Article IV. On Liberality

615. Notion. Liberality or largesse is a virtue moderating the love of money and rendering a man prompt to expend money according to the dictate of right reason.

Explanation. The material object of this virtue is money and other external goods, but its proximate and immediate object is the desire for money, which must be rightly moderated lest it be either too great or too small. Mediately and consequently, liberality is occupied with the right use and reasonable distribution of money, which a liberal man gives willingly, cheerfully, and abundantly, as right reason demands.¹⁰⁸² From these things it is evident that even the poor can possess the virtue of liberality as regards its proximate and immediate object, namely, when they have a right affection toward money so that they would be prepared to distribute it if they possessed it. The exercise itself of liberality, however, is often impossible for the poor on account of their poverty.

Liberality is a virtue annexed to justice because, although it does not equal justice in rendering strict and due equality, it nevertheless in some measure renders a due to one's neighbor. Liberality differs: a) from mercy, which proceeds from the motive of compassion; b) from beneficence, which proceeds from the motive of charity; c) from magnificence, in that liberality is occupied with moderate and ordinary distributions, but magnificence uses great expenditures for accomplishing splendid works,¹⁰⁸³ as will be said below, n. 631.

¹⁰⁸² S. theol. 2, 2, q. 117, a. 2.

¹⁰⁸³ Ib., a. 3 ad 1.

616. Opposed vices. Two vices are opposed to liberality: one by excess, namely, prodigality; the other by defect, namely, avarice. Avarice was already discussed above, I, n. 416ff., among the capital sins. Prodigality is the superfluous and irrational expenditure of one's own things; and consequently it is a sin, because man is not the absolute master of his goods, but only, as it were, God's steward, obliged to administer the goods received according to the intention of God and not according to his own whim. Of itself, however, prodigality is only a venial sin, since so great a disorder is not found in it; but accidentally it often becomes a mortal sin, namely: 1. by reason of the end, as if riches are squandered for a mortally evil end, for example, to adorn a harlot; 2. by reason of the harm following from it, for example, if a father of a family by his prodigality thrusts his wife and children into poverty.