--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a father, he was generous. More or…" description: "\"“As a father, he was generous. More or less. The \"less\" was because he never gave me what I wanted. He gave me only what he wanted me to have. I found ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/monique-truong-15906_father_as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less_829827.jpg" --- # As a father, he was generous. More or less. The "less" was… ![“As a father, he was generous. More or less. The "less" was because he never gave me what I wanted. He gave me only what he wanted me to have. I found this was often true with philanthropy and with love. The giver's desire and fulfillment played an important role.” quote by Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/monique-truong-15906_father_as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less_829827.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/monique-truong-15906_father_as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less_829827.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/monique-truong-15906_father_as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less_829827.jpg) > ““As a father, he was generous. More or less. The "less" was because he never gave me what I wanted. He gave me only what he wanted me to have. I found this was often true with philanthropy and with love. The giver's desire and fulfillment played an important role.”” [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A father's generosity is limited by his own desires, mirroring how love and philanthropy often reflect the giver’s needs more than the recipient’s. **In simple terms:** Parents give what they want, not what children need. Key Takeaway Recognize and communicate your true needs. Themes family generosity love expectations selfishness Mood thoughtful critical empathetic Type analytical conversational reflective When to use this quote - family dinner - therapy session - charitable planning Key Concepts psychology of giving parental dynamics philanthropy Questions to Reflect On - Do you accept gifts that don’t fit your needs? - How can you express your desires without guilt? A Different Perspective May overlook genuine altruism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) ## Related quotes > [Michael is a great person and a great father, generous and caring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-rowe/michael-is-a-great-person-and-a-great-father-generous-and-caring/) [Debbie Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-rowe/) > [“I long to see a radical shift in philanthropy that will come to characterize the 21st century. That is, a reclaiming of the root…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valaida-fullwood/i-long-to-see-a-radical-shift-in-philanthropy-that-will-come-to/) [Valaida Fullwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valaida-fullwood/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [And it´s so different for a lot of people I´ve known. One partner doesn´t love the other enough to stop drinking, or gambling, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alma-katsu/and-it-s-so-different-for-a-lot-of-people-i-ve-known-one-partner/) [Alma Katsu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alma-katsu/) > [“GOD IS A CONSTRUCT, CREATED TO CARRY ALL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-seiler/god-is-a-construct-created-to-carry-all/) [Elaine Seiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-seiler/) > [“Only God writes great non-fiction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-c-lartigue/only-god-writes-great-non-fiction/) E.C. Lartigue > [Authentic gratitude is a way of life. When you wake up in the morning let your first thought be one of thanksgiving that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/authentic-gratitude-is-a-way-of-life-when-you-wake-up-in-the-morning/) [Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/) > [“He was not a colonizer. He was a giver, not a taker.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/he-was-not-a-colonizer-he-was-a-giver-not-a-taker/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [Don't be a taker, be a giver, because when you give you get back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-ruettiger/don-t-be-a-taker-be-a-giver-because-when-you-give-you-get-back/) [Rudy Ruettiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-ruettiger/) > [“Doing things for others can make the 'giver' happy, but trying to change or control another will drive you crazy, because it cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/doing-things-for-others-can-make-the-giver-happy-but-trying-to-change/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [“THE UNFORGIVEN Tell me if you've ever had to deal with these kinds of people: The kind who take and don't give. The kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/the-unforgiven-tell-me-if-you-ve-ever-had-to-deal-with-these-kinds-of/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [The more you give, the more comes back to you, because God is the greatest giver in the universe, and He won't let you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/the-more-you-give-the-more-comes-back-to-you-because-god-is-the/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/we-are-not-the-healers-we-are-not-the-reconcilers-we-are-not-the/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [“I don't like taking from anyone. I'd rather be a giver, though not for any worthy reason. It's about control, obviously. If I give,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-forster/i-don-t-like-taking-from-anyone-i-d-rather-be-a-giver-though-not-for/) [Margaret Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-forster/) > [In years to come, he would be a giver of bread, not a stealer - proof again of the contradictory human being. So much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/in-years-to-come-he-would-be-a-giver-of-bread-not-a-stealer-proof/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) ## More by Monique Truong > [“Anh Minh believed that if he could save three minutes here, five minutes there, then one day he could tally them all up and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/anh-minh-believed-that-if-he-could-save-three-minutes-here-five/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“But that, I am afraid, was my mistake from the very beginning, the fatal flaw in my design. I thought that I could suffocate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/but-that-i-am-afraid-was-my-mistake-from-the-very-beginning-the-fatal/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“When they are like this, I remember what the man on the bridge had told me: "The French are all right in France." What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/when-they-are-like-this-i-remember-what-the-man-on-the-bridge-had/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“I know you are in your best áo dài. You bought it when you were just eighteen. Gray is not a color for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/i-know-you-are-in-your-best-o-d-i-you-bought-it-when-you-were-just/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“The irony of acquiring a foreign tongue is that I have amassed just enough cheap, serviceable words to fuel my desires and never, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/the-irony-of-acquiring-a-foreign-tongue-is-that-i-have-amassed-just/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“Language is a house with a host of doors, and I am too often uninvited and without the keys.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/language-is-a-house-with-a-host-of-doors-and-i-am-too-often-uninvited/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“I am forced to admit that I am, to them, nothing but a series of destinations with no meaningful expanses in between. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/i-am-forced-to-admit-that-i-am-to-them-nothing-but-a-series-of/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“She laughed that sharp, quick laugh that smart girls all had, until they found out that the sound of brilliance flashing made boys nervous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/she-laughed-that-sharp-quick-laugh-that-smart-girls-all-had-until/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“After a week's worth of failed fairy tales—stories that made my eyelids flutter open and not shut—my father tried telling me stories that belonged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/after-a-week-s-worth-of-failed-fairy-tales-stories-that-made-my/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [Alcohol, I had learned, was an eloquent if somewhat inaccurate interpreter. I had placed my trust that December night in glass after glass of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/alcohol-i-had-learned-was-an-eloquent-if-somewhat-inaccurate/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“Obey,' like 'worship,' is a strong word. Her mother and father had told her so, and she believed them. They gave her life, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/obey-like-worship-is-a-strong-word-her-mother-and-father-had-told-her/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“There is no forgiveness in ancestor worship, only retribution and eternal debt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/there-is-no-forgiveness-in-ancestor-worship-only-retribution-and/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [Words, do not have twins in every language. Sometimes they only have distant cousins, and sometimes they pretend that they are not even related.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/words-do-not-have-twins-in-every-language-sometimes-they-only-have/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [Although we strap time to our wrists, stuff it into our pockets, hang it on our walls, a perpetually moving picture for every room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/although-we-strap-time-to-our-wrists-stuff-it-into-our-pockets-hang/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“WE all need a story of where we came from and how we got here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/we-all-need-a-story-of-where-we-came-from-and-how-we-got-here/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) [Explore all 41 Monique Truong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) ## More Father quotes > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [My parents were not musical, and they were not effervescent people; everything was very quiet. The music that I played was loud; it used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-mclean/my-parents-were-not-musical-and-they-were-not-effervescent-people/) [Don McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-mclean/) > [“My father called twice and left a voicemail—who does that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-erickson/my-father-called-twice-and-left-a-voicemail-who-does-that/) [Megan Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-erickson/) > [My father longed for a better life for us, and when I was nine he got a job as a heart surgeon in Belfast.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-melua/my-father-longed-for-a-better-life-for-us-and-when-i-was-nine-he-got/) [Katie Melua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-melua/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [The old men of the village of Mahotière say that the Mistress of the Water is a mulatto woman. At midnight she comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roumain/the-old-men-of-the-village-of-mahoti-re-say-that-the-mistress-of-the/) [Jacques Roumain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roumain/) > [“I don’t know. We all have to bear things, Ari. All of us. Your father has to bear the war and what it did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-know-we-all-have-to-bear-things-ari-all-of-us-your-father-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This was, I sometimes thought, the last gift my father gave me. And the best: His death stood out as the supreme-o excuse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-stahl/this-was-i-sometimes-thought-the-last-gift-my-father-gave-me-and-the/) [Jerry Stahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-stahl/) > [My father was very encouraging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-nutini/my-father-was-very-encouraging/) [Paolo Nutini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-nutini/) > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) [Browse all 19,784 Father quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As a father, he was generous. More or less. The \"less\" was because he never gave me what I wanted. He gave me only what he wanted me to have. I found this was often true with philanthropy and with love. The giver's desire and fulfillment played an important role.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Monique Truong" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less-the-less-was-because-he/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Father" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less-the-less-was-because-he/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/monique-truong-15906_father_as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less_829827.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/monique-truong-15906_father_as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less_829827.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/monique-truong-15906_father_as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less_829827.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As a father, he was generous. More or less. The \"less\" was because he never gave me what I wanted. He gave…” — Monique Truong", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Monique Truong", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“As a father, he was generous....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less-the-less-was-because-he/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/as-a-father-he-was-generous-more-or-less-the-less-was-because-he/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```