If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.

The saying contrasts material gifts (a gem, a flower) with an inward, imaginative act: placing a “loving thought” into a friend’s heart. Its force lies in redefining generosity as spiritual and relational rather than transactional. “Giving as the angels give” suggests a mode of gift-giving that is unobtrusive, pure in motive, and aimed at the recipient’s inner good—comfort, courage, moral strengthening—rather than display or obligation. In MacDonald’s characteristic Christian-Platonist vein, the quote elevates unseen acts of love as more real and enduring than objects, implying that the highest charity is the communication of benevolent attention and sympathy that can quietly transform another person’s interior life.