A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to social cohesion. Economists have elaborated the economics of gift-giving into the notion of a gift economy. By extension the term gift can refer to anything that makes the other happier or less sad, especially as a favor, including forgiveness and kindness.

Contents

• 1 Presentation
• 2 Occasions
• 3 Legal aspects of gifts
• 4 Religious views
• 5 See also
• 6 Further reading

Presentation

When material objects are given as gifts, in many cultures they are traditionally packaged in some manner. For example, in Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the recipient's name, and the giver's name. In Chinese culture, red wrapping connotes luck.

Noun

gifts

1. Plural form of gift.

A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return.

Sourced

• The gifts of a bad man bring no good with them.
  • Euripides, Medea, line 618

• πείθειν δῶρα καὶ θεοὺς λόγος
  • Translation: It is said that gifts persuade even the gods.
  • Euripides, Medea, line 964

• Eo animo quidque debetur quo datur, nec quantum sit sed a quali profectum voluntate perpenditur.
  • Translation: The spirit in which a thing is given determines that in which the gift is acknowledged; it is the intention, not the face-value of the gift, that is weighed.
  • Seneca the Younger, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, no. 81, sect. 6; translation from Tochi Omenukor Words of a Woman (New York: Writer's Club Press, 2002) p. 15.

• He who receives a benefit with gratitude repays the first installment on his debt.
  • Seneca the Younger, On Benefits, Book II, 22, line 1

• A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it.
  • Proverbs, xvii. 8

• Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
  • William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act iii. Sc. 1. (1600-1602)

• Every gift of noble origin Is breathed upon by Hope’s perpetual breath.
  • William Wordsworth, These Times Strike Monied Worldlings, l. 1 (1803)

• The only gift is a portion of thyself. ... Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a gem; the sailor, coral and shells; the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing."
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson, Gifts, from Essays: Second Series (1844)