A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.

Money solves the problems money solves, and when it is short nothing else stands in for it. What it cannot do is the specific work of attention: knowing what somebody actually needs, and bothering to notice at the right moment. Help of that kind is often small, cheap and precisely aimed, which is why it can land harder than a large impersonal gesture. Noticing accurately is the scarce ingredient, not generosity.

Before helping anyone, spend a minute working out what would genuinely make their week lighter. Then do that instead of the obvious thing. Being accurately understood is rarer than being given something.