When given a gift, accept the gift and do not steal it.

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To take possession of the object of the gift as if it were merely a transfer of property, is to betray the spirit of gift-giving.

A gift is an exchange of humanity. The object is only the medium of exchange. The object is essential, but the object is not the essence.

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Some people when offered a service, prefer to steal the labor, and then pay for the labor with money. The labor is bought, but the goodwill is not.

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Many wealthy people look out on a world in which everything can be bought, and whatever cannot be bought is nonexistent. They go into deep debt in ways they refuse to understand and react angrily when they default.

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The theft of a gift leaves a distinctive empty feeling that is hard to speak about.

In casual conversation, in business transactions, in love — it happens all the time.

We suffer from it and inflict it incessantly.

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Money is a conventional fiction used by societies for the purposes of distribution of resources. When the fiction stops serving its purpose, it’s time to get real.