Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 19:22

"That which maketh a man to be desired is his kindness; And a poor man is better than a liar." — Proverbs 19:22 (ASV)

The "liar" is probably the man who makes false excuses for not giving, and so is inferior to the poor man whose "desire," the wish to do good, is accepted, in the absence of means to carry it out, as the act of kindness itself.