--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: what is life worth if one has nothing to…" description: "\"what is life worth if one has nothing to give away? This lack, it seems to me, must be the sharpest pang of poverty.\" — Mabel Osgood Wright" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c61/mabel-osgood-wright-30347_giving_what-is-life-worth-if-one-has-nothing-to_1343244.jpg" --- # what is life worth if one has nothing to give away? This… ![“what is life worth if one has nothing to give away? This lack, it seems to me, must be the sharpest pang of poverty.” quote by Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c61/mabel-osgood-wright-30347_giving_what-is-life-worth-if-one-has-nothing-to_1343244.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c61/mabel-osgood-wright-30347_giving_what-is-life-worth-if-one-has-nothing-to_1343244.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c61/mabel-osgood-wright-30347_giving_what-is-life-worth-if-one-has-nothing-to_1343244.jpg) > “what is life worth if one has nothing to give away? This lack, it seems to me, must be the sharpest pang of poverty.” [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life feels empty when one cannot share, highlighting that giving gives purpose and eases suffering. **In simple terms:** Life feels empty without giving. Key Takeaway Find ways to give, even small acts. Themes poverty purpose generosity Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal relationships - volunteering - creative expression - community service Key Concepts existential humanism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What can you share that doesn’t cost money? - How does giving affect your sense of worth? A Different Perspective Giving may not always be possible due to circumstances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [What is life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-is-life/) ## Related quotes > [What is life worth without trials and tribulations which are the salt of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/what-is-life-worth-without-trials-and-tribulations-which-are-the-salt/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [What is life but the angle of vision? A man is measured by the angle at which he looks at objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-is-life-but-the-angle-of-vision-a-man-is-measured-by-the-angle/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [What is life? It departs covertly. Like a thief Death took him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gunther/what-is-life-it-departs-covertly-like-a-thief-death-took-him/) [John Gunther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gunther/) > [“Life is a type of energy—live, intelligent energy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sahara-sanders/life-is-a-type-of-energy-live-intelligent-energy/) [Sahara Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sahara-sanders/) > [Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be...including our perception. Of it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/life-is-what-we-make-it-always-has-been-always-will-be-including-our/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Life hinges on many factors we cannot control. Two of the most important factors, we can control. 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If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-brilliant/if-you-don-t-put-the-spiritual-and-religious-dimension-into-our/) [Larry Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-brilliant/) > [“So what is life? It’s intelligent energy combined in symbiosis with the material world. Every living being is the embodiment of a tiny part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sahara-sanders/so-what-is-life-it-s-intelligent-energy-combined-in-symbiosis-with-2/) [Sahara Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sahara-sanders/) > [Without zest, what is life? Just waiting for death? It can't be anything else. Only with zest do you live; otherwise you vegetate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/without-zest-what-is-life-just-waiting-for-death-it-can-t-be-anything/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“So what is life? It's intelligent energy combined in symbiosis with the material world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sahara-sanders/so-what-is-life-it-s-intelligent-energy-combined-in-symbiosis-with/) [Sahara Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sahara-sanders/) > [I doubt she likes the idea of seeing him put back in a cage.” “Maybe not,” he said. “But she knows that the Authority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-monk/i-doubt-she-likes-the-idea-of-seeing-him-put-back-in-a-cage-maybe-not/) [Devon Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-monk/) > [You must not let yourself become too respectable. Keep yourself a little wild. What is life for, if not for the living of it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-voigt/you-must-not-let-yourself-become-too-respectable-keep-yourself-a/) [Cynthia Voigt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-voigt/) > [“Life is intelligent energy combined in symbiosis with the material world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sahara-sanders/life-is-intelligent-energy-combined-in-symbiosis-with-the-material/) [Sahara Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sahara-sanders/) ## More by Mabel Osgood Wright > [Why is it that so many people think that charity consists in giving away merely what they cannot use instead of the article the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/why-is-it-that-so-many-people-think-that-charity-consists-in-giving/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [what's the good of having news an' ye must coop it? It's like cold veal pie upon the chest for supper, the same being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/what-s-the-good-of-having-news-an-ye-must-coop-it-it-s-like-cold-veal/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [Why has no one written a November rhapsody with plenty of lilt and swing? The poets who are moved at all by this month…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/why-has-no-one-written-a-november-rhapsody-with-plenty-of-lilt-and/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [Neither a garden nor a gardener can be made in one year, nor in one generation even.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/neither-a-garden-nor-a-gardener-can-be-made-in-one-year-nor-in-one/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [I have always noticed that when people consider others eccentric, it is because they are reveling in some form of enjoyment that their critics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/i-have-always-noticed-that-when-people-consider-others-eccentric-it/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [It doesn't so much matter what one loves. To love is the transfiguring thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/it-doesn-t-so-much-matter-what-one-loves-to-love-is-the-transfiguring/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [even as human vitality is at its lowest ebb in the early morning, so it is with plant life in the early spring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/even-as-human-vitality-is-at-its-lowest-ebb-in-the-early-morning-so/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [Mother love is invariably held sacred, as it should be, but why has father love never had its due?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/mother-love-is-invariably-held-sacred-as-it-should-be-but-why-has/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [Nature, when undisturbed, is never monotonous, you know. Even when using green, the most frequent color on her palette, she throws in contrasting tints…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/nature-when-undisturbed-is-never-monotonous-you-know-even-when-using/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [the various earth odors all have a separate tale to tell, and the leaf mold of the woods bears a wholly different fragrance from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/the-various-earth-odors-all-have-a-separate-tale-to-tell-and-the-leaf/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [That is the stimulus of nature; it is never, never old, and always developing. Even the scarred, wrinkled earth herself is a mere infant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/that-is-the-stimulus-of-nature-it-is-never-never-old-and-always/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [Let everyone who makes garden plans frequently insert the letters C.P. in them as a reminder, the same standing for climate permitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/let-everyone-who-makes-garden-plans-frequently-insert-the-letters-c-p/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [Surely there is no greater garden for human-nature study than the flotsam and jetsam of the hospital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/surely-there-is-no-greater-garden-for-human-nature-study-than-the/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [Imagine how terrifying it would be if we had to decide the beginnings of things for ourselves: as to what race we should belong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/imagine-how-terrifying-it-would-be-if-we-had-to-decide-the-beginnings/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [in the city at best one lives the life of others, the life of the shop, the street, the crowd, while in the country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/in-the-city-at-best-one-lives-the-life-of-others-the-life-of-the-shop/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) [Explore all 17 Mabel Osgood Wright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) ## More Giving quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Some people give you that motivation to work harder simply to get the hell away from wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/some-people-give-you-that-motivation-to-work-harder-simply-to-get-the/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Grandma, please. It’s okay. Dad’s doing a great job. I give him kudos for at least being calm and rational, and not losing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/grandma-please-it-s-okay-dad-s-doing-a-great-job-i-give-him-kudos-for/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Most paper money initially existed as a substitute for gold. That's what gave it value. But right now what gives a currency value is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/most-paper-money-initially-existed-as-a-substitute-for-gold-that-s/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I don't think my relationship with the idea of womanhood is that attached to giving birth... like, I'm fully aware that I'll never give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-harrison/i-don-t-think-my-relationship-with-the-idea-of-womanhood-is-that/) [Patti Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-harrison/) [Browse all 39,303 Giving quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "what is life worth if one has nothing to give away? 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