Generosity refers to a readiness or liberality in giving, and sometimes to an overall spirit of kindness. Generous giving, when it involves gifts or money, can be called largess. Largess can also refer to the gifts themselves. At the root of largess is the word "large," so one way to think about it is that those who show largess are characterized by the largeness of their contributions, monetary or otherwise. Most commonly, you will see largess used in the public works sense, denoting a sense of superiority or higher rank on the part of those bestowing it.

To hope for something is to desire it with only some expectation that it will happen. The verb aspire nudges desire toward action, implying an eagerness and drive to make it so. The work that goes into making an aspiration real may even leave you breathless. After all, aspire comes from the Latin verb meaning "to breathe upon" or "to pant after." Consider the lofty aspirations of the dog who pants after the squirrel; much like Fido, when we aspire to something, we are working to attain it.

Someone who is jolly is lively or merry (Jolly Old Saint Nick, or Santa Claus, comes to mind!). Mirthful, on the other hand, evokes mischievousness rather than the hearty “ho, ho, ho” of jolly. Mirthful, while less common than jolly, may be used to describe one’s mood, smile, or laughter itself, all containing a hint of being entertained by some secret silliness.