Generosity...

There are two kinds of generosity - the real and the shadow; the former is
prompted by love, the latter by vanity.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

When the miser shows any generosity he celebrates it with trumpets.

Do not look for thanks or appreciation for all the good you do to others, nor
use it as a means to stimulate your vanity. Do all that you consider good for
the sake of goodness, not even for a return of that from God. When, by
constantly trying to do so, you can do so by any effort, then you will certainly
convince yourself that you have risen above the ordinary stage of the human
being.

The whole tragedy of life is in losing sight of one's natural self, and the
greatest gain in life is coming into touch with one's real self. The real self
is covered by many layers of ego; those which preponderate above all others are
hunger and passion, beneath these are pride and vanity. One must learn to
discriminate between what is natural and what is unnatural, what is necessary
and what is not necessary, what brings happiness and what brings sorrow. No
doubt it is difficult for many to discriminate between right and wrong; but by
standing face to face with one's ego and recognizing it as someone who is ready
to make war against us, and by keeping one's strength of will as an unsheathed
sword, one protects oneself from one's greatest enemy, which is one's own ego.
And a time comes in life when one can say, 'My worst enemy has been within
myself.'

Man's greatest enemy is his ego which manifests itself in selfishness. Even in
his doing good, in his kind actions, selfishness is sometimes at work. When he
does good with the thought that one day it may return to him and that he may
share in the good, he sells his pearls for a price. A kind action, a thought of
sympathy, of generosity, is too precious to trade with. One should give and,
while giving, close the eyes. Man should remember to do every little action,
every little kindness, every act of generosity with his whole heart, without the
desire of getting anything in return, making a trade out of it. The satisfaction
must be in doing it and in nothing else.