I think, what has this day brought me, and what have I given it?

The line frames a daily examen of conscience: a person measures life not only by what it yields (“what has this day brought me”) but by what one contributes in return (“what have I given it”). The paired questions suggest reciprocity and moral accounting—gratitude for received experience alongside responsibility for one’s actions, attention, and generosity. Read this way, the quote encourages an active, ethical stance toward time: each day is not merely endured or consumed but engaged with, leaving behind some deliberate gift (work, kindness, insight) rather than mere accumulation. Its simplicity makes it adaptable to religious self-scrutiny, secular mindfulness, or stoic self-review.