We only have what we give.

The line condenses a paradox common to ethical and spiritual traditions: what truly “belongs” to us is not what we accumulate but what we contribute. Read this way, Allende’s aphorism reframes possession as moral legacy—generosity, love, attention, and service are the only things that endure in memory and in their effects on others. It also implies that giving is not pure loss; it is a mode of self-realization, because identity and meaning are built through relationships and acts that circulate outward. The quote can be taken as a critique of materialism and a defense of solidarity: in the long run, what we keep is what we have shared.