Full Idea
It cannot be explained what it is for a person to be generous without first explaining what it is for an action to be generous.
Gist of Idea
To explain generosity in a person, you must understand a generous action
Source
Michael Dummett (Could There Be Unicorns? [1983], 4)
Book Reference
Dummett,Michael: 'The Seas of Language' [OUP 1993], p.336
A Reaction
I presume a slot machine can't be 'generous', even if it favours the punter, so you can't specify a generous action without making reference to the person. A benign circle, as Aristotle says.