rest is only hearsay.
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Why can't we simply borrow what is useful to us from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, especially Zen, as we borrow from Christianity, science, American Indian traditions and world literature in general, including philosophy, and let the rest go hang? Borrow what we need but rely principally upon our own senses, common sense and daily living experience.
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