"Who are the greedy? Those who are not satisfied with what suffices for their own needs. Who are the robbers? Those who take for themselves what rightfully belongs to everyone. And you, are you not greedy? Are you not a robber? The things you received in trust as a stewardship, have you not appropriated them for yourself? Is not the person who strips another of clothing called a thief? And those who do not clothe the naked when they have the power to do so, should they not be called the same? The bread you are holding back is for the hungry, the clothes you keep put away are for the naked, the shoes that are rotting away with disuse are for those who have none, the silver you keep buried in the earth is for the needy. You are thus guilty of injustice toward as many as you might have aided, and did not."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Basil of Caesarea, Homily 6, “I Shall Tear Down My Barns,” C. P. Schroeder, trans., in Saint Basil on Social Justice (2009), p. 70
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charity
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship."
"It must be said that charity can, in no way, exist along with mortal sin."
"So give to the poor; I'm begging you, I'm warning you, I'm commanding you, I'm ordering you."
"If you see charity, you see the Trinity."
"Certainly it is a heaven upon earth to have a man's mind to move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the po…"
"In charity there is no excess."
"Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began."
""But whom do I treat unjustly," you say, "by keeping what is my own?" Tell me, what is your own? What did you bring i…"
"There will always be a large segment of civil society doing charitable work. They are much needed in a country like I…"
"No amount of money given in charity, nothing but the abandonment of this hateful trade, can atone for this great sin …"