“Avarice, greed, concupiscence and so forth are all based on the mathematical truism that the more you get, the more you have. The remark of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35) is based on the human truth that the more you give away in love, the more you are. It is not just for the sake of other people that tells us to give rather than get, but for our own sakes too.”
Frederick Buechner, Listening to your Life: Meditations with Frederick Buechner (New York: HarperCollins, 1992) reading for July 3.