--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of the…" description: "\"Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of the rich that she could be generous with large sums and niggardly over small ones.\" — Sylvia Townsend Warner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_generous_elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-ric_235947.jpg" --- # Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of the rich that she… ![“Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of the rich that she could be generous with large sums and niggardly over small ones.” quote by Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_generous_elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-ric_235947.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_generous_elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-ric_235947.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_generous_elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-ric_235947.jpg) > “Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of the rich that she could be generous with large sums and niggardly over small ones.” [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The wealthy often give generously in large amounts but are stingy with small ones. **In simple terms:** Rich give big gifts, hoard small ones. Key Takeaway Beware selective generosity. Themes wealth generosity paradox Mood critical observational Type social philosophical When to use this quote - philanthropy - budgeting - personal finance Key Concepts economics social behavior Questions to Reflect On - Why do people prioritize large gifts? - How can we encourage consistent generosity? A Different Perspective Small acts of kindness can be more impactful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Generous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generous/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Prerogative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prerogative/) ## Related quotes > [Few men are both rich and generous; fewer are both rich and humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-edward-manning/few-men-are-both-rich-and-generous-fewer-are-both-rich-and-humble/) [Henry Edward Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-edward-manning/) > [Doing more and more with less and less is one form of being generous. In fact, the easiest way to become rich is by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/doing-more-and-more-with-less-and-less-is-one-form-of-being-generous/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [You don't have to be rich to be generous. You have to be generous to be generous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-hunt/you-don-t-have-to-be-rich-to-be-generous-you-have-to-be-generous-to/) [Johnny Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-hunt/) > [It is not the constitutional prerogative of the Government to determine needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/it-is-not-the-constitutional-prerogative-of-the-government-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [The United States has an absolute, uncompromising commitment to Israel's security and an absolute conviction that Israel alone must decide the steps necessary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/the-united-states-has-an-absolute-uncompromising-commitment-to-israel/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Freedom which in no other land will thrive, Freedom an English subject's sole prerogative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/freedom-which-in-no-other-land-will-thrive-freedom-an-english-subject/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [When I was appointed deputy president, I accepted it, and it is the president's prerogative to appoint or remove anyone to the Executive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-ramaphosa/when-i-was-appointed-deputy-president-i-accepted-it-and-it-is-the/) [Cyril Ramaphosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-ramaphosa/) > [There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-ingalls/there-is-neither-rank-nor-station-nor-prerogative-in-the-republic-of/) [John James Ingalls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-ingalls/) > [The Society is based on that great bottom law of human right, that nothing but crime can forfeit liberty. 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Life is an adventure in forgiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/reason-to-rule-mercy-to-forgive-the-first-is-law-the-last-prerogative/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Beauty is the true prerogative of women, and so peculiarly their own, that our sex, though naturally requiring another sort of feature, is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/beauty-is-the-true-prerogative-of-women-and-so-peculiarly-their-own/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Some husbands regard it as their prerogative to compel their wives to fit their standards of what they think to be the ideal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/some-husbands-regard-it-as-their-prerogative-to-compel-their-wives-to/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) ## More by Sylvia Townsend Warner > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Happiness is an immunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/happiness-is-an-immunity/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I feel domesticity just slipping off me. It is a choice. Either one can let it go or one can intensify it. The people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/i-feel-domesticity-just-slipping-off-me-it-is-a-choice-either-one-can/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [ \[On an anarchist acquaintance:\] Everything in appearance the most alarmist aunt could wish. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/on-an-anarchist-acquaintance-everything-in-appearance-the-most/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Spring is strictly sentimental, self-regarding; but I burn more careless in the autumn bonfire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/spring-is-strictly-sentimental-self-regarding-but-i-burn-more/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [“It is,” answered Laura with almost violent agreement. “If you are a were-wolf, and very likely you may be, for lots of people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/it-is-answered-laura-with-almost-violent-agreement-if-you-are-a-were/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I have an idea that conscience impedes quite as many merits as faults, is a sort of alloy, a nickel which may prevent silver…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/i-have-an-idea-that-conscience-impedes-quite-as-many-merits-as-faults/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [There is a period in one's life - perhaps not longer than six months - when one lives in two worlds at once ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/there-is-a-period-in-one-s-life-perhaps-not-longer-than-six-months/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Love is the only real patriation, and without one's dear one sits in a dreary and boring exile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/love-is-the-only-real-patriation-and-without-one-s-dear-one-sits-in-a/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [when the German propaganda tries to be winsome it is like a clown with homicidal mania - ludicrous and terrifying both at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/when-the-german-propaganda-tries-to-be-winsome-it-is-like-a-clown/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [It is best as one grows older to strip oneself of possessions, to shed oneself downward like a tree, to be almost wholly earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/it-is-best-as-one-grows-older-to-strip-oneself-of-possessions-to-shed/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Inflation is the senility of democracies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/inflation-is-the-senility-of-democracies/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Total grief is like a minefield. No knowing when one will touch the tripwire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/total-grief-is-like-a-minefield-no-knowing-when-one-will-touch-the/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [How dreadful it is that because of our wills we can never love anything without messing it around! We couldn’t even love a tree,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/how-dreadful-it-is-that-because-of-our-wills-we-can-never-love/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [about ten days ago I got started on a new book, and am completely, brazenly devoted to it: my hair is uncut, my letters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/about-ten-days-ago-i-got-started-on-a-new-book-and-am-completely/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) [Explore all 95 Sylvia Townsend Warner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) ## More Generous quotes > [Plenty of white space and generous line spacing,and don't make the type size too miserly. Then you will be assured of a product fit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giambattista-bodoni/plenty-of-white-space-and-generous-line-spacing-and-don-t-make-the/) Giambattista Bodoni > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/friendship-the-wine-of-life-should-like-a-well-stocked-cellar-be/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“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/) > [Generous in spirit, richly poetic, and packed with memorable characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-millman/generous-in-spirit-richly-poetic-and-packed-with-memorable-characters/) [Lawrence Millman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-millman/) > [As most New Yorkers have done, I have given serious and generous thought to the state of my apartment should I get killed during…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/as-most-new-yorkers-have-done-i-have-given-serious-and-generous/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [Love is the key to the mystery. Love by its very nature is not selfish, but generous. It seeks not its own, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/love-is-the-key-to-the-mystery-love-by-its-very-nature-is-not-selfish/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [SCIENCE! thou fair effusive ray From the great source of mental Day, Free, generous, and refin'd! Descend with all thy treasures fraught, Illumine each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-akenside/science-thou-fair-effusive-ray-from-the-great-source-of-mental-day/) [Mark Akenside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-akenside/) > [The American people are incredibly generous and even playful when you open yourself up and feed the media beast until it goes away satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krystal-ball/the-american-people-are-incredibly-generous-and-even-playful-when-you/) [Krystal Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krystal-ball/) > [If you're a generous person, when you get money and fame, you're going to be more generous. If you're a sharer, you're going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-harvey/if-you-re-a-generous-person-when-you-get-money-and-fame-you-re-going/) [Steve Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-harvey/) > [Be relentlessly generous, without focusing on when it will come back to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/be-relentlessly-generous-without-focusing-on-when-it-will-come-back/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [In terms of the unemployed, of which we have over a million-and-a-half, don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-harper/in-terms-of-the-unemployed-of-which-we-have-over-a-million-and-a-half/) [Stephen Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-harper/) > [Precise, graceful, and generous, the poems in SuperLoop, seem to be born out of a deep, careful attention and a profound compassion. Sometimes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-limon/precise-graceful-and-generous-the-poems-in-superloop-seem-to-be-born/) [Ada Limon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-limon/) [Browse all 1,450 Generous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generous/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of the rich that she could be generous with large sums and niggardly over small ones.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sylvia Townsend Warner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-rich-that-she-could-be-generous/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Generous" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-rich-that-she-could-be-generous/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_generous_elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-ric_235947.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_generous_elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-ric_235947.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/098/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_generous_elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-ric_235947.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of the rich that she could be generous with large sums and niggardly over…” — Sylvia Townsend Warner", "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": "Sylvia Townsend Warner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-rich-that-she-could-be-generous/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-rich-that-she-could-be-generous/#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 } } ] } ```