The kindness of gifts

Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald?  It's like asking whether you prefer malt whisky or cognac.  Two different drinks for different  moods that evoke different responses when imbibed.  I like both and for different reasons.   Strangely I rarely buy either.  Mostly I have been drinking the kindness of gifts.  But Sarah and Ella I do buy for myself and in considerable quantity. I am a magpie when it comes to collecting cds and I often wonder if at least some part of the fun to be had is in the acquisition stage.  I do enjoy the music, without question, but surely the pleasure of 'being a collector' is just that - collecting.  So, no answer to the question any more than you would expect from a Mozart or Beethoven variant, or a Dickens versus Jane Austen.  Different strokes for different folks. And is this how Austen might have looked?  I don't really care on this occasion.  It's how I would like Jane Austen to look and so that's good enough for me. On closer inspection she does look a little bit like Constanze Mozart (see below) but I'm sure there's a reason for that.  Question: can you buy gifts for yourself and, if so, is it an act of kindness or simply being greedy?  The answers must surely be, yes you can buy gifts for yourself although they may no longer be classified as gifts since a gift 'is a thing given'.  And no, it wouldn't be greedy unless it was excessive - defined as 'extravagent and unreasonable'.