What does this quote mean?

“You give but little when you give of your possessions.”

Possessions can be given without much personal cost; Gibran prepares the contrast with giving one’s own time and presence.

Source note: The Prophet, “On Giving.”

“There is joy in self-forgetfulness.”

Joy can grow when attention moves away from constant self-concern and becomes absorbed in people, work, ideas, or experiences beyond oneself.

Source note: The Story of My Life; Keller links happiness with moments when self-consciousness recedes.

“It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

Giving becomes deeper when it includes time, attention, effort, and presence rather than possessions alone.

Source note: The Prophet, “On Giving.”

“Give a little love to a child, and you get a great deal back.”

Ruskin presents affection toward children as relational rather than one-way: care given to a child can be met with trust, warmth and generosity in return.

Source note: The Crown of Wild Olive, Lecture I, “Work,” Project Gutenberg #26716, printed page 41. Ruskin places the sentence inside a Victorian Christian discussion of what he calls the loving and generous character of “right childhood”; this collection preserves that historical moral framework rather than treating every surrounding prescription as modern child-development evidence.

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”

Friendship and community require emotional presence in both directions, sharing another person’s joy as well as sorrow.

Source note: Romans 12:15 in the King James Version.

“housekeeping for my own family was always sweet, though much harder in many ways.”

Domestic work is described as demanding but meaningful because it serves people the speaker loves, separating difficulty from lack of value or satisfaction.

Source note: Jo's Boys, Chapter 10, Project Gutenberg #3499. The speaker contrasts disliked teaching with harder household work done for her own family.