In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer says “[a] gift comes to you through no action of your own, free, having moved toward you without your beckoning. It is not a reward; you cannot earn it, or call it to you, or even deserve it. And yet it appears. Your only role is to be open-eyed and present.”

“Gifts from the earth or from each other establish a particular relationship, an obligation of sorts to give, to receive, and to reciprocate.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer, from Braiding Sweetgrass

“That is the fundamental nature of gifts: they move, and their value increases with their passage. . . . The more something is shared, the greater its value becomes.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer, from Braiding Sweetgrass

The gift is that “miracles occur naturally as expressions of love.”

Dr. Helen Schucman, from A Course in Miracles

The gift is the spontaneous blessing of both recipient and giver.

Dr. Helen Schucman, from A Course in Miracles

The gift is that the restoration of “everything to you; or rather, to restore it to your awareness. You were given everything when you were created, just as everyone was. . . . A sense of separation . . . is the only lack you really need correct. This sense of separation would never have arisen if you had not distorted your perception of truth and had thus perceived yourself as lacking.”

Dr. Helen Schucman, from A Course in Miracles