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Perhaps some of his popularity may have been due to +his being supposed to be the author of those tragedies which the +world has long ceased to read, but which delighted a period that +preferred Euripides to Aeschylus: while casuists must have found +congenial matter in an author whose fantastic cases of conscience +are often worthy of Sanchez or Escobar. Yet Seneca's morality is +always pure, and from him we gain, albeit at second hand, an +insight into the doctrines of the Greek philosophers, Zeno, +Epicurus, Chrysippus, &c., whose precepts and system of religious +thought had in cultivated Roman society taken the place of the old +worship of Jupiter and Quirinus. + +Since Lodge's edition (fol. 1614), no complete translation of +Seneca has been published in England, though Sir Roger L'Estrange +wrote paraphrases of several Dialogues, which seem to have been +enormously popular, running through more than sixteen editions. I +think we may conjecture that Shakespeare had seen Lodge's +translation, from several allusions to philosophy, to that +impossible conception "the wise man," and especially from a passage +in "All's Well that ends Well," which seems to breathe the very +spirit of "De Beneficiis." + + "'Tis pity-- + That wishing well had not a body in it + Which might be felt: that we, the poorer born, + Whose baser stars do shut us up in wishes, + Might with effects of them follow our friends + And show what we alone must think; which never + Returns us thanks." + + All's Well that ends Well," Act i. sc. 1. + +Though, if this will not fit the supposed date of that play, he may +have taken the idea from "The Woorke of Lucius Annaeus Seneca +concerning Benefyting, that is too say, the dooing, receyving, and +requyting of good turnes, translated out of Latin by A. Golding. J. +Day, London, 1578." And even during the Restoration, Pepys's ideal +of virtuous and lettered seclusion is a country house in whose +garden he might sit on summer afternoons with his friend, Sir W. +Coventry, "it maybe, to read a chapter of Seneca." In sharp +contrast to this is Vahlen's preface to the minor Dialogues, which +he edited after the death of his friend Koch, who had begun that +work, in which he remarks that "he has read much of this writer, in +order to perfect his knowledge of Latin, for otherwise he neither +admires his artificial subtleties of thought, nor his childish +mannerisms of style" (Vahlen, preface, p. v., ed. 1879, Jena). + +Yet by the student of the history of Rome under the Caesars, Seneca +is not to be neglected, because, whatever may be thought of the +intrinsic merit of his speculations, he represents, more perhaps +even than Tacitus, the intellectual characteristics of his age, and +the tone of society in Rome--nor could we well spare the gossiping +stories which we find imbedded in his graver dissertations. The +following extract from Dean Merivale's "History of the Romans under +the Empire" will show the estimate of him which has been formed by +that accomplished writer:-- + +"At Rome, we, have no reason, to suppose that Christianity was only +the refuge of the afflicted and miserable; rather, if we may lay +any stress on the documents above referred to, it was first +embraced by persons in a certain grade of comfort and +respectability; by persons approaching to what we should call the +MIDDLE CLASSES in their condition, their education, and their moral +views. Of this class Seneca himself was the idol, the oracle; he +was, so to speak, the favourite preacher of the more intelligent +and humane disciples of nature and virtue. Now the writings of +Seneca show, in their way, a real anxiety among this class to raise +the moral tone of mankind around them; a spirit of reform, a zeal +for the conversion of souls, which, though it never rose, indeed, +under the teaching of the philosophers, to boiling heat, still +simmered with genial warmth on the surface of society. Far +different as was their social standing-point, far different as were +the foundations and the presumed sanctions of their teaching +respectively, Seneca and St. Paul were both moral reformers; both, +be it said with reverence, were fellow-workers in the cause of +humanity, though the Christian could look beyond the proximate aims +of morality and prepare men for a final development on which the +Stoic could not venture to gaze. Hence there is so much in their +principles, so much even in their language, which agrees together, +so that the one has been thought, though it must be allowed without +adequate reason, to have borrowed directly from the other. +[Footnote: It is hardly necessary to refer to the pretended letters +between St. Paul and Seneca. Besides the evidence from style, some +of the dates they contain are quite sufficient to condemn them as +clumsy forgeries. They are mentioned, but with no expression of +belief in their genuineness, by Jerome and Augustine. See Jones, +"On the Canon," ii. 80.] + +But the philosopher, be it remembered, discoursed to a large and +not inattentive audience, and surely the soil was not all +unfruitful on which his seed was scattered when he proclaimed that +God dwells not in temples of wood and stone, nor wants the +ministrations of human hands;[Footnote: Sen., Ep. 95, and in +Lactantius, Inst. vi.] that He has no delight in the blood of +victims:[Footnote: Ep. 116: "Colitur Deus non tauris sed pia et +recta voluntate."] that He is near to all His creatures:[Footnote: +Ep. 41, 73.] that His Spirit resides in men's hearts:[Footnote: Ep. +46: "Sacer intra nos spiritus sedet."] that all men are truly His +offspring:[Footnote: "De Prov," i.] that we are members of one +body, which is God or Nature;[Footnote: Ep. 93, 95: "Membra sumus +magni corporis."] that men must believe in God before they can +approach Him:[Footnote: Ep. 95: "Primus Deorum cultus est Deos +credere."] that the true service of God is to be like unto +Him:[Footnote: Ep. 95: "Satis coluit quisquis imitatus est."] that +all men have sinned, and none performed all the works of the +law:[Footnote: Sen. de Ira. i. 14; ii. 27: "Quis est iste qui se +profitetur omnibus legibus innocentem?"] that God is no respecter +of nations, ranks, or conditions, but all, barbarian and Roman, +bond and free, are alike under His all-seeing Providence.[Footnote: +"De Benef.," iii. 18: "Virtus omnes admittit, libertinos, servos, +reges." These and many other passages are collected by Champagny, +ii. 546, after Fabricius and others, and compared with well-known +texts of Scripture. The version of the Vulgate shows a great deal +of verbal correspondence. M. Troplong remarks, after De Maistre, +that Seneca has written a fine book on Providence, for which there +was not even a name at Rome in the time of Cicero.--"L'Influence du +Christianisme," &c., i., ch. 4.] + +"St. Paul enjoined submission and obedience even to the tyranny of +Nero, and Seneca fosters no ideas subversive of political +subjection. Endurance is the paramount virtue of the Stoic. To +forms of government the wise man was wholly indifferent; they were +among the external circumstances above which his spirit soared in +serene self-contemplation. We trace in Seneca no yearning for a +restoration of political freedom, nor does he even point to the +senate, after the manner of the patriots of the day, as a +legitimate check to the autocracy of the despot. The only mode, in +his view, of tempering tyranny is to educate the tyrant himself in +virtue. His was the self-denial of the Christians, but without +their anticipated compensation. It seems impossible to doubt that +in his highest flights of rhetoric--and no man ever recommended the +unattainable with a finer grace--Seneca must have felt that he was +labouring to build up a house without foundations; that his system, +as Caius said of his style, was sand without lime. He was surely +not unconscious of the inconsistency of his own position, as a +public man and a minister, with the theories to which he had wedded +himself; and of the impossibility of preserving in it the purity of +his character as a philosopher or a man. He was aware that in the +existing state of society at Rome, wealth was necessary to men high +in station; wealth alone could retain influence, and a poor +minister became at once contemptible. The distributor of the +Imperial favours must have his banquets, his receptions, his slaves +and freedmen; he must possess the means of attracting if not of +bribing; he must not seem too virtuous, too austere, among an evil +generation; in order to do good at all he must swim with the +stream, however polluted it might be. All this inconsistency Seneca +must have contemplated without blenching; and there is something +touching in the serenity he preserved amidst the conflict that must +have perpetually raged between his natural sense and his acquired +principles. Both Cicero and Seneca were men of many weaknesses, and +we remark them the more because both were pretenders to unusual +strength of character; but while Cicero lapsed into political +errors, Seneca cannot be absolved of actual crime. Nevertheless, if +we may compare the greatest masters of Roman wisdom together, the +Stoic will appear, I think, the more earnest of the two, the more +anxious to do his duty for its own sake, the more sensible of the +claims of mankind upon him for such precepts of virtuous living as +he had to give. In an age of unbelief and compromise he taught that +Truth was positive and Virtue objective. He conceived, what never +entered Cicero's mind, the idea of improving his fellow-creatures; +he had, what Cicero had not, a heart for conversion to +Christianity." + +To this eloquent account of Seneca's position and of the tendency +of his writings I have nothing to add. The main particulars of his +life, his Spanish extraction (like that of Lacan and Martial), his +father's treatises on Rhetoric, his mother Helvia, his brothers, +his wealth, his exile in Corsica, his outrageous flattery of +Claudius and his satiric poem on his death--"The Vision of +Judgment," Merivale calls it, after Lord Byron--his position as +Nero's tutor, and his death, worthy at once of a Roman and a Stoic, +by the orders of that tyrant, may be read of in "The History of the +Romans under the Empire," or in the article "Seneca" in the +"Dictionary of Classical Biography," and need not be reproduced +here: but I cannot resist pointing out how entirely Grote's view of +the "Sophists" as a sort of established clergy, and Seneca's +account of the various sects of philosophers as representing the +religious thought of the time, is illustrated by his anecdote of +Julia Augusta, the mother of Tiberius, better known to English +readers as Livia the wife of Augustus, who in her first agony of +grief at the loss of her first husband applied to his Greek +philosopher, Areus, as to a kind of domestic chaplain, for +spiritual consolation. ("Ad Marciam de Consolatione," ch. iv.) + +I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to the Rev. J. +E. B. Mayor, Professor of Latin in the University of Cambridge, for +his kindness in finding time among his many and important literary +labours for reading and correcting the proofs of this work. + +The text which I have followed for De Beneficiis is that of Gertz, +Berlin (1876.). + +AUBREY STEWART + +London, March, 1887. + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +BOOK I. The prevalence of ingratitude--How a benefit ought to be +bestowed--The three Graces--Benefits are the chief bond of human +society--What we owe in return for a benefit received--A benefit +consists not of a thing but of the wish to do good--Socrates and +Aeschines--What kinds of benefits should be bestowed, and in what +manner--Alexander and the franchise of Corinth. + +BOOK II. Many men give through weakness of character--We ought to +give before our friends ask--Many benefits are spoiled by the +manner of the giver--Marius Nepos and Tiberius--Some benefits +should be given secretly--We must not give what would harm the +receiver--Alexander's gift of a city--Interchange of benefits like +a game of ball--From whom ought one to receive a benefit?-- +Examples--How to receive a benefit--Ingratitude caused by self- +love, by greed, or by jealousy--Gratitude and repayment not the +same thing--Phidias and the statue + +BOOK III. Ingratitude--Is it worse to be ungrateful for kindness or +not even to remember it?--Should ingratitude be punished by law?-- +Can a slave bestow a benefit?--Can a son bestow a benefit upon his +father?--Examples + +BOOK IV. Whether the bestowal of benefits and the return of +gratitude for them are desirable objects in themselves? Does God +bestow benefits?--How to choose the man to be benefited--We ought +not to look for any return--True gratitude--Of keeping one's +promise--Philip and the soldier--Zeno + +BOOK V. Of being worsted in a contest of benefits--Socrates and +Archelaus--Whether a man can be grateful to himself, or can bestow +a benefit upon himself--Examples of ingratitude--Dialogue on +ingratitude--Whether one should remind one's friends of what one +has done for them--Caesar and the soldier--Tiberius. + +BOOK VI. Whether a benefit can be taken from one by force-- +Benefits depend upon thought--We are not grateful for the +advantages which we receive from inanimate Nature, or from dumb +animals--In order to lay me under an obligation you must benefit me +intentionally--Cleanthes's story of the two slaves--Of benefits +given in a mercenary spirit--Physicians and teachers bestow +enormous benefits, yet are sufficiently paid by a moderate fee-- +Plato and the ferryman--Are we under an obligation to the sun and +moon?--Ought we to wish that evil may befall our benefactors, in +order that we may show our gratitude by helping them? + +BOOK VII. The cynic Demetrius--his rules of conduct--Of the truly +wise man--Whether one who has done everything in his power to +return a benefit has returned it--Ought one to return a benefit to +a bad man?--The Pythagorean, and the shoemaker--How one ought to +bear with the ungrateful. + + + + + + +L. A. SENECA + +ON BENEFITS. + + +DEDICATED TO + +AEBUTIUS LIBERALIS. + + + + +BOOK I. + +I. + + +Among the numerous faults of those who pass their lives recklessly +and without due reflexion, my good friend Liberalis, I should say +that there is hardly any one so hurtful to society as this, that we +neither know how to bestow or how to receive a benefit. It follows +from this that benefits are badly invested, and become bad debts: +in these cases it is too late to complain of their not being +returned, for they were thrown away when we bestowed them. Nor need +we wonder that while the greatest vices are common, none is more +common than ingratitude: for this I see is brought about by various +causes. The first of these is, that we do not choose worthy persons +upon whom to bestow our bounty, but although when we are about to +lend money we first make a careful enquiry into the means and +habits of life of our debtor, and avoid sowing seed in a worn-out +or unfruitful soil, yet without any discrimination we scatter our +benefits at random rather than bestow them. It is hard to say +whether it is more dishonourable for the receiver to disown a +benefit, or for the giver to demand a return of it: for a benefit +is a loan, the repayment of which depends merely upon the good +feeling of the debtor. To misuse a benefit like a spendthrift is +most shameful, because we do not need our wealth but only our +intention to set us free from the obligation of it; for a benefit +is repaid by being acknowledged. Yet while they are to blame who do +not even show so much gratitude as to acknowledge their debt, we +ourselves are to blame no less. We find many men ungrateful, yet we +make more men so, because at one time we harshly and reproachfully +demand some return for our bounty, at another we are fickle and +regret what we have given, at another we are peevish and apt to +find fault with trifles. By acting thus we destroy all sense of +gratitude, not only after we have given anything, but while we are +in the act of giving it. Who has ever thought it enough to be asked +for anything in an off-hand manner, or to be asked only once? Who, +when he suspected that he was going to be asked for any thing, has +not frowned, turned away his face, pretended to be busy, or +purposely talked without ceasing, in order not to give his suitor a +chance of preferring his request, and avoided by various tricks +having to help his friend in his pressing need? and when driven +into a corner, has not either put the matter off, that is, given a +cowardly refusal, or promised his help ungraciously, with a wry +face, and with unkind words, of which he seemed to grudge the +utterance. Yet no one is glad to owe what he has not so much +received from his benefactor, as wrung out of him. Who can be +grateful for what has been disdainfully flung to him, or angrily +cast at him, or been given him out of weariness, to avoid further +trouble? No one need expect any return from those whom he has tired +out with delays, or sickened with expectation. A benefit is +received in the same temper in which it is given, and ought not, +therefore, to be given carelessly, for a man thanks himself for +that which he receives without the knowledge of the giver. Neither +ought we to give after long delay, because in all good offices the +will of the giver counts for much, and he who gives tardily must +long have been unwilling to give at all. Nor, assuredly, ought we +to give in offensive manner, because human nature is so constituted +that insults sink deeper than kindnesses; the remembrance of the +latter soon passes away, while that of the former is treasured in +the memory; so what can a man expect who insults while he obliges? +All the gratitude which he deserves is to be forgiven for helping +us. On the other hand, the number of the ungrateful ought not to +deter us from earning men's gratitude; for, in the first place, +their number is increased by our own acts. Secondly, the sacrilege +and indifference to religion of some men does not prevent even the +immortal gods from continuing to shower their benefits upon us: for +they act according to their divine nature and help all alike, among +them even those who so ill appreciate their bounty. Let us take +them for our guides as far as the weakness of our mortal nature +permits; let us bestow benefits, not put them out at interest. The +man who while he gives thinks of what he will get in return, +deserves to be deceived. But what if the benefit turns out ill? +Why, our wives and our children often disappoint our hopes, yet we +marry--and bring up children, and are so obstinate in the face of +experience that we fight after we have been beaten, and put to sea +after we have been shipwrecked. How much more constancy ought we to +show in bestowing benefits! If a man does not bestow benefits +because he has not received any, he must have bestowed them in +order to receive them in return, and he justifies ingratitude, +whose disgrace lies in not returning benefits when able to do so. +How many are there who are unworthy of the light of day? and +nevertheless the sun rises. How many complain because they have +been born? yet Nature is ever renewing our race, and even suffers +men to live who wish that they had never lived. It is the property +of a great and good mind to covet, not the fruit of good deeds, but +good deeds themselves, and to seek for a good man even after having +met with bad men. If there were no rogues, what glory would there +be in doing good to many? As it is, virtue consists in bestowing +benefits for which we are not certain of meeting with any return, +but whose fruit is at once enjoyed by noble minds. So little +influence ought this to have in restraining us from doing good +actions, that even though I were denied the hope of meeting with a +grateful man, yet the fear of not having my benefits returned would +not prevent my bestowing them, because he who does not give, +forestalls the vice of him who is ungrateful. I will explain what I +mean. He who does not repay a benefit, sins more, but he who does +not bestow one, sins earlier. + + "If thou at random dost thy bounties waste, + Much must be lost, for one that's rightly placed." + +II. In the former verse you may blame two things, for one should +not cast them at random, and it is not right to waste anything, +much less benefits; for unless they be given with judgement, they +cease to be benefits, and, may be called by any other name you +please. The meaning of the latter verse is admirable, that one +benefit rightly bestowed makes amends for the loss of many that +have been lost. See, I pray you, whether it be not truer and more +worthy of the glory of the giver, that we should encourage him to +give, even though none of his gifts should be worthily placed. +"Much must be lost." Nothing is lost because he who loses had +counted the cost before. The book-keeping of benefits is simple: it +is all expenditure; if any one returns it, that is clear gain; if +he does not return it, it is not lost, I gave it for the sake of +giving. No one writes down his gifts in a ledger, or like a +grasping creditor demands repayment to the day and hour. A good man +never thinks of such matters, unless reminded of them by some one +returning his gifts; otherwise they become like debts owing to him. +It is a base usury to regard a benefit as an investment. Whatever +may have been the result of your former benefits, persevere in +bestowing others upon other men; they will be all the better placed +in the hands of the ungrateful, whom shame, or a favourable +opportunity, or imitation of others may some day cause to be +grateful. Do not grow weary, perform your duty, and act as becomes +a good man. Help one man with money, another with credit, another +with your favour; this man with good advice, that one with sound +maxims. Even wild beasts feel kindness, nor is there any animal so +savage that good treatment will not tame it and win love from it. +The mouths of lions are handled by their keepers with impunity; to +obtain their food fierce elephants become as docile as slaves: so +that constant unceasing kindness wins the hearts even of creatures +who, by their nature, cannot comprehend or weigh the value of a +benefit. Is a man ungrateful for one benefit? perhaps he will not +be so after receiving a second. Has he forgotten two kindnesses? +perhaps by a third he may be brought to remember the former ones +also. + +III. He who is quick to believe that he has thrown away his +benefits, does really throw them away; but he who presses on and +adds new benefits to his former ones, forces out gratitude even +from a hard and forgetful breast. In the face of many kindnesses, +your friend will not dare to raise his eyes; let him see you +whithersoever he turns himself to escape from his remembrance of +you; encircle him with your benefits. As for the power and property +of these, I will explain it to you if first you will allow me to +glance at a matter which does not belong to our subject, as to why +the Graces are three in number, why they are sisters, why hand in +hand, and why they are smiling and young, with a loose and +transparent dress. Some writers think that there is one who bestows +a benefit, one who receives it, and a third who returns it; others +say that they represent the three sorts of benefactors, those who +bestow, those who repay, and those who both receive and repay them. +But take whichever you please to be true; what will this knowledge +profit us? What is the meaning of this dance of sisters in a +circle, hand in hand? It means that the course of a benefit is from +hand to hand, back to the giver; that the beauty of the whole chain +is lost if a single link fails, and that it is fairest when it +proceeds in unbroken regular order. In the dance there is one. +esteemed beyond the others, who represents the givers of benefits. +Their faces are cheerful, as those of men who give or receive +benefits are wont to be. They are young, because the memory of +benefits ought not to grow old. They are virgins, because benefits +are pure and untainted, and held holy by all; in benefits there +should be no strict or binding conditions, therefore the Graces +wear loose flowing tunics, which are transparent, because benefits +love to be seen. People who are not under the influence of Greek +literature may say that all this is a matter of course; but there +can be no one who would think that the names which Hesiod has given +them bear upon our subject. He named the eldest Aglaia, the middle +one Euphrosyne, the third Thalia. Every one, according to his own +ideas, twists the meaning of these names, trying to reconcile them +with some system, though Hesiod merely gave his maidens their names +from his own fancy. So Homer altered the name of one of them, +naming her Pasithea, and betrothed her to a husband, in order that +you may know that they are not vestal virgins. [Footnote: i.e. not +vowed to chastity.] + +I could find another poet, in whose writings they are girded, and +wear thick or embroidered Phrygian robes. Mercury stands with them +for the same reason, not because argument or eloquence commends +benefits, but because the painter chose to do so. Also Chrysippus, +that man of piercing intellect who saw to the very bottom of truth, +who speaks only to the point, and makes use of no more words than +are necessary to express his meaning, fills his whole treatise with +these puerilities, insomuch that he says but very little about the +duties of giving, receiving, and returning a benefit, and has not +so much inserted fables among these subjects, as he has inserted +these subjects among a mass of fables. For, not to mention what +Hecaton borrows from him, Chrysippus tells us that the three Graces +are the daughters of Jupiter and Eurynome, that they are younger +than the Hours, and rather more beautiful, and that on that account +they are assigned as companions to Venus. He also thinks that the +name of their mother bears upon the subject, and that she is named +Eurynome because to distribute benefits requires a wide +inheritance; as if the mother usually received her name after her +daughters, or as if the names given by poets were true. In truth, +just as with a 'nomenclator' audacity supplies the place of memory, +and he invents a name for every one whose name he cannot recollect, +so the poets think that it is of no importance to speak the truth, +but are either forced by the exigencies of metre, or attracted by +sweetness of sound, into calling every one by whatever name runs +neatly into verse. Nor do they suffer for it if they introduce +another name into the list, for the next poet makes them bear what +name he pleases. That you may know that this is so, for instance +Thalia, our present subject of discourse, is one of the Graces in +Hesiod's poems, while in those of Homer she is one of the Muses. + +IV. But lest I should do the very thing which I am blaming, I will +pass over all these matters, which are so far from the subject that +they are not even connected with it. Only do you protect me, if any +one attacks me for putting down Chrysippus, who, by Hercules, was a +great man, but yet a Greek, whose intellect, too sharply pointed, +is often bent and turned back upon itself; even when it seems to be +in earnest it only pricks, but does not pierce. Here, however, what +occasion is there for subtlety? We are to speak of benefits, and to +define a matter which is the chief bond of human society; we are to +lay down a rule of life, such that neither careless openhandedness +may commend itself to us under the guise of goodness of heart, and +yet that our circumspection, while it moderates, may not quench our +generosity, a quality in which we ought neither to exceed nor to +fall short. Men must be taught to be willing to give, willing to +receive, willing to return; and to place before themselves the high +aim, not merely of equalling, but even of surpassing those to whom +they are indebted, both in good offices and in good feeling; +because the man whose duty it is to repay, can never do so unless +he out-does his benefactor; [Footnote: That is, he never comes up +to his benefactor unless he leaves him behind: he can only make a +dead heat of it by getting a start.] the one class must be taught +to look for no return, the other to feel deeper gratitude. In this +noblest of contests to outdo benefits by benefits, Chrysippus +encourages us by bidding us beware lest, as the Graces are the +daughters of Jupiter, to act ungratefully may not be a sin against +them, and may not wrong those beauteous maidens. Do thou teach me +how I may bestow more good things, and be more grateful to those +who have earned my gratitude, and how the minds of both parties may +vie with one another, the giver in forgetting, the receiver in +remembering his debt. As for those other follies, let them be left +to the poets, whose purpose is merely to charm the ear and to weave +a pleasing story; but let those who wish to purify men's minds, to +retain honour in their dealings, and to imprint on their minds +gratitude for kindnesses, let them speak in sober earnest and act +with all their strength; unless you imagine, perchance, that by +such flippant and mythical talk, and such old wives' reasoning, it +is possible for us to prevent that most ruinous consummation, the +repudiation of benefits. + +V. However, while I pass over what is futile and irrelevant I must +point out that the first thing which we have to learn is, what we +owe in return for a benefit received. One man says that he owes the +money which he has received, another that he owes a consulship, a +priesthood, a province, and so on. These, however, are but the +outward signs of kindnesses, not the kindnesses themselves. A +benefit is not to be felt and handled, it is a thing which exists +only in the mind. There is a great difference between the subject- +matter of a benefit, and the benefit itself. Wherefore neither +gold, nor silver, nor any of those things which are most highly +esteemed, are benefits, but the benefit lies in the goodwill of him +who gives them. The ignorant take notice only of that which comes +before their eyes, and which can be owned and passed from hand to +hand, while they disregard that which gives these things their +value. The things which we hold in our hands, which we see with our +eyes, and which our avarice hugs, are transitory, they may be taken +from us by ill luck or by violence; but a kindness lasts even after +the loss of that by means of which it was bestowed; for it is a +good deed, which no violence can undo. For instance, suppose that I +ransomed a friend from pirates, but another pirate has caught him +and thrown him into prison. The pirate has not robbed him of my +benefit, but has only robbed him of the enjoyment of it. Or suppose +that I have saved a man's children from a shipwreck or a fire, and +that afterwards disease or accident has carried them off; even when +they are no more, the kindness which was done by means of them +remains. All those things, therefore, which improperly assume the +name of benefits, are means by which kindly feeling manifests +itself. In other cases also, we find a distinction between the +visible symbol and the matter itself, as when a general bestows +collars of gold, or civic or mural crowns upon any one. What value +has the crown in itself? or the purple-bordered robe? or the +fasces? or the judgment-seat and car of triumph? None of these +things is in itself an honour, but is an emblem of honour. In like +manner, that which is seen is not a benefit--it is but the trace +and mark of a benefit. + +VI. What, then, is a benefit? It is the art of doing a kindness +which both bestows pleasure and gains it by bestowing it, and which +does its office by natural and spontaneous impulse. It is not, +therefore, the thing which is done or given, but the spirit in +which it is done or given, that must be considered, because a +benefit exists, not in that which is done or given, but in the mind +of the doer or giver. How great the distinction between them is, +you may perceive from this, that while a benefit is necessarily +good, yet that which is done or given is neither good nor bad. The +spirit in which they are given can exalt small things, can glorify +mean ones, and can discredit great and precious ones; the objects +themselves which are sought after have a neutral nature, neither +good nor bad; all depends upon the direction given them by the +guiding spirit from which things receive their shape. That which is +paid or handed over is not the benefit itself, just as the honour +which we pay to the gods lies not in the victims themselves, +although they be fat and glittering with gold, [Footnote: Alluding +to the practice of gilding the horns of the victims.] but in the +pure and holy feelings of the worshippers. + +Thus good men are religious, though their offering be meal and +their vessels of earthenware; whilst bad men will not escape from +their impiety, though they pour the blood of many victims upon the +altars. + +VII. If benefits consisted of things, and not of the wish to +benefit, then the more things we received the greater the benefit +would be. But this is not true, for sometimes we feel more +gratitude to one who gives us trifles nobly, who, like Virgil's +poor old soldier, "holds himself as rich as kings," if he has given +us ever so little with a good will a man who forgets his own need +when he sees mine, who has not only a wish but a longing to help, +who thinks that he receives a benefit when he bestows one, who +gives as though he would receive no return, receives a repayment as +though he had originally given nothing, and who watches for and +seizes an opportunity of being useful. On the other hand, as I said +before, those gifts which are hardly wrung from the giver, or which +drop unheeded from his hands, claim no gratitude from us, however +great they may appear and may be. We prize much more what comes +from a willing hand, than what comes from a full one. This man has +given me but little, yet more he could not afford, while what that +one has given is much indeed, but he hesitated, he put it off, he +grumbled when he gave it, he gave it haughtily, or he proclaimed it +aloud, and did it to please others, not to please the person to +whom he gave it; he offered it to his own pride, not to me. + +VIII. As the pupils of Socrates, each in proportion to his means, +gave him large presents, Aeschines, a poor pupil, said, "I can find +nothing to give you which is worthy of you; I feel my poverty in +this respect alone. Therefore I present you with the only thing I +possess, myself. I pray that you may take this my present, such as +it is, in good part, and may remember that the others, although +they gave you much, yet left for themselves more than they gave." +Socrates answered, "Surely you have bestowed a great present upon +me, unless perchance you set a small value upon yourself. I will +accordingly take pains to restore you to yourself a better man than +when I received you." By this present Aeschines outdid Alcibiades, +whose mind was as great as his Wealth, and all the splendour of the +most wealthy youths of Athens. + +IX. You see how the mind even in the straitest circumstances finds +the means of generosity. Aeschines seems to me to have said, +"Fortune, it is in vain that you have made me poor; in spite of +this I will find a worthy present for this man. Since I can give +him nothing of yours, I will give him something of my own." Nor +need you suppose that he held himself cheap; he made himself his +own price. By a stroke of genius this youth discovered a means of +presenting Socrates to himself. We must not consider how great +presents are, but in what spirit they are given. + +A rich man is well spoken of if he is clever enough to render +himself easy of access to men of immoderate ambition, and although +he intends to do nothing to help them, yet encourages their +unconscionable hopes; but he is thought the worse of if he be sharp +of tongue, sour in appearance, and displays his wealth in an +invidious fashion. For men respect and yet loathe a fortunate man, +and hate him for doing what, if they had the chance, they would do +themselves. + + * * * * * * * + +Men nowadays no longer secretly, but openly outrage the wives of +others, and allow to others access to their own wives. A match is +thought countrified, uncivilized, in bad style, and to be protested +against by all matrons, if the husband should forbid his wife to +appear in public in a litter, and to be carried about exposed to +the gaze of all observers. If a man has not made himself notorious +by a LIAISON with some mistress, if he does not pay an annuity to +some one else's wife, married women speak of him as a poor-spirited +creature, a man given to low vice, a lover of servant girls. Soon +adultery becomes the most respectable form of marriage, and +widowhood and celibacy are commonly practised. No one takes a wife +unless he takes her away from some one else. Now men vie with one +another in wasting what they have stolen, and in collecting +together what they have wasted with the keenest avarice; they +become utterly reckless, scorn poverty in others, fear personal +injury more than anything else, break the peace by their riots, and +by violence and terror domineer over those who are weaker than +themselves. No wonder that they plunder provinces and offer the +seat of judgment for sale, knocking it down after an auction to the +highest bidder, since it is the law of nations that you may sell +what you have bought. + +X. However, my enthusiasm has carried me further than I intended, +the subject being an inviting one. Let me, then, end by pointing +out that the disgrace of these crimes does not belong especially to +our own time. Our ancestors before us have lamented, and our +children after us will lament, as we do, the ruin, of morality, the +prevalence of vice, and the gradual deterioration of mankind; yet +these things are really stationary, only moved slightly to and fro +like the waves which at one time a rising tide washes further over +the land, and at another an ebbing one restrains within a lower +water mark. At one time the chief vice will be adultery, and +licentiousness will exceed all bounds; at another time a rage for +feasting will be in vogue, and men will waste their inheritance in +the most shameful of all ways, by the kitchen; at another, +excessive care for the body, and a devotion to personal beauty +which implies ugliness of mind; at another time, injudiciously +granted liberty will show itself in wanton recklessness and +defiance of authority; sometimes there will be a reign of cruelty +both in public and private, and the madness of the civil wars will +come upon us, which destroy all that is holy and inviolable. +Sometimes even drunkenness will be held in honour, and it will be a +virtue to swallow most wine. Vices do not lie in wait for us in one +place alone, but hover around us in changeful forms, sometimes even +at variance one with another, so that in turn they win and lose the +field; yet we shall always be obliged to pronounce the same verdict +upon ourselves, that we are and always were evil, and, I +unwillingly add, that we always shall be. There always will be +homicides, tyrants, thieves, adulterers, ravishers, sacrilegious, +traitors: worse than all these is the ungrateful man, except we +consider that all these crimes flow from ingratitude, without which +hardly any great wickedness has ever grown to full stature. Be sure +that you guard against this as the greatest of crimes in yourself, +but pardon it as the least of crimes in another. For all the injury +which you suffer is this: you have lost the subject-matter of a +benefit, not the benefit itself, for you possess unimpaired the +best part of it, in that you have given it. Though we ought to be +careful to bestow our benefits by preference upon those who are +likely to show us gratitude for them, yet we must sometimes do what +we have little hope will turn out well, and bestow benefits upon +those who we not only think will prove ungrateful, but who we know +have been so. For instance, if I should be able to save a man's +children from a great danger with no risk to myself, I should not +hesitate to do so. If a man be worthy I would defend him even with +my blood, and would share his perils; if he be unworthy, and yet by +merely crying for help I can rescue him from robbers, I would +without reluctance raise the shout which would save a fellow- +creature. + +XI. The next point to be defined is, what kind of benefits are to +be given, and in what manner. First let us give what is necessary, +next what is useful, and then what is pleasant, provided that they +be lasting. We must begin with what is necessary, for those things +which support life affect the mind very differently from, those +which adorn and improve it. A man may be nice, and hard to please, +in things which he can easily do without, of which he can say, +"Take them back; I do not want them, I am satisfied with what I +have." Sometimes, we wish not only to, return what we have +received, but even to throw it away. Of necessary things, the first +class consists of things without which we cannot live; the second, +of things without which we ought not to live; and the third, of +things without which we should not care to live. The first class +are, to be saved from the hands of the enemy, from the anger of +tyrants, from proscription, and the various other perils which +beset human life. By averting any one of these, we shall earn +gratitude proportionate to the greatness of the danger, for when +men think of the greatness of the misery from which they have been +saved, the terror which they have gone through enhances the value +of our services. Yet we ought not to delay rescuing any one longer +than we are obliged, solely in order to make his fears add weight +to our services. Next come those things without which we can indeed +live, but in such a manner that it would be better to die, such as +liberty, chastity, or a good conscience. After these are what we +have come to hold dear by connexion and relationship and long use +and custom, such as our wives and children, our household gods, and +so on, to which the mind so firmly attaches itself that separation +from them seems worse than death. + +After these come useful things, which form a very wide and varied +class; in which will be money, not in excess, but enough for living +in a moderate style; public office, and, for the ambitious, due +advancement to higher posts; for nothing can be more useful to a +man than to be placed in a position in which he can benefit +himself. All benefits beyond these are superfluous, and are likely +to spoil those who receive them. In giving these we must be careful +to make them acceptable by giving them at the appropriate time, or +by giving things which are not common, but such as few people +possess, or at any rate few possess in our times; or again, by +giving things in such a manner, that though not naturally valuable, +they become so by the time and place at which they are given. We +must reflect what present will produce the most pleasure, what will +most frequently come under the notice of the possessor of it, so +that whenever he is with it he may be with us also; and in all +cases we must be careful not to send useless presents, such as +hunting weapons to a woman or old man, or books to a rustic, or +nets to catch wild animals to a quiet literary man. On the other +hand, we ought to be careful, while we wish to send what will +please, that we do not send what will insultingly remind our +friends of their failings, as, for example, if we send wine to a +hard drinker or drugs to an invalid, for a present which contains +an allusion to the shortcomings of the receiver, becomes an +outrage. + +XII. If we have a free choice as to what to give, we should above +all choose lasting presents, in order that our gift may endure as +long as possible; for few are so grateful as to think of what they +have received, even when they do not see it. Even the ungrateful +remember us by our gifts, when they are always in their sight and +do not allow themselves to be forgotten, but constantly obtrude and +stamp upon the mind the memory of the giver. As we never ought to +remind men of what we have given them, we ought all the more to +choose presents that will be permanent; for the things themselves +will prevent the remembrance of the giver from fading away. I would +more willingly give a present of plate than of coined money, and +would more willingly give statues than clothes or other things +which are soon worn out. Few remain grateful after the present is +gone: many more remember their presents only while they make use of +them. If possible, I should like my present not to be consumed; let +it remain in existence, let it stick to my friend and share his +life. No one is so foolish as to need to be told not to send +gladiators or wild beasts to one who has just given a public show, +or not to send summer clothing in winter time, or winter clothing +in summer. Common sense must guide our benefits; we must consider +the time and the place, and the character of the receiver, which +are the weights in the scale, which cause our gifts to be well or +ill received. How far more acceptable a present is, if we give a +man what he has not, than if we give him what he has plenty of! if +we give him what he has long been searching for in vain, rather +than what he sees everywhere! Let us make presents of things which +are rare and scarce rather than costly, things which even a rich +man will be glad of, just as common fruits, such as we tire of +after a few days, please us if they have ripened before the usual +season. People will also esteem things which no one else has given +to them, or which we have given to no one else. + +XIII. When the +conquest of the East had flattered Alexander of Macedon into +believing himself to be more than man, the people of Corinth sent +an embassy to congratulate him, and presented him with the +franchise of their city. When Alexander smiled at this form of +courtesy, one of the ambassadors said, "We have never enrolled any +stranger among our citizens except Hercules and yourself." +Alexander willingly accepted the proffered honour, invited the +ambassadors to his table, and showed them other courtesies. He did +not think of who offered the citizenship, but to whom they had +granted it; and being altogether the slave of glory, though he knew +neither its true nature or its limits, had followed in the +footsteps of Hercules and Bacchus, and had not even stayed his +march where they ceased; so that he glanced aside from the givers +of this honour to him with whom he shared it, and fancied that the +heaven to which his vanity aspired was indeed opening before him +when he was made equal to Hercules. In what indeed did that frantic +youth, whose only merit was his lucky audacity, resemble Hercules? +Hercules conquered nothing for himself; he travelled throughout the +world, not coveting for himself but liberating the countries which +he conquered, an enemy to bad men, a defender of the good, a +peacemaker both by sea and land; whereas the other was from his +boyhood a brigand and desolator of nations, a pest to his friends +and enemies alike, whose greatest joy was to be the terror of all +mankind, forgetting that men fear not only the fiercest but also +the most cowardly animals, because of their evil and venomous +nature. + +XIV. Let us now return to our subject. He who bestows a benefit +without discrimination, gives what pleases no one; no one considers +himself to be under any obligation to the landlord of a tavern, or +to be the guest of any one with whom he dines in such company as to +be able to say, "What civility has he shown to me? no more than he +has shown to that man, whom he scarcely knows, or to that other, +who is both his personal enemy and a man of infamous character. Do +you suppose that he wished to do me any honour? not so, he merely +wished to indulge his own vice of profusion." If you wish men to be +grateful for anything, give it but seldom; no one can bear to +receive what you give to all the world. Yet let no one gather from +this that I wish to impose any bonds upon generosity; let her go to +what lengths she will, so that she go a steady course, not at +random. It is possible to bestow gifts in such a manner that each +of those who receive them, although he shares them with many +others, may yet feel himself to be distinguished from the common +herd. Let each man have some peculiarity about his gift which may +make him consider himself more highly favoured than the rest. He +may say, "I received the same present that he did, but I never +asked for it." "I received the same present, but mine was given me +after a few days, whereas he had earned it by long service." +"Others have the same present, but it was not given to them with +the same courtesy and gracious words with which it was given to +me." "That man got it because he asked for it; I did not ask." +"That man received it as well as I, but then he could easily return +it; one has great expectations from a rich man, old and childless, +as he is; whereas in giving the same present to me he really gave +more, because he gave it without the hope of receiving any return +for it." Just as a courtesan divides her favours among many men, so +that no one of her friends is without some proof of her affection, +so let him who wishes his benefits to be prized consider how he may +at the same time gratify many men, and nevertheless give each one +of them some especial mark of favour to distinguish him from the +rest. + +XV. I am no advocate of slackness in giving benefits: the more and +the greater they are, the more praise they will bring to the giver. +Yet let them be given with discretion; for what is given carelessly +and recklessly can please no one. Whoever, therefore, supposes that +in giving this advice I wish to restrict benevolence and to confine +it to narrower limits, entirely mistakes the object of my warning. +What virtue do we admire more than benevolence? Which do we +encourage more? Who ought to applaud it more than we Stoics, who +preach the brotherhood of the human race? What then is it? Since no +impulse of the human mind can be approved of, even though it +springs from a right feeling, unless it be made into a virtue by +discretion, I forbid generosity to degenerate into extravagance. It +is, indeed, pleasant to receive a benefit with open arms, when +reason bestows it upon the worthy, not when it is flung hither or +thither thoughtlessly and at random; this alone we care to display +and claim as our own. Can you call anything a benefit, if you feel +ashamed to mention the person who gave it you? How far more +grateful is a benefit, how far more deeply does it impress itself +upon the mind, never to be forgotten, when we rejoice to think not +so much of what it is, as from whom we have received it! Crispus +Passienus was wont to say that some men's advice was to be +preferred to their presents, some men's presents to their advice; +and he added as an example, "I would rather have received advice +from Augustus than a present; I would rather receive a present from +Claudius than advice." I, however, think that one ought not to wish +for a benefit from any man whose judgement is worthless. What then? +Ought we not to receive what Claudius gives? We ought; but we ought +to regard it as obtained from fortune, which may at any moment turn +against us. Why do we separate this which naturally is connected? +That is not a benefit, to which the best part of a benefit, that it +be bestowed with judgment, is wanting: a really great sum of money, +if it be given neither with discernment nor with good will, is no +more a benefit than if it remained hoarded. There are, however, +many things which we ought not to reject, yet for which we cannot +feel indebted. + + + + +BOOK II. + +I. + + +Let us consider, most excellent Liberalis, what still remains of +the earlier part of the subject; in what way a benefit should be +bestowed. I think that I can point out the shortest way to this; +let us give in the way in which we ourselves should like to +receive. Above all we should give willingly, quickly, and without +any hesitation; a benefit commands no gratitude if it has hung for +a long time in the hands of the giver, if he seems unwilling to +part with it, and gives it as though he were being robbed of it. +Even though some delay should intervene, let us by all means in our +power strive not to seem to have been in two minds about giving it +at all. To hesitate is the next thing to refusing to give, and +destroys all claim to gratitude. For just as the sweetest part of a +benefit is the kindly feeling of the giver, it follows that one who +has by his very delay proved that he gives unwillingly, must be +regarded not as having given anything, but as having been unable to +keep it from an importunate suitor. Indeed, many men are made +generous by want of firmness. The most acceptable benefits are +those which are waiting for us to take them, which are easy to be +received, and offer themselves to us, so that the only delay is +caused by the modesty of the receiver. The best thing of all is to +anticipate a person's wishes; the next, to follow them; the former +is the better course, to be beforehand with our friends by giving +them what they want before they ask us for it, for the value of a +gift is much enhanced by sparing an honest man the misery of asking +for it with confusion and blushes. He who gets what he asked for +does not get it for nothing, for indeed, as our austere ancestors +thought, nothing is so dear as that which is bought by prayers. Men +would be much more modest in their petitions to heaven, if these +had to be made publicly; so that even when addressing the gods, +before whom we can with all honour bend our knees, we prefer to +pray silently and within ourselves. + +II. It is unpleasant, burdensome, and covers one with shame to have +to say, "Give me." You should spare your friends, and those whom +you wish to make your friends, from having to do this; however +quick he may be, a man gives too late who gives what he has been +asked for. We ought, therefore, to divine every man's wishes, and +when we have discovered them, to set him free from the hard +necessity of asking; you may be sure that a benefit which comes +unasked will be delightful and will not be forgotten. If we do not +succeed in anticipating our friends, let us at any rate cut them +short when they ask us for anything, so that we may appear to be +reminded of what we meant to do, rather than to have been asked to +do it. Let us assent at once, and by our promptness make it appear +that we meant to do so even before we were solicited. As in dealing +with sick persons much depends upon when food is given, and plain +water given at the right moment sometimes acts as a remedy, so a +benefit, however slight and commonplace it may be, if it be +promptly given without losing a moment of time, gains enormously in +importance, and wins our gratitude more than a far more valuable +present given after long waiting and deliberation. One who gives so +readily must needs give with good will; he therefore gives +cheerfully and shows his disposition in his countenance. + +III. Many who bestow immense benefits spoil them by their silence +or slowness of speech, which gives them an air of moroseness, as +they say "yes" with a face which seems to say "no." How much better +is it to join kind words to kind actions, and to enhance the value +of our gifts by a civil and gracious commendation of them! To cure +your friend of being slow to ask a favour of you, you may join to +your gift the familiar rebuke, "I am angry with you for not having +long ago let me know what you wanted, for having asked for it so +formally, or for having made interest with a third party." "I +congratulate myself that you have been pleased to make trial of me; +hereafter, if you want anything, ask for it as your right; however, +for this time I pardon your want of manners." By so doing you will +cause him to value your friendship more highly than that, whatever +it may have been, which he came to ask of you. The goodness and +kindness of a benefactor never appears so great as when on leaving +him one says, "I have to-day gained much; I am more pleased at +finding him so kind than if I had obtained many times more of this, +of which I was speaking, by some other means; I never can make any +adequate return to this man for his goodness." + +IV. Many, however, there are who, by harsh words and contemptuous +manner, make their very kindnesses odious, for by speaking and +acting disdainfully they make us sorry that they have granted our +requests. Various delays also take place after we have obtained a +promise; and nothing is more heartbreaking than to be forced to beg +for the very thing which you already have been promised. Benefits +ought to be bestowed at once, but from some persons it is easier to +obtain the promise of them than to get them. One man has to be +asked to remind our benefactor of his purpose; another, to bring it +into effect; and thus a single present is worn away in passing +through many hands, until hardly any gratitude is left for the +original promiser, since whoever we are forced to solicit after the +giving of the promise receives some of the gratitude which we owe +to the giver. Take care, therefore, if you wish your gifts to be +esteemed, that they reach those to whom they are promised entire, +and, as the saying is, without any deduction. Let no one intercept +them or delay them; for no one can take any share of the gratitude +due for your gifts without robbing you of it. + +V. Nothing is more bitter than long uncertainty; some can bear to +have their hopes extinguished better than to have them deferred. Yet +many men are led by an unworthy vanity into this fault of putting +off the accomplishment of their promises, merely in order to swell +the crowd of their suitors, like the ministers of royalty, who +delight in prolonging the display of their own arrogance, hardly +thinking themselves possessed of power unless they let each man see +for a long time how powerful they are. They do nothing promptly, or +at one sitting; they are indeed swift to do mischief, but slow to do +good. Be sure that the comic poet speaks the most absolute truth in +the verses:-- + + "Know you not this? If you your gifts delay, + You take thereby my gratitude away." + +And the following lines, the expression of virtuous pain--a high- +spirited man's misery,-- + + "What thou doest, do quickly;" + +and:-- + + "Nothing in the world + Is worth this trouble; I had rather you + Refused it to me now." + +When the mind begins through weariness to hate the promised +benefit, or while it is wavering in expectation of it, how can it +feel grateful for it? As the most refined cruelty is that which +prolongs the torture, while to kill the victim at once is a kind of +mercy, since the extremity of torture brings its own end with it-- +the interval is the worst part of the execution--so the shorter +time a benefit hangs in the balance, the more grateful it is to the +receiver. It is possible to look forward with anxious disquietude +even to good things, and, seeing that most benefits consist in a +release from some form of misery, a man destroys the value of the +benefit which he confers, if he has the power to relieve us, and +yet allows us to suffer or to lack pleasure longer than we need. +Kindness always eager to do good, and one who acts by love +naturally acts at once; he who does us good, but does it tardily +and with long delays, does not do so from the heart. Thus he loses +two most important things: time, and the proof of his good will to +us; for a lingering consent is but a form of denial. + +VI. The manner in which things are said or done, my Liberalis, +forms a very important part of every transaction. We gain much by +quickness, and lose much by slowness. Just as in darts, the +strength of the iron head remains the same, but there is an +immeasureable difference between the blow of one hurled with the +full swing of the arm and one which merely drops from the hand, and +the same sword either grazes or pierces according as the blow is +delivered; so, in like manner, that which is given is the same, but +the manner in which it is given makes the difference. How sweet, +how precious is a gift, when he who gives does not permit himself +to be thanked, and when while he gives he forgets that he has +given! To reproach a man at the very moment that you are doing him +a service is sheer madness; it is to mix insult with your favours. +We ought not to make our benefits burdensome, or to add any +bitterness to them. Even if there be some subject upon which you +wish to warn your friend, choose some other time for doing so. + +VII. Fabius Verrucosus used to compare a benefit bestowed by a +harsh man in an offensive manner to a gritty loaf of bread, which a +hungry man is obliged to receive, but which is painful to eat. When +Marius Nepos of the praetorian guard asked Tiberius Caesar for help +to pay his debts, Tiberius asked him for a list of his creditors; +this is calling a meeting of creditors, not paying debts. When the +list was made out, Tiberius wrote to Nepos telling him that he had +ordered the money to be paid, and adding some offensive reproaches. +The result of this was that Nepos owed no debts, yet received no +kindness; Tiberius, indeed, relieved him from his creditors, but +laid him under no obligation. Tiberius, however, had some design in +doing so; I imagine he did not wish more of his friends to come to +him with the same request. His mode of proceeding was, perhaps, +successful in restraining men's extravagant desires by shame, but +he who wishes to confer benefits must follow quite a different +path. In all ways you should make your benefit as acceptable as +possible by presenting it in the most attractive form; but the +method of Tiberius is not to confer benefits, but to reproach. + +VIII. Moreover, if incidentally I should say what I think of this +part of the subject, I do not consider that it is becoming even to +an emperor to give merely in order to cover a man with shame. "And +yet," we are told, "Tiberius did not even by this means attain his +object; for after this a good many persons were found to make the +same request. He ordered all of them to explain the reasons of +their indebtedness before the senate, and when they did so, granted +them certain definite sums of money." This is not an act of +generosity, but a reprimand. You may call it a subsidy, or an +imperial contribution; it is not a benefit, for the receiver cannot +think of it without shame. I was summoned before a judge, and had +to be tried at bar before I obtained what I asked for. + +IX. Accordingly, all writers on ethical philosophy tell us that +some benefits ought to be given in secret, others in public. Those +things which it is glorious to receive, such as military +decorations or public offices, and whatever else gains in value the +more widely it is known, should be conferred in public; on the +other hand, when they do not promote a man or add to his social +standing, but help him when in weakness, in want, or in disgrace, +they should be given silently, and so as to be known only to those +who profit by them. + +X. Sometimes even the person who is assisted must be deceived, in +order that he may receive our bounty without knowing the source +from whence it flows. It is said that Arcesilaus had a friend who +was poor, but concealed his poverty; who was ill, yet tried to hide +his disorder, and who had not money for the necessary expenses of +existence. Without his knowledge, Arcesilaus placed a bag of money +under his pillow, in order that this victim of false shame might +rather seem to find what he wanted than to receive. "What," say +you, "ought he not to know from whom he received it?" Yes; let him +not know it at first, if it be essential to your kindness that he +should not; afterwards I will do so much for him, and give him so +much that he will perceive who was the giver of the former benefit; +or, better still, let him not know that he has received any thing, +provided I know that I have given it. "This," you say, "is to get +too little return for one's goodness." True, if it be an investment +of which you are thinking; but if a gift, it should be given in the +way which will be of most service to the receiver. You should be +satisfied with the approval of your own conscience; if not, you do +not really delight in doing good, but in being seen to do good. +"For all that," say you, "I wish him to know it." Is it a debtor +that you seek for? "For all that, I wish him to know it." What! +though it be more useful, more creditable, more pleasant for him +not to know his benefactor, will you not consent to stand aside? "I +wish him to know." So, then, you would not save a man's life in the +dark? I do not deny that, whenever the matter admits of it, one +ought to take into consideration the pleasure which we receive from +the joy of the receiver of our kindness; but if he ought to have +help and is ashamed to receive it--if what we bestow upon him pains +him unless it be concealed--I forbear to make my benefits public. +Why should I not refrain from hinting at my having given him +anything, when the first and most essential rule is, never to +reproach a man with what you have done for him, and not even to +remind him of it. The rule for the giver and receiver of a benefit +is, that the one should straightway forget that he has given, the +other should never forget that he has received it. + +XI. A constant reference to one's own services wounds our friend's +feelings. Like the man who was saved from the proscription under +the triumvirate by one of Caesar's friends, and afterwards found it +impossible to endure his preserver's arrogance, they wish to cry, +"Give me back to Caesar." How long will you go on saying, "I saved +you, I snatched you from the jaws of death?" This is indeed life, +if I remember it by my own will, but death if I remember it at +yours; I owe you nothing, if you saved me merely in order to have +some one to point at. How long do you mean to lead me about? how +long do you mean to forbid me to forget my adventure? If I had been +a defeated enemy, I should have been led in triumph but once. We +ought not to speak of the benefits which we have conferred; to +remind men of them is to ask them to return them. We should not +obtrude them, or recall the memory of them; you should only remind +a man of what you have given him by giving him something else. We +ought not even to tell others of our good deeds. He who confers a +benefit should be silent, it should be told by the receiver; for +otherwise you may receive the retort which was made to one who was +everywhere boasting of the benefit which he had conferred: "You +will not deny," said his victim, "that you have received a return +for it?" "When?" asked he. "Often," said the other, "and in many +places, that is, wherever and whenever you have told the story." +What need is there for you to speak, and to take the place which +belongs to another? There is a man who can tell the story in a way +much more to your credit, and thus you will gain glory for not +telling it your self. You would think me ungrateful if, through +your own silence, no one is to know of your benefit. So far from +doing this, even if any one tells the story in our presence, we +ought to make answer, "He does indeed deserve much more than this, +and I am aware that I have not hitherto done any great things for +him, although I wish to do so." This should not be said jokingly, +nor yet with that air by which some persons repel those whom they +especially wish to attract. In addition to this, we ought to act +with the greatest politeness towards such persons. If the farmer +ceases his labours after he has put in the seed, he will lose what +he has sown; it is only by great pains that seeds are brought to +yield a crop; no plant will bear fruit unless it be tended with +equal care from first to last, and the same rule is true of +benefits. Can any benefits be greater than those which children +receive from their parents? Yet these benefits are useless if they +be deserted while young, if the pious care of the parents does not +for a long time watch over the gift which they have bestowed. So it +is with other benefits; unless you help them, you will lose them; +to give is not enough, you must foster what you have given. If you +wish those whom you lay under an obligation to be grateful to you, +you must not merely confer benefits upon them, but you must also +love them. Above all, as I said before, spare their ears; you will +weary them if you remind them of your goodness, if you reproach +them with it you will make them hate you. Pride ought above all +things to be avoided when you confer a benefit. What need have you +for disdainful airs, or swelling phrases? the act itself will exalt +you. Let us shun vain boasting: let us be silent, and let our deeds +speak for us. A benefit conferred with haughtiness not only wins no +gratitude, but causes dislike. + +XII. Gaius Caesar granted Pompeius Pennus his life, that is, if not +to take away life be to grant it; then, when Pompeius was set free +and returning thanks to him, he stretched out his left foot to be +kissed. Those who excuse this action, and say that it was not done +through arrogance, say that he wished to show him a gilded, nay a +golden slipper studded with pearls. "Well," say they, "what +disgrace can there be in a man of consular rank kissing gold and +pearls, and what part of Caesar's whole body was it less pollution +to kiss?" So, then, that man, the object of whose life was to +change a free state into a Persian despotism, was not satisfied +when a senator, an aged man, a man who had filled the highest +offices in the state, prostrated himself before him in the presence +of all the nobles, just as the vanquished prostrate themselves +before their conqueror! He discovered a place below his knees down +to which he might thrust liberty. What is this but trampling upon +the commonwealth, and that, too, with the left foot, though you may +say that this point does not signify? It was not a sufficiently +foul and frantic outrage for the emperor to sit at the trial of a +consular for his life wearing slippers, he must needs push his +shoes into a senator's face. + +XIII. O pride, the silliest fault of great good fortune! how +pleasant it is to take nothing from thee! how dost thou turn all +benefits into outrages! how dost thou delight in all excess! how +ill all things become thee! The higher thou risest the lower thou +art, and provest that the good things by which thou art so puffed +up profit thee not; thou spoilest all that thou givest. It is worth +while to inquire why it is that pride thus swaggers and changes the +form and appearance of her countenance, so that she prefers a mask +to her own face. It is pleasant to receive gifts when they are +conferred in a kindly and gentle manner, when a superior in giving +them does not exalt himself over me, but shows as much good feeling +as possible, placing himself on a level with me, giving without +parade, and choosing a time when I am glad of his help, rather than +waiting till I am in the bitterest need. The only way by which you +can prevail upon proud men not to spoil their gifts by their +arrogance is by proving to them that benefits do not appear greater +because they are bestowed with great pomp and circumstance; that no +one will think them greater men for so doing, and that excessive +pride is a mere delusion which leads men to hate even what they +ought to love. + +XIV. There are some things which injure those who receive them, +things which it is not a benefit to give but to withhold; we should +therefore consider the usefulness of our gift rather than the wish +of the petitioner to receive it; for we often long for hurtful +things, and are unable to discern how ruinous they are, because our +judgment is biassed by our feelings; when, however, the longing is +past, when that frenzied impulse which masters our good sense has +passed away, we abhor those who have given us hurtful gifts. As we +refuse cold water to the sick, or swords to the grief-stricken or +remorseful, and take from the insane whatever they might in their +delirium use to their own destruction, so must we persist in +refusing to give anything whatever that is hurtful, although our +friends earnestly and humbly, nay, sometimes even most piteously +beg for it. We ought to look at the end of our benefits as well +as the beginning, and not merely to give what men are glad to +receive, but what they will hereafter be glad to have received. +There are many who say, "I know that this will do him no good, but +what am I to do? he begs for it, I cannot withstand his entreaties. +Let him see to it; he will blame himself, not me." Not so: you he +will blame, and deservedly; when he comes to his right mind, when +the frenzy which now excites him has left him, how can he help +hating the man who has assisted him to harm and to endanger +himself? It is a cruel kindness to allow one's self to be won over +into granting that which injures those who beg for it. Just as it +is the noblest of acts to save men from harm against their will, so +it is but hatred, under the mask of civility, to grant what is +harmful to those who ask for it. Let us confer benefits of such a +kind, that the more they are made use of the better they please, +and which never can turn into injuries. I never will give money to +a man if I know that he will pay it to an adulteress, nor will I be +found in connexion with any wicked act or plan; if possible, I will +restrain men from crime; if not, at least I will never assist them +in it. Whether my friend be driven into doing wrong by anger, or +seduced from the path of safety by the heat of ambition, he shall +never gain the means of doing mischief except from himself, nor +will I enable him one day to say, "He ruined me out of love for +me." Our friends often give us what our enemies wish us to receive; +we are driven by the unseasonable fondness of the former into the +ruin which the latter hope will befall us. Yet, often as it is the +case, what can be more shameful than that there should be no +difference between a benefit and hatred? + +XV. Let us never bestow gifts which may recoil upon us to our +shame. As the sum total of friendship consists in making our +friends equal to ourselves, we ought to consider the interests of +both parties; I must give to him that wants, yet so that I do not +want myself; I must help him who is perishing, yet so that I do not +perish myself, unless by so doing I can save a great man or a great +cause. I must give no benefit which it would disgrace me to ask +for. I ought not to make a small benefit appear a great one, nor +allow great benefits to be regarded as small; for although it +destroys all feeling of gratitude to treat what you give like a +creditor, yet you do not reproach a man, but merely set off your +gift to the best advantage by letting him know what it is worth. +Every man must consider what his resources and powers are, so that +we may not give either more or less than we are able. We must also +consider the character and position of the person to whom we give, +for some men are too great to give small gifts, while others are +too small to receive great ones. Compare, therefore, the character +both of the giver and the receiver, and weigh that which you give +between the two, taking care that what is given be neither too +burdensome nor too trivial for the one to give, nor yet such as the +receiver will either treat with disdain as too small, or think too +great for him to deal with. + +XVI. Alexander, who was of unsound mind, and always full of +magnificent ideas, presented somebody with a city. When the man to +whom he gave it had reflected upon the scope of his own powers, he +wished to avoid the jealousy which so great a present would excite, +saying that the gift did not suit a man of his position. "I do not +ask," replied Alexander, "what is becoming for you to receive, but +what is becoming for me to give." This seems a spirited and kingly +speech, yet really it is a most foolish one. Nothing is by itself a +becoming gift for any one: all depends upon who gives it, to whom +he gives it, when, for what reason, where, and so forth, without +which details it is impossible to argue about it. Inflated +creature! if it did not become him to receive this gift, it could +not become thee to give it. There should be a proportion between +men's characters and the offices which they fill; and as virtue in +all cases should be our measure, he who gives too much acts as +wrongly as he who gives too little. Even granting that fortune has +raised you so high, that, where other men give cups, you give +cities (which it would show a greater mind in you not to take than +to take and squander), still there must be some of your friends who +are not strong enough to put a city in their pockets. + +XVII. A certain cynic asked Antigonus for a talent. Antigonus +answered that this was too much for a cynic to ask for. After this +rebuff he asked for a penny. Antigonus answered that this was too +little for a king to give. "This kind of hair-splitting" (you say) +"is contemptible: he found the means of giving neither. In the +matter of the penny he thought of the king, in that of the talent +he thought of the cynic, whereas with respect to the cynic it would +have been right to receive the penny, with respect to the king it +would have been right to give the talent. Though there may be +things which are too great for a cynic to receive, yet nothing is +so small, that it does not become a gracious king to bestow it." If +you ask me, I applaud Antigonus; for it is not to be endured that a +man who despises money should ask for it. Your cynic has publicly +proclaimed his hatred of money, and assumed the character of one +who despises it: let him act up to his professions. It is most +inconsistent for him to earn money by glorifying his poverty. I +wish to use Chrysippus's simile of the game of ball, in which the +ball must certainly fall by the fault either of the thrower or of +the catcher; it only holds its course when it passes between the +hands of two persons who each throw it and catch it suitably. It is +necessary, however, for a good player to send the ball in one way +to a comrade at a long distance, and in another to one at a short +distance. So it is with a benefit: unless it be suitable both for +the giver and the receiver, it will neither leave the one nor reach +the other as it ought. If we have to do with a practised and +skilled player, we shall throw the ball more recklessly, for +however it may come, that quick and agile hand will send it back +again; if we are playing with an unskilled novice, we shall not +throw it so hard, but far more gently, guiding it straight into his +very hands, and we shall run to meet it when it returns to us. This +is just what we ought to do in conferring benefits; let us teach +some men how to do so, and be satisfied if they attempt it, if they +have the courage and the will to do so. For the most part, however, +we make men ungrateful, and encourage them, to be so, as if our +benefits were only great when we cannot receive any gratitude for +them; just as some spiteful ball-players purposely put out their +companion, of course to the ruin of the game, which cannot be +carried on without entire agreement Many men are of so depraved a +nature that they had rather lose the presents which they make than +be thought to have received a return for them, because they are +proud, and like to lay people under obligations: yet how much +better and more kindly would it be if they tried to enable the +others also to perform their parts, if they encouraged them in +returning gratitude, put the best construction upon all their acts, +received one who wished to thank them just as cordially as if he +came to repay what he had received, and easily lent themselves to +the belief that those whom they have laid under an obligation wish +to repay it. We blame usurers equally when they press harshly for +payment, and when they delay and make difficulties about taking +back the money which they have lent; in the same way, it is just as +right that a benefit should be returned, as it is wrong to ask any +one to return it. The best man is he who gives readily, never asks +for any return, and is delighted when the return is made, because, +having really and truly forgotten what he gave, he receives it as +though it were a present. + +XVIII. Some men not only give, but even receive benefit haughtily, a +mistake into which we ought not to fall: for now let us cross over +to the other side of the subject, and consider how men should behave +when they receive benefits. Every function which is performed by two +persons makes equal demands upon both: after you have considered +what a father ought to be, you will perceive that there remains an +equal task, that of considering what a son ought to be: a husband +has certain duties, but those of a wife are no less important. Each +of these give and take equally, and each require a similar rule of +life, which, as Hecaton observes, is hard to follow: indeed, it is +difficult for us to attain to virtue, or even to anything that comes +near virtue: for we ought not only to act virtuously but to do so +upon principle. We ought to follow this guide throughout our lives, +and to do everything great and small according to its dictates: +according as virtue prompts us we ought both to give and to +receive. Now she will declare at the outset that we ought not to +receive benefits from every man. "From whom, then, ought we to +receive them?" To answer you briefly, I should say, from those to +whom we have given them. Let us consider whether we ought not to be +even more careful in choosing to whom we should owe than to whom we +should give. For even supposing that no unpleasantness should +result (and very much always does), still it is a great misery to +be indebted to a man to whom you do not wish to be under an +obligation; whereas it is most delightful to receive a benefit from +one whom you can love even after he has wronged you, and when the +pleasure which you feel in his friendship is justified by the +grounds on which it is based. Nothing is more wretched for a modest +and honourable man than to feel it to be his duty to love one whom +it does not please him to love. I must constantly remind you that I +do not speak of wise men, who take pleasure in everything that is +their duty, who have their feelings under command, and are able to +lay down whatever law they please to themselves and keep it, but +that I speak of imperfect beings struggling to follow the right +path, who often have trouble in bending their passions to their +will. I must therefore choose the man from whom I will accept a +benefit; indeed, I ought to be more careful in the choice of my +creditor for a benefit than for money; for I have only to pay the +latter as much as I received of him, land when I have paid it I am +free from all obligation; but to the other I must both repay more, +and even when I have repaid his kindness we remain connected, for +when I have paid my debt I ought again to renew it, while our +friendship endures unbroken. Thus, as I ought not to make an +unworthy man my friend, so I ought not to admit an unworthy man +into that most holy bond of gratitude for benefits, from which +friendship arises. You reply, "I cannot always say 'No': sometimes +I must receive a benefit even against my will. Suppose I were given +something by a cruel and easily offended tyrant, who would take it +as an affront if his bounty were slighted? am I not to accept it? +Suppose it were offered by a pirate, or a brigand, or a king of the +temper of a pirate or brigand. What ought I to do? Such a man is +not a worthy object for me to owe a benefit to." When I say that +you ought to choose, I except vis major and fear, which destroy all +power of choice. If you are free, if it lies with you to decide +whether you will or not, then you will turn over in your own mind +whether you will take a gift from a man or not; but if your +position makes it impossible for you to choose, then be assured +that you do not receive a gift, you merely obey orders. No one +incurs any obligation by receiving what it was not in his power to +refuse; if you want to know whether I wish to take it, arrange +matters so that I have the power of saying 'No.' "Yet suppose he +gave you your life." It does not matter what the gift was, unless +it be given and received with good will: you are not my preserver +because you have saved my life. Poison sometimes acts as a +medicine, yet it is not on that account regarded as wholesome. Some +things benefit us but put us under no obligation: for instance a +man who intended to kill a tyrant, cut with his sword a tumour from +which he suffered: yet the tyrant did not show him gratitude +because by wounding him he had healed a disease which surgeons had +feared to meddle with. + +XIX. You see that the actual thing itself is not of much +importance, because it is not regarded as a benefit at all, if you +do good when you intended to do evil; in such a case the benefit is +done by chance, the man did harm. I have seen a lion in the +amphitheatre, who recognized one of the men who fought with wild +beasts, who once had been his keeper, and protected him against the +attacks of the other animals. Are we, then, to say that this +assistance of the brute was a benefit? By no means, because it did +not intend to do it, and did not do it with kindly intentions. You +may class the lion and your tyrant together: each of them saved a +man's life, yet neither conferred a benefit. Because it is not a +benefit to be forced to receive one, neither is it a benefit to be +under an obligation to a man to whom we do not wish to be indebted. +You must first give me personal freedom of decision, and then your +benefit. + +XX. The question has been raised, whether Marcus Brutus ought to +have received his life from the hands of Julius Caesar, who, he had +decided, ought to be put to death. + +As to the grounds upon which he put him to death, I shall discuss +them elsewhere; for to my mind, though he was in other respects a +great man, in this he seems to have been entirely wrong, and not to +have followed the maxims of the Stoic philosophy. He must either +have feared the name of "King," although a state thrives best under +a good king, or he must have hoped that liberty could exist in a +state where some had so much to gain by reigning, and others had so +much to gain by becoming slaves. Or, again, he must have supposed +that it would be possible to restore the ancient constitution after +all the ancient manners had been lost, and that citizens could +continue to possess equal rights, or laws remain inviolate, in a +state in which he had seen so many thousands of men fighting to +decide, not whether they should be slaves or free, but which master +they should serve. How forgetful he seems to have been, both of +human nature and of the history of his own country, in supposing +that when one despot was destroyed another of the same temper would +not take his place, though, after so many kings had perished by +lightning and the sword, a Tarquin was found to reign! Yet Brutus +did right in receiving his life from Caesar, though he was not +bound thereby to regard Caesar as his father, since it was by a +wrong that Caesar had come to be in a position to bestow this +benefit. A man does not save your life who does not kill you; nor +does he confer a benefit, but merely gives you your discharge. [The +'discharge' alluded to is that which was granted to the beaten one +of a pair of gladiators, when their duel was not to the death.] + +XXI. It seems to offer more opportunity for debate to consider what +a captive ought to do, if a man of abominable vices offers him the +price of his ransom? Shall I permit myself to be saved by a wretch? +When safe, what recompense can I make to him? Am I to live with an +infamous person? Yet, am I not to live with my preserver? I will +tell you my opinion. I would accept money, even from such a person, +if it were to save my life; yet I would only accept it as a loan, +not as a benefit. I would repay him the money, and if I were ever +able to preserve him from danger I would do so. As for friendship, +which can only exist between equals, I would not condescend to be +such a man's friend; nor would I regard him as my preserver, but +merely as a money-lender, to whom I am only bound to repay what I +borrowed from him. + +A man may be a worthy person for me to receive a benefit from, but +it will hurt him to give it. For this reason I will not receive it, +because he is ready to help me to his own prejudice, or even +danger. Suppose that he is willing to plead for me in court, but by +so doing will make the king his enemy. I should be his enemy, if, +when he is willing to risk himself for me, if I were not to risk +myself without him, which moreover is easier for me to do. + +As an instance of this, Hecaton calls the case of Arcesilaus silly, +and not to the purpose. Arcesilaus, he says, refused to receive a +large sum of money which was offered to him by a son, lest the son +should offend his penurious father. What did he do deserving of +praise, in not receiving stolen goods, in choosing not to receive +them, instead of returning them? What proof of self-restraint is +there in refusing to receive another man's property. If you want an +instance of magnanimity, take the case of Julius Graecinus, whom +Caius Caesar put to death merely on the ground that he was a better +man than it suited a tyrant for anyone to be. This man, when he was +receiving subscriptions from many of his friends to cover his +expenses in exhibiting public games, would not receive a large sum +which was sent him by Fabius Persicus; and when he was blamed for +rejecting it by those who think more of what is given than of who +gives it, he answered, "Am I to accept a present from a man when I +would not accept his offer to drink a glass of wine with him?" + +When a consular named Rebilius, a man of equally bad character, +sent a yet larger sum to Graecinus, and pressed him to receive it. +"I must beg," answered he, "that you will excuse me. I did not take +money from Persicus either." Ought we to call this receiving +presents, or rather taking one's pick of the senate? + +XXII. When we have decided to accept, let us accept with +cheerfulness, showing pleasure, and letting the giver see it, so +that he may at once receive some return for his goodness: for as it +is a good reason for rejoicing to see our friend happy, it is a +better one to have made him so. Let us, therefore, show how +acceptable a gift is by loudly expressing our gratitude for it; and +let us do so, not only in the hearing of the giver, but everywhere. +He who receives a benefit with gratitude, repays the first +instalment of it. + +XXIII. There are some, who only like to receive benefits privately: +they dislike having any witnesses and confidants. Such men, we may +believe, have no good intentions. As a giver is justified in +dwelling upon those qualities of his gift which will please the +receiver, so a man, when he receives, should do so publicly; you +should not take from a man what you are ashamed to owe him. Some +return thanks to one stealthily, in a corner, in a whisper. This is +not modesty, but a kind of denying of the debt: it is the part of +an ungrateful man not to express his gratitude before witnesses. +Some object to any accounts being kept between them and their +benefactors, and wish no brokers to be employed or witnesses to be +called, but merely to give their own signature to a receipt. Those +men do the like, who take care to let as few persons as possible +know of the benefits which they have received. They fear to receive +them in public, in order that their success may be attributed +rather to their own talents than to the help of others: they are +very seldom to be found in attendance upon those to whom they owe +their lives and their fortunes, and thus, while avoiding the +imputation of servility, they incur that of ingratitude. + +XXIV. Some men speak in the most offensive terms of those to whom +they owe most. There are men whom it is safer to affront than to +serve, for their dislike leads them to assume the airs of persons +who are not indebted to us: although nothing more is expected of +them than that they should remember what they owe us, refreshing +their memory from time to time, because no one can be grateful who +forgets a kindness, and he who remembers it, by so doing proves his +gratitude. We ought neither to receive benefits with a fastidious +air, nor yet with a slavish humility: for if a man does not care +for a benefit when it is freshly bestowed--a time at which all +presents please us most--what will he do when its first charms have +gone off? Others receive with an air of disdain, as much as to say. +"I do not want it; but as you wish it so very much, I will allow +you to give it to me." Others take benefits languidly, and leave +the giver in doubt as to whether they know that they have received +them; others barely open their lips in thanks, and would be less +offensive if they said nothing. One ought to proportion one's +thanks to the importance of the benefit received, and to use the +phrases, "You have laid more of us than you think under an +obligation," for everyone likes to find his good actions extend +further than he expected. "You do not know what it is that you have +done for me; but you ought to know how much more important it is +than you imagine." It is in itself an expression of gratitude to +speak of one's self as overwhelmed by kindness; or "I shall never +be able to thank you sufficiently; but, at any rate, I will never +cease to express everywhere my inability to thank you." + +XXV. By nothing did Furnius gain greater credit with Augustus, and +make it easy for him to obtain anything else for which he might +ask, than by merely saying, when at his request Augustus pardoned +his father for having taken Antonius's side, "One wrong alone I +have received at your hands, Caesar; you have forced me to live and +to die owing you a greater debt of gratitude than I can ever +repay." What can prove gratitude so well as that a man should never +be satisfied, should never even entertain the hope of making any +adequate return for what he has received? By these and similar +expressions we must try not to conceal our gratitude, but to +display it as clearly as possible. No words need be used; if we +only feel as we ought, our thankfulness will be shown in our +countenances. He who intends to be grateful, let him think how he +shall repay a kindness while he is receiving it. Chrysippus says +that such a man must watch for his opportunity, and spring forward +whenever it offers, like one who has been entered for a race, and +who stands at the starting-point waiting for the barriers to be +thrown open; and even then he must use great exertions and great +swiftness to catch the other, who has a start of him. + +XXVI. We must now consider what is the main cause of ingratitude. +It is caused by excessive self-esteem, by that fault innate in all +mortals, of taking a partial view of ourselves and our own acts, by +greed, or by jealousy. + +Let us begin with the first of these. Every one is prejudiced in +his own favour, from which it follows that he believes himself to +have earned all that he receives, regards it as payment for his +services, and does not think that he has been appraised at a +valuation sufficiently near his own. "He has given me this," says +he, "but how late, after how much toil? how much more might I have +earned if I had attached myself to So and so, or to So and so? I +did not expect this; I have been treated like one of the herd; did +he really think that I only deserved so little? why, it would have +been less insulting to have passed me over altogether." + +XXVII. The augur Cnaeus Lentulus, who, before his freedmen reduced +him to poverty, was one of the richest of men, who saw himself in +possession of a fortune of four hundred millions--I say advisedly, +"saw," for he never did more than see it--was as barren and +contemptible in intellect as he was in spirit. Though very +avaricious, yet he was so poor a speaker that he found it easier to +give men coins than words. This man, who owed all his prosperity to +the late Emperor Augustus, to whom he had brought only poverty, +encumbered with a noble name, when he had risen to be the chief man +in Rome, both in wealth and influence, used sometimes to complain +that Augustus had interrupted his legal studies, observing that he +had not received anything like what he had lost by giving up the +study of eloquence. Yet the truth was that Augustus, besides +loading him with other gifts, had set him free from the necessity +of making himself ridiculous by labouring at a profession in which +he never could succeed. + +Greed does not permit any one to be grateful; for what is given is +never equal to its base desires, and the more we receive the more +we covet, for avarice is much more eager when it has to deal with +great accumulations of wealth, just as the power of a flame is +enormously greater in proportion to the size of the conflagration +from which it springs. Ambition in like manner suffers no man to +rest satisfied with that measure of public honours, to gain which +was once the limit of his wildest hope; no one is thankful for +becoming tribune, but grumbles at not being at once promoted to the +post of praetor; nor is he grateful for this if the consulship does +not follow; and even this does not satisfy him if he be consul but +once. His greed ever stretches itself out further, and he does not +understand the greatness of his success because he always looks +forward to the point at which he aims, and never back towards that +from which he started. + +XXVIII. A more violent and distressing vice than any of these is +jealousy which disturbs us by suggesting comparisons. "He gave me +this, but he gave more to that man, and he gave it to him before +me;" after which he sympathises with no one, but pushes his own +claims to the prejudice of every one else. How much more +straightforward and modest is it to make the most of what we have +received, knowing that no man is valued so highly by any one else +as by his own, self! "I ought to have received more, but it was not +easy for him to give more; he was obliged to distribute his +liberality among many persons. This is only the beginning; let me +be contented, and by my gratitude encourage him to show me more +favour; he has not done as much as he ought, but he will do so the +more frequently; he certainly preferred that man to me, but he has +preferred me before many others; that man is not my equal either in +virtue or in services, but he has some charm of his own: by +complaining I shall not make myself deserve to receive more, but +shall become unworthy of what I have received. More has been given +to those most villainous men than has been given to me; well, what +is that to the purpose? how seldom does Fortune show judgment in +her choice? We complain every day of the success of bad men; very +often the hail passes over the estates of the greatest villains and +strikes down the crops of the best of men; every man has to take +his chance, in friendship as well as in everything else." There is +no benefit so great that spitefulness can pick no holes in it, none +so paltry that it cannot be made more of by friendly +interpretation. We shall never want a subject for complaint if we +look at benefits on their wrong side. + +XXIX. See how unjustly the gifts of heaven are valued even by some +who profess themselves philosophers, who complain that we are not +as big as elephants, as swift as stags, as light as birds, as +strong as bulls; that the skins of seals are stronger, of hinds +prettier, of bears thicker, of beavers softer than ours; that dogs +excel us in delicacy of scent, eagles in keenness of sight, crows +in length of days, and many beasts in ease of swimming. And +although nature itself does not allow some qualities, as for +example strength and swiftness, to be combined in the same person, +yet they call it a monstrous thing that men are not compounded of +different and inconsistent good qualities, and call the gods +neglectful of us because we have not been given health which even +our vices cannot destroy, or knowledge of the future. They scarcely +refrain from rising to such a pitch of impudence as to hate nature +because we are below the gods, and not on an equality with them. +How much better is it to turn to the contemplation of so many great +blessings, and to be thankful that the gods have been pleased to +give us a place second only to themselves in this most beautiful +abode, and that they have appointed us to be the lords of the +earth! Can any one compare us with the animals over whom we rule? +Nothing has been denied us except what could not have been granted. +In like manner, thou that takest an unfair view of the lot of +mankind, think what blessings our Father has bestowed upon us, how +far more powerful animals than ourselves we have broken to harness, +how we catch those which are far swifter, how nothing that has life +is placed beyond the reach of our weapons! We have received so many +excellencies, so many crafts, above all our mind, which can pierce +at once whatever it is directed against, which is swifter than the +stars in their courses, for it arrives before them at the place +which they will reach after many ages; and besides this, so many +fruits of the earth, so much treasure, such masses of various +things piled one upon another. You may go through the whole order +of nature, and since you find no entire creature which you would +prefer to be, you may choose from each, the special qualities which +you would like to be given to yourself; then, if you rightly +appreciate the partiality of nature for you, you cannot but confess +yourself to be her spoiled child. So it is; the immortal gods have +unto this day always held us most dear, and have bestowed upon us +the greatest possible honour, a place nearest to themselves. We +have indeed received great things, yet not too great. + +XXX. I have thought it necessary, my friend Liberalis, to state +these facts, both because when speaking of small benefits one ought +to make some mention of the greatest, and because also this +shameless and hateful vice (of ingratitude), starting with these, +transfers itself from them to all the rest. If a man scorn these, +the greatest of all benefits, to whom will he feel gratitude, what +gift will he regard as valuable or deserving to be returned: to +whom will he be grateful for his safety or his life, if he denies +that he has received from the gods that existence which he begs +from them daily? He, therefore, who teaches men to be grateful, +pleads the cause not only of men, but even of the gods, for though +they, being placed above all desires, cannot be in want of +anything, yet we can nevertheless offer them our gratitude. + +No one is justified in seeking an excuse for ingratitude in his own +weakness or poverty, or in saying, "What am I to do, and how? When +can I repay my debt to my superiors the lords of heaven and earth?" +Avaricious as you are, it is easy for you to give them thanks, +without expense; lazy though you be, you can do it without labour. +At the same instant at which you received your debt towards them, +if you wish to repay it, you have done as much as any one can do, +for he returns a benefit who receives it with good will. + +XXXI. This paradox of the Stoic philosophy, that he returns a +benefit who receives it with good will, is, in my opinion, either +far from admirable, or else it is incredible. For if we look at +everything merely from the point of view of our intentions, every +man has done as much as he chose to do; and since filial piety, +good faith, justice, and in short every virtue is complete within +itself, a man may be grateful in intention even though he may not +be able to lift a hand to prove his gratitude. Whenever a man +obtains what he aimed at, he receives the fruit of his labour. When +a man bestows a benefit, at what does he aim? clearly to be of +service and afford pleasure to him upon whom he bestows it. If he +does what he wishes, if his purpose reaches me and fills us each +with joy, he has gained his object. He does not wish anything to be +given to him in return, or else it becomes an exchange of +commodities, not a bestowal of benefits. A man steers well who +reaches the port for which he started: a dart hurled by a steady +hand performs its duty if it hits the mark; one who bestows a +benefit wishes it to be received with gratitude; he gets what he +wanted if it be well received. "But," you say, "he hoped for some +profit also." Then it was not a benefit, the property of which is +to think nothing of any repayment. I receive what was given me in +the same spirit in which it was given: then I have repaid it. If +this be not true, then this best of deeds has this worst of +conditions attached to it, that it depends entirely upon fortune +whether I am grateful or not, for if my fortune is adverse I can +make no repayment. The intention is enough. "What then? am I not to +do whatever I may be able to repay it, and ought I not ever to be +on the watch for an opportunity of filling the bosom [Footnote: +Sinus, the fold of the toga over the breast, used as a pocket by +the Romans. The great French actor Talma, when dressed for the +first time in correct classical costume, indignantly asked where he +was to put his snuff-box.] of him from whom I have received any +kindness? True; but a benefit is in an evil plight if we cannot be +grateful for it even when we are empty-handed. + +XXXII. "A man," it is argued, "who has received a benefit, however +gratefully he may have received it, has not yet accomplished all +his duty, for there remains the part of repayment; just as in +playing at ball it is something to catch the ball cleverly and +carefully, but a man is not called a good player unless he can +handily and quickly send back the ball which he has caught." This +analogy is imperfect; and why? Because to do this creditably +depends upon the movement and activity of the body, and not upon +the mind: and an act of which we judge entirely by the eye, ought +to be all clearly displayed. But if a man caught the ball as he +ought to do, I should not call him a bad player for not returning +it, if his delay in returning it was not caused by his own fault. +"Yet," say you, "although the player is not wanting in skill, +because he did one part of his duty, and was able to do the other +part, yet in such a case the game is imperfect, for its perfection +lies in sending the ball backwards and forwards." I am unwilling to +expose this fallacy further; let us think that it is the game, not +the player that is imperfect: so likewise in the subject which we +are discussing, the thing which is given lacks something, because +another equal thing ought to be returned for it, but the mind of +the giver lacks nothing, because it has found another mind equal to +itself, and as far as intentions go, has effected what it wished. + +XXXIII. A man bestows a benefit upon me: I receive it just as he +wished it to be received: then he gets at once what he wanted, and +the only thing which he wanted, and therefore I have proved myself +grateful. After this it remains for me to enjoy my own resources, +with the addition of an advantage conferred upon me by one whom I +have obliged; this advantage is not the remainder of an imperfect +service, but an addition to a perfected service. [Footnote: Nothing +is wanted to make a benefit, conferred from good motives, perfect: +if it is returned, the gratitude is to be counted as net profit.] +For example, Phidias makes a statue. Now the product of an art is +one thing, and that of a trade is another. It is the business of +the art to make the thing which he wished to make, and that of the +trade to make it with a profit. Phidias has completed his work, +even though he does not sell it. The product, therefore, of his +work is threefold: there is the consciousness of having made it, +which he receives when his work is completed; there is the fame +which he receives; and thirdly, the advantage which he obtains by +it, in influence, or by selling it, or otherwise. In like manner +the first fruit of a benefit is the consciousness of it, which we +feel when we have bestowed it upon the person whom we chose; +secondly and thirdly there is the credit which we gain by doing so, +and there are those things which we may receive in exchange for it. +So when a benefit has been graciously received, the giver has +already received gratitude, but has not yet received recompense for +it: that which we owe in return is therefore something apart from +the benefit itself, for we have paid for the benefit itself when we +accept it in a grateful spirit. + +XXXIV. "What," say you, "can a man repay a benefit, though he does +nothing?" He has taken the first step, he has offered you a good +thing with good feeling, and, which is the characteristic of +friendship, has placed you both on the same footing. In the next +place, a benefit is not repaid in the same manner as a loan: you +have no reason for expecting me to offer you any payment; the +account between us depends upon the feelings alone. What I say will +not appear difficult, although it may not at first accord with your +ideas, if you will do me the favour to remember that there are more +things than there are words to express them. There is an enormous +mass of things without names, which we do not speak of under +distinctive names of their own, but by the names of other things +transferred to them. We speak of our own foot, of the foot of a +couch, of a sail, or of a poem; we apply the word 'dog' to a hound, +a fish, and a star. Because we have not enough words to assign a +separate name to each thing, we borrow a name whenever we want one. +Bravery is the virtue which rightly despises danger, or the science +of repelling, sustaining, or inviting dangers: yet we call a brave +man a gladiator, and we use the same word for a good-for-nothing +slave, who is led by rashness to defy death. Economy is the science +of avoiding unnecessary expenditure, or the art of using one's +income with moderation: yet we call a man of mean and narrow mind, +most economical, although there is an immeasurable distance between +moderation and meanness. These things are naturally distinct, yet +the poverty of our language compels us to call both these men +economical, just as he who views slight accidents with rational +contempt, and he who without reason runs into danger are alike +called brave. Thus a benefit is both a beneficent action, and also +is that which is bestowed by that action, such as money, a house, +an office in the state: there is but one name for them both, though +their force and power are widely different. + +XXXV. Wherefore, give me your attention, and you will soon perceive +that I say nothing to which you can object. That benefit which +consists of the action is repaid when we receive it graciously; +that other, which consists of something material, we have not then +repaid, but we hope to do so. The debt of goodwill has been +discharged by a return of goodwill; the material debt demands a +material return. Thus, although we may declare that he who has +received a benefit with good-will has returned the favour, yet we +counsel him to return to the giver something of the same kind as +that which he has received. Some part of what we have said departs +from the conventional line of thought, and then rejoins it by +another path. We declare that a wise man cannot receive an injury; +yet, if a man hits him with his fist, that man will be found guilty +of doing him an injury. We declare that a fool can possess nothing; +yet if a man stole anything from a fool, we should find that man +guilty of theft. We declare that all men are mad, yet we do not +dose all men with hellebore; but we put into the hands of these +very persons, whom we call madmen, both the right of voting and of +pronouncing judgment. Similarly, we say that a man who has received +a benefit with good-will has returned the favour, yet we leave him +in debt nevertheless--bound to repay it even though he has repaid +it. This is not to disown benefits, but is an encouragement to us +neither to fear to receive benefits, nor to faint under the too +great burden of them. "Good things have been given to me; I have +been preserved from starving; I have been saved from the misery of +abject poverty; my life, and what is dearer than life, my liberty, +has been preserved. How shall I be able to repay these favours? +When will the day come upon which I can prove my gratitude to him?" +When a man speaks thus, the day has already come. Receive a +benefit, embrace it, rejoice, not that you have received it, but +that you have to owe it and return it; then you will never be in +peril of the great sin of being rendered ungrateful by mischance. I +will not enumerate any difficulties to you, lest you should +despair, and faint at the prospect of a long and laborious +servitude. I do not refer you to the future; do it with what means +you have at hand. You never will be grateful unless you are so +straightway. What, then, will you do? You need not take up arms, +yet perhaps you may have to do so; you need not cross the seas, yet +it may be that you will pay your debt, even when the wind threatens +to blow a gale. Do you wish to return the benefit? Then receive it +graciously; you have then returned the favour--not, indeed, so that +you can think yourself to have repaid it, but so that you can owe +it with a quieter conscience. + + + + +BOOK III. + +I. + + +Not to return gratitude for benefits, my AEbutius Liberalis, is +both base in itself, and is thought base by all men; wherefore even +ungrateful men complain of ingratitude, and yet what all condemn is +at the same time rooted in all; and so far do men sometimes run +into the other extreme that some of them become our bitterest +enemies, not merely after receiving benefits from us, but because +they have received them. I cannot deny that some do this out of +sheer badness of nature; but more do so because lapse of time +destroys their remembrance, for time gradually effaces what they +felt vividly at the moment. I remember having had an argument with +you about this class of persons, whom you wished to call forgetful +rather than ungrateful, as if that which caused a man to be +ungrateful was any excuse for his being so, or as if the fact of +this happening to a man prevented his being ungrateful, when we +know that it only happens to ungrateful men. There are many classes +of the ungrateful, as there are of thieves or of homicides, who all +have the same fault, though there is a great variety in its various +forms. The man is ungrateful who denies that he has received a +benefit; who pretends that he has not received it; who does not +return it. The most ungrateful man of all is he who forgets it. The +others, though they do not repay it, yet feel their debt, and +possess some traces of worth, though obstructed by their bad +conscience. They may by some means and at some time be brought to +show their gratitude, if, for instance, they be pricked by shame, +if they conceive some noble ambition such as occasionally rises +even in the breasts of the wicked, if some easy opportunity of +doing so offers; but the man from whom all recollection of the +benefit has passed away can never become grateful. Which of the two +do you call the worse--he who is ungrateful for kindness, or he who +does not even remember it? The eyes which fear to look at the light +are diseased, but those which cannot see it are blind. It is filial +impiety not to love one's parents, but not to recognise them is +madness. + +II. Who is so ungrateful as he who has so completely laid aside and +cast away that which ought to be in the forefront of his mind and +ever before him, that he knows it not? It is clear that if +forgetfulness of a benefit steals over a man, he cannot have often +thought about repaying it. + +In short, repayment requires gratitude, time, opportunity, and the +help of fortune; whereas, he who remembers a benefit is grateful +for it, and that too without expenditure. Since gratitude demands +neither labour, wealth, nor good fortune, he who fails to render it +has no excuse behind which to shelter himself; for he who places a +benefit so far away that it is out of his sight, never could have +meant to be grateful for it. Just as those tools which are kept in +use, and are daily touched by the hand, are never in danger of +growing rusty, while those which are not brought before our eyes, +and lie as if superfluous, not being required for common use, +collect dirt by the mere lapse of time, so likewise that which our +thoughts frequently turn over and renew never passes from our +memory, which only loses those things to which it seldom directs +its eyes. + +III. Besides this, there are other causes which at times erase the +greatest services from our minds. The first and most powerful of +these is that, being always intent upon new objects of desire, we +think, not of what we have, but of what we are striving to obtain. +Those whose mind is fixed entirely upon what they hope to gain, +regard with contempt all that is their own already. It follows that +since men's eagerness for something new makes them undervalue +whatever they have received, they do not esteem those from whom +they have received it. As long as we are satisfied with the +position we have gained, we love our benefactor, we look up to him, +and declare that we owe our position entirely to him; then we begin +to entertain other aspirations, and hurry forward to attain them +after the manner of human beings, who when they have gained much +always covet more; straightway all that we used to regard as +benefits slip from our memory, and we no longer consider the +advantages which we enjoy over others, but only the insolent +prosperity of those who have outstripped us. Now no one can at the +same time be both jealous and grateful, because those who are +jealous are querulous and sad, while the grateful are joyous. In +the next place, since none of us think of any time but the present, +and but few turn back their thoughts to the past, it results that +we forget our teachers, and all the benefits which we have obtained +from them, because we have altogether left our childhood behind us: +thus, all that was done for us in our youth perishes unremembered, +because our youth itself is never reviewed. What has been is +regarded by every one, not only as past, but as gone; and for the +same reason, our memory is weak for what is about to happen in the +future. + +IV. Here I must do Epicurus the justice to say that he constantly +complains of our ingratitude for past benefits, because we cannot +bring back again, or count among our present pleasures, those good +things which we have received long ago, although no pleasures can +be more undeniable than those which cannot be taken from us. +Present good is not yet altogether complete, some mischance may +interrupt it; the future is in suspense, and uncertain; but what is +past is laid up in safety. How can any man feel gratitude for +benefits, if he skips through his whole life entirely engrossed +with the present and the future? It is remembrance that mates men +grateful; and the more men hope, the less they remember. + +V. In the same way, my Liberalis, as some things remain in our +memory as soon as they are learned, while to know others it is not +enough to have learned them, for our knowledge slips away from us +unless it be kept up--I allude to geometry and astronomy, and such +other sciences as are Hard to remember because of their intricacy-- +so the greatness of some benefits prevents their being forgotten, +while others, individually less, though many more in number, and +bestowed at different times, pass from our minds, because, as I +have stated above, we do not constantly think about them, and do +not willingly recognize how much we owe to each of our benefactors. +Listen to the words of those who ask for favours. There is not one +of them who does not declare that his remembrance will be eternal, +who does not vow himself your devoted servant and slave, or find, +if he can, some even greater expression of humility with which to +pledge himself. After a brief space of time these same men avoid +their former expressions, thinking them abject, and scarcely +befitting free-born men; afterwards they arrive at the same point +to which, as I suppose, the worst and most ungrateful of men come-- +that is, they forget. So little does forgetfulness excuse +ingratitude, that even the remembrance of a benefit may leave us +ungrateful. + +VI. The question has been raised, whether this most odious vice +ought to go unpunished; and whether the law commonly made use of in +the schools, by which we can proceed against a man for ingratitude, +ought to be adopted by the State also, since all men agree that it +is just. "Why not?" you may say, "seeing that even cities cast in +each other's teeth the services which they have performed to one +another, and demand from the children some return for benefits +conferred upon their fathers?" On the other hand, our ancestors, +who were most admirable men, made demands upon their enemies alone, +and both gave and lost their benefits with magnanimity. With the +exception of Macedonia, no nation has ever established an action at +law for ingratitude. And this is a strong argument against its +being established, because all agree in blaming crime; and +homicide, poisoning, parricide, and sacrilege are visited with +different penalties in different countries, but everywhere with +some penalty; whereas this most common vice is nowhere punished, +though it is everywhere blamed. We do not acquit it; but as it +would be most difficult to reckon accurately the penalty for so +varying a matter, we condemn it only to be hated, and place it upon +the list of those crimes which we refer for judgment to the gods. + +VII. Many arguments occur to me which prove that this vice ought +not to come under the action of the law. First of all, the best +part of a benefit is lost if the benefit can be sued for at law, as +in the case of a loan, or of letting and hiring. Indeed, the finest +part of a benefit is that we have given it without considering +whether we shall lose it or not, that we have left all this to the +free choice of him who receives it: if I call him before a judge, +it begins to be not a benefit, but a loan. Next, though it is a +most honourable thing to show gratitude, it ceases to be honourable +if it be forced, for in that case no one will praise a grateful man +any more than he praises him who restores the money which was +deposited in his keeping, or who pays what he borrowed without the +intervention of a judge. We should therefore spoil the two finest +things in human life,--a grateful man and a beneficent man; for +what is there admirable in one who does not give but merely lends a +benefit, or in one who repays it, not because he wishes, but +because he is forced to do so? There is no credit in being +grateful, unless it is safe to be ungrateful. Besides this, all the +courts would hardly be enough for the action of this one law. Who +would not plead under it? Who would not be pleaded against? for +every one exalts his own merits, every one magnifies even the +smallest matters which he has bestowed upon another. Besides this, +those things which form the subject of a judicial inquiry can be +distinctly defined, and cannot afford unlimited licence to the +judge; wherefore a good cause is in a better position if it before +a judge than before an arbitrator, because the words of the law tie +down a judge and define certain limits beyond which he may not +pass, whereas the conscience of an arbitrator is free and not +fettered by any rules, so that he can either give or take away, +and can arrange his decision, not according to the precepts of law +and justice, but just as his own kindly feeling or compassion may +prompt him. An action for ingratitude would not bind a judge, but +would place him in the position of an autocrat. It cannot be known +what or how great a benefit is; all that would be really important +would be, how indulgently the judge might interpret it. No law +defines an ungrateful person, often, indeed, one who repays what he +has received is ungrateful, and one who has not returned it is +grateful. Even an unpractised judge can give his vote upon some +matters; for instance, when the thing to be determined is whether +something has or has not been done, when a dispute is terminated by +the parties giving written bonds, or when the casting up of +accounts decides between the disputants. When, however, motives +have to be guessed at, when matters upon which wisdom alone can +decide, are brought into court, they cannot be tried by a judge +taken at random from the list of "select judges," [Footnote: See +Smith's "Dict. of Antiq.," s. v] whom property and the inheritance +of an equestrian fortune [Footnote: 400,000 sesterces] has placed +upon the roll. + +VIII. Ingratitude, therefore, is not only matter unfit to be +brought into court, but no judge could be found fit to try it; and +this you will not be surprised at, if you examine the difficulties +of any one who should attempt to prosecute a man upon such a +charge. One man may have given a large sum of money, but he is rich +and would not feel it; another may have given it at the cost of his +entire inheritance. The sum given is the same in each case, but the +benefit conferred is not the same. Add another instance: suppose +that to redeem a debtor from slavery one man paid money from his +own private means, while another man paid the same sum, but had to +borrow it or beg for it, and allow himself to be laid under a great +obligation to some one; would you rank the man who so easily +bestowed his benefit on an equality with him who was obliged to +receive a benefit himself before he could bestow it? Some benefits +are great, not because of their amount, but because of the time at +which they are bestowed; it is a benefit to give an estate whose +fertility can bring down the price of corn, and it is a benefit to +give a loaf of bread in time of famine; it is a benefit to give +provinces through which flow vast navigable rivers, and it is a +benefit, when men are parched with thirst, and can scarcely draw +breath through their dry throats, to show them a spring of water. +Who will compare these cases with one another, or weigh one against +the other? It is hard to give a decision when it is not the thing +given, but its meaning, which has to be considered; though what is +given is the same, yet if it be given under different circumstances +it has a different value. A man may have bestowed a benefit upon +me, but unwillingly; he may have complained of having given it; he +may have looked at me with greater haughtiness than he was wont to +do; he may have been so slow in giving it, that he would have done +me a greater service if he had promptly refused it. How could a +judge estimate the value of these things, when words, hesitation, +or looks can destroy all their claim to gratitude? + +IX. What, again, could he do, seeing that some things are called +benefits because they are unduly coveted, whilst others are not +benefits at all, according to this common valuation, yet are of +even greater value, though not so showy? You call it a benefit to +cause a man to be adopted as a member of a powerful city, to get +him enrolled among the knights, or to defend one who is being tried +for his life: what do you say of him who gives useful advice? of +him who holds you back when you would rush into crime? of him who +strikes the sword from the hands of the suicide? of him who by his +power of consolation brings back to the duties of life one who was +plunged in grief, and eager to follow those whom he had lost? of +him who sits at the bedside of the sick man, and who, when health +and recovery depend upon seizing the right moment, administers food +in due season, stimulates the failing veins with wine, or calls in +the physician to the dying man? Who can estimate the value of such +services as these? who can bid us weigh dissimilar benefits one +with another? "I gave you a house," says one. Yes, but I forewarned +you that your own house would come down upon your head. "I gave you +an estate," says he. True, but I gave a plank to you when +shipwrecked. "I fought for you and received wounds for you," says +another. But I saved your life by keeping silence. Since a benefit +is both given and returned differently by different people, it is +hard to make them balance. + +X. Besides this, no day is appointed for repayment of a benefit, as +there is for borrowed money; consequently he who has not yet repaid +a benefit may do so hereafter: for tell me, pray, within what time +a man is to be declared ungrateful? The greatest benefits cannot be +proved by evidence; they often lurk in the silent consciousness of +two men only; are we to introduce the rule of not bestowing +benefits without witnesses? Next, what punishment are we to appoint +for the ungrateful? is there to be one only for all, though the +benefits which they have received are different? or should the +punishment be varying, greater or less according to the benefit +which each has received? Are our valuations to be restricted to +pecuniary fines? what are we to do, seeing that in some cases the +benefit conferred is life, and things dearer than life? What +punishment is to be assigned to ingratitude for these? One less +than the benefit? That would be unjust. One equal to it; death? +What could be more inhuman than to cause benefits to result in +cruelty? + +XI. It may be argued, "Parents have certain privileges: these are +regarded as exempt from the action of ordinary rules, and so also +ought to be the case with other beneficent persons." Nay; mankind +has assigned a peculiar sanctity to the position of parents, +because it was advantageous that children should be reared, and +people had to be tempted into undergoing the toil of doing so, +because the issue of their experiment was doubtful. One cannot say +to them, as one does to others who bestow benefits, "Choose the man +to whom you give: you must only blame yourself if you are deceived; +help the deserving." In rearing children nothing depends upon the +judgment of those who rear them; it is a matter of hope: in order, +therefore, that people may be more willing to embark upon this +lottery, it was right that they should be given a certain +authority; and since it is useful for youth to be governed, we have +placed their parents in the position of domestic magistrates, under +whose guardianship their lives may be ruled. Moreover, the position +of parents differs from that of other benefactors, for their having +given formerly to their children does not stand in the way of their +giving now and hereafter; and also, there is no fear of their +falsely asserting that they have given: with others one has to +inquire not only whether they have received, but whether they have +given; but the good deeds of parents are placed beyond doubt. In +the next place, one benefit bestowed by parents is the same for +all, and might be counted once for all; while the others which they +bestow are of various kinds, unlike one to another, differing from +one another by the widest possible intervals; they can therefore +come under no regular rule, since it would be more just to leave +them all unrewarded than to give the same reward to all. + +XII. Some benefits cost much to the givers, some are of much value +to the receivers but cost the givers nothing. Some are bestowed +upon friends, others on strangers: now although that which is given +be the same, yet it becomes more when it is given to one with whom +you are beginning to be acquainted through the benefits which you +have previously conferred upon him. One man may give us help, +another distinctions, a third consolation. You may find one who +thinks nothing pleasanter or more important than to have some one +to save him from distress; you may again find one who would rather +be helped to great place than to security; while some consider +themselves more indebted to those who save their lives than to +those who save their honour. Each of these services will be held +more or less important, according as the disposition of our judge +inclines to one or the other of them. Besides this, I choose my +creditors for myself, whereas I often receive benefits from those +from whom I would not, and sometimes I am laid under an obligation +without my knowledge. What will you do in such a case? When a man +has received a benefit unknown to himself, and which, had he known +of it, he would have refused to receive, will you call him +ungrateful if he does not repay it, however he may have received +it? Suppose that some one has bestowed a benefit upon me, and that +the same man has afterwards done me some wrong; am I to be bound by +his one bounty to endure with patience any wrong that he may do me, +or will it be the same as if I had repaid it, because he himself +has by the subsequent wrong cancelled his own benefit? How, in that +case, would you decide which was the greater; the present which the +man has received, or the injury which has been done him? Time would +fail me if I attempted to discuss all the difficulties which would +arise. + +XIII. It may be argued that "we render men less willing to confer +benefits by not supporting the claim of those which have been +bestowed to meet with gratitude, and by not punishing those who +repudiate them." But you would find, on the other hand, that men +would be far less willing to receive benefits, if by so doing they +were likely to incur the danger of having to plead their cause in +court, and having more difficulty in proving their integrity. This +legislation would also render us less willing to give: for no one +is willing to give to those who are unwilling to receive, but one +who is urged to acts of kindness by his own good nature and by the +beauty of charity, will give all the more freely to those who need +make no return unless they choose. It impairs the credit of doing a +service, if in doing it we are carefully protected from loss. + +XIV. "Benefits, then, will be fewer, but more genuine: well, what +harm is there in restricting people from giving recklessly?" Even +those who would have no legislation upon the subject follow this +rule, that we ought to be somewhat careful in giving, and in +choosing those upon whom we bestow favours. Reflect over and over +again to whom you are giving: you will have no remedy at law, no +means of enforcing repayment. You are mistaken if you suppose that +the judge will assist you: no law will make full restitution to +you, you must look only to the honour of the receiver. Thus only +can benefits retain their influence, and thus only are they +admirable: you dishonour them if you make them the grounds of +litigation, "Pay what you owe" is a most just proverb; and one +which carries with it the sanction of all nations; but in dealing +with benefits it is most shameful. "Pay!" How is a man to pay who +owes his life, his position, his safety, or his reason to another? +None of the greatest benefits can be repaid. "Yet," it is said, +"you ought to give in return for them something of equal value." +This is just what I have been saying, that the grandeur of the act +is ruined if we make our benefits commercial transactions. We ought +hot to encourage ourselves in avarice, in discontent, or in +quarrels; the human mind is prone enough to these by nature. As far +as we are able, let us check it, and cut off the opportunities for +which it seeks. + +XV. Would that we could indeed persuade men to +receive back money which they have lent from those debtors only who +are willing to pay! would that no agreement ever bound the buyer to +the seller, and that their interests were not protected by sealed +covenants and agreements, but rather by honour and a sense of +justice! However, men prefer what is needful to what is truly best, +and choose rather to force their creditors to keep faith with them +than to trust that they will do so. Witnesses are called on both +sides; the one, by calling in brokers, makes several names appear +in his accounts as his debtors instead of one; the other is not +content with the legal forms of question and answer unless he holds +the other party by the hand. What a shameful admission of the +dishonesty and wickedness of mankind! men trust more to our signet- +rings than to our intentions. For what are these respectable men +summoned? for what do they impress their seals? it is in order that +the borrower may not deny that he has received what he has +received. You regard these men, I suppose, as above bribes, as +maintainers of the truth: well, these very men will not be +entrusted with money except on the same terms. Would it not, then, +be more honourable to be deceived by some than to suspect all men +of dishonesty? To fill up the measure of avarice one thing only is +lacking, that we should bestow no benefit without a surety. To +help, to be of service, is the part of a generous and noble mind; +he who gives acts like a god, he who demands repayment acts like a +money-lender. Why then, by trying to protect the rights of the +former class, should we reduce them to the level of the basest of +mankind? + +XVI. "More men," our opponent argues, "will be ungrateful, if no +legal remedy exists against ingratitude." Nay, fewer, because then +benefits will be bestowed with more discrimination, In the next +place, it is not advisable that it should be publicly known how +many ungrateful men there are: for the number of sinners will do +away with the disgrace of the sin, and a reproach which applies to +all men will cease to be dishonourable. Is any woman ashamed of +being divorced, now that some noble ladies reckon the years of +their lives, not by the number of the consuls, but by that of their +husbands, now that they leave their homes in order to marry others, +and marry only in order to be divorced? Divorce was only dreaded as +long as it was unusual; now that no gazette appears without it, +women learn to do what they hear so much about. Can any one feel +ashamed of adultery, now that things have come to such a pass that +no woman keeps a husband at all unless it be to pique her lover? +Chastity merely implies ugliness. Where will you find any woman so +abject, so repulsive, as to be satisfied with a single pair of +lovers, without having a different one for each hour of the day; +nor is the day long enough for all of them, unless she has taken +her airing in the grounds of one, and passes the night with +another. A woman is frumpish and old-fashioned if she does not know +that "adultery with one paramour is nick-named marriage." Just as +all shame at these vices has disappeared since the vice itself +became so widely spread, so if you made the ungrateful begin to +count their own numbers, you would both make them more numerous, +and enable them to be ungrateful with greater impunity. + +XVII. "What then? shall the ungrateful man go unpunished?" What +then, I answer, shall we punish the undutiful, the malicious, the +avaricious, the headstrong, and the cruel? Do you imagine that +those things which are loathed are not punished, or do you suppose +that any punishment is greater than the hate of all men? It is a +punishment not to dare receive a benefit from anyone, not to dare +to bestow one, to be, or to fancy that you are a mark for all men's +eyes, and to lose all appreciation of so excellent and pleasant a +matter. Do you call a man unhappy who has lost his sight, or whose +hearing has been impaired by disease, and do you not call him +wretched who has lost the power of feeling benefits? He fears the +gods, the witnesses of all ingratitude; he is tortured by the +thought of the benefit which he has misapplied, and, in fine, he is +sufficiently punished by this great penalty, that, as I said +before, he cannot enjoy the fruits of this most delightful act. On +the other hand, he who takes pleasure in receiving a benefit, +enjoys an unvarying and continuous happiness, which he derives from +consideration, not of the thing given, but of the intention of the +giver. A benefit gives perpetual joy to a grateful man, but pleases +an ungrateful one only for a moment. Can the lives of such men be +compared, seeing that the one is sad and gloomy--as it is natural +that a denier of his debts and a defrauder should be, a man who +does not give his parents, his nurses, or his teachers the honour +which is their due--while the other is joyous, cheerful, on the +watch for an opportunity of proving his gratitude, and gaining much +pleasure from this frame of mind itself? Such a man has no wish to +become bankrupt, but only to make the fullest and most copious +return for benefits, and that not only to parents and friends, but +also to more humble persons; for even if he receives a benefit from +his own slave, he does not consider from whom he receives it, but +what he receives. + +XVIII. It has, however, been doubted by Hecaton and some other +writers, whether a slave can bestow a benefit upon his master. Some +distinguish between benefits, duties, and services, calling those +things benefits which are bestowed by a stranger--that is, by one +who could discontinue them without blame--while duties are +performed by our children, our wives, and those whom relationship +prompts and orders to afford us help; and, thirdly, services are +performed by slaves, whose position is such that nothing which they +do for their master can give them any claim upon him. . . . + +Besides this, he who affirms that a slave does not sometimes confer +a benefit upon his master is ignorant of the rights of man; for the +question is, not what the station in life of the giver may be, but +what his intentions are. The path of virtue is closed to no one, it +lies open to all; it admits and invites all, whether they be free- +born men, slaves or freed-men, kings or exiles; it requires no +qualifications of family or of property, it is satisfied with a +mere man. What, indeed, should we have to trust to for defence +against sudden misfortunes, what could--a noble mind promise to +itself to keep unshaken, if virtue could be lost together with +prosperity? If a slave cannot confer a benefit upon his master, +then no subject can confer a benefit upon his king, and no soldier +upon his general; for so long as the man is subject to supreme +authority, the form of authority can make no difference. If main +force, or the fear of death and torture, can prevent a slave from +gaining any title to his master's gratitude, they will also prevent +the subjects of a king, or the soldiers of a general from doing so, +for the same things may happen to either of these classes of men, +though under different names. + +Yet men do bestow benefits upon their kings and their generals; +therefore slaves can bestow benefits upon their masters. A slave +can be just, brave, magnanimous; he can therefore bestow a benefit, +for this is also the part of a virtuous man. So true is it that +slaves can bestow benefits upon their masters, that the masters +have often owed their lives to them. + +XIX. There is no doubt that a slave can bestow a benefit upon +anyone; why, then, not upon his master? "Because," it is argued, +"he cannot become his master's creditor if he gives him money. If +this be not so, he daily lays his master under an obligation to +him; he attends him when on a journey, he nurses him when sick, he +works most laboriously at the cultivation of his estate; yet all +these, which would be called benefits if done for us by anyone +else, are merely called service when done by a slave. A benefit is +that which some one bestows who has the option of withholding it:-- +now a slave has no power to refuse, so that he does not afford us +his help, but obeys our orders, and cannot boast of having done +what he could not leave undone." Even under these conditions I +shall win the day, and will place a slave in such positions, that +for many purposes he will be free; in the meanwhile, tell me, if I +give you an instance of a slave fighting for his master's safety +without regard to himself, pierced through with wounds, yet +spending the last drops of his blood, and gaining time for his +master to escape by the sacrifice of his life, will you say that +this man did not bestow a benefit upon his master because he was a +slave? If I give an instance of one who could not be bribed to +betray his master's secrets by any of the offers of a tyrant, who +was not terrified by any threats, nor overpowered by any tortures, +but who, as far as he was able, placed his questioners upon a wrong +scent, and, paid for his loyalty with his life; will you say that +this man did not confer a benefit upon his master because he was a +slave? Consider, rather, whether an example of virtue in a slave be +not all the greater because it is rarer than in free men, and +whether it be not all the more gratifying that, although to be +commanded is odious, and all submission to authority is irksome, +yet in some particular cases love for a master has been more +powerful than men's general dislike to servitude. A benefit does +not, therefore, cease to be a benefit because it is bestowed by a +slave, but is all the greater on that account, because not even +slavery could restrain him from bestowing it. + +XX. It is a mistake to imagine that slavery pervades a man's whole +being; the better part of him is exempt from it: the body indeed is +subjected and in the power of a master, but the mind is +independent, and indeed is so free and wild, that it cannot be +restrained even by this prison of the body, wherein it is confined, +from following its own impulses, dealing with gigantic designs, and +soaring into the infinite, accompanied by all the host of heaven. +It is, therefore, only the body which misfortune hands over to a +master, and which he buys and sells; this inward part cannot be +transferred as a chattel. Whatever comes from this, is free; +indeed, we are not allowed to order all things to be done, nor are +slaves compelled to obey us in all things; they will not carry out +treasonable orders, or lend their hands to an act of crime. + +XXI. There are some things which the law neither enjoins nor +forbids; it is in these that a slave finds the means of bestowing +benefits. As long as we only receive what is generally demanded +from a slave, that is mere service; when more is given than a slave +need afford us, it is a benefit; as soon as what he does begins to +partake of the affection of a friend, it can no longer be called +service. There are certain things with which a master is bound to +provide his slave, such as food and clothing; no one calls this a +benefit; but supposing that he indulges his slave, educates him +above his station, teaches him arts which free-born men learn, that +is a benefit. The converse is true in the case of the slave; +anything which goes beyond the rules of a slave's duty, which is +done of his own free will, and not in obedience to orders, is a +benefit, provided it be of sufficient importance to be called by +such a name if bestowed by any other person. + +XXII. It has pleased Chrysippus to define a slave as "a hireling +for life." Just as a hireling bestows a benefit when he does more +than he engaged himself to do, so when a slave's love for his +master raises him above his condition and urges him to do something +noble--something which would be a credit even to men more fortunate +by birth--he surpasses the hopes of his master, and is a benefit +found in the house. Do you think it is just that we should be angry +with our slaves when they do less than their duty, and that we +should not be grateful to them when they do more? Do you wish to +know when their service is not a benefit? When the question can be +asked, "What if he had refused to do it?" When he does that which +he might have refused to do, we must praise his good will. Benefits +and wrongs are opposites; a slave can bestow a benefit upon his +master, if he can receive a wrong from his master. Now an official +has been appointed to hear complaints of the wrongs done by masters +to their slaves, whose duty it is to restrain cruelty and lust, or +avarice in providing them with the necessaries of life. What +follows, then? Is it the master who receives a benefit from his +slave? nay, rather, it is one man who receives it from another. +Lastly, he did all that lay in his power; he bestowed a benefit +upon his master; it lies in your power to receive or not to receive +it from a slave. Yet who is so exalted, that fortune may not make +him need the aid even of the lowliest? + +XXIII. I shall now quote a number of instances of benefits, not all +alike, some even contradictory. Some slaves have given their master +life, some death; have saved him when perishing, or, as if that +were not enough, have saved him by their own death; others have +helped their master to die, some have saved his life by stratagem. +Claudius Quadrigarius tells us in the eighteenth book of his +"Annals," that when Grumentum was being besieged, and had been +reduced to the greatest straits, two slaves deserted to the enemy, +and did valuable service. Afterwards, when the city was taken, and +the victors were rushing wildly in every direction, they ran before +every one else along the streets, which they well knew, to the +house in which they had been slaves, and drove their mistress +before them; when they were asked who she might be, they answered +that she was their mistress, and a most cruel one, and that they +were leading her away for punishment. They led her outside the +walls, and concealed her with the greatest care until the fighting +was over; then, as the soldiery, satisfied with the sack of the +city, quickly resumed the manners of Romans, they also returned to +their own countrymen, and themselves restored their mistress to +them. She manumitted each of them on the spot, and was not ashamed +to receive her life from men over whom she had held the power of +life and death. She might, indeed, especially congratulate herself +upon this; for had she been saved otherwise, she would merely have +received a common and hackneyed piece of kindness, whereas, by +being saved as she was, she became a glorious legend, and an +example to two cities. In the confusion of the captured city, when +every one was thinking only of his own safety, all deserted her +except these deserters; but they, that they might prove what had +been their intentions in effecting that desertion, deserted again +from the victors to the captive, wearing the masks of unnatural +murderers. + +They thought--and this was the greatest part of the service which +they rendered--they were content to seem to have murdered their +mistress, if thereby their mistress might be saved from murder. +Believe me, it is the mark of no slavish soul to purchase a noble +deed by the semblance of crime. + +When Vettius, the praetor of the Marsi, was being led into the +presence of the Roman general, his slave snatched a sword from the +soldier who was dragging him along, and first slew his master. Then +he said, "It is now time for me to look to myself; I have already +set my master free," and with these words transfixed himself with +one blow. Can you tell me of anyone who saved his master more +gloriously? + +XXIV. When Caesar was besieging Corfinium, Domitius, who was shut +up in the city, ordered a slave of his own, who was also a +physician, to give him poison. Observing the man's hesitation, he +said, "Why do you delay, as though the whole business was in your +power? I ask for death with arms in my hands." Then the slave +assented, and gave him a harmless drug to drink. When Domitius fell +asleep after drinking this, the slave went to his son, and said, +"Give orders for my being kept in custody until you learn from the +result whether I have given your father poison or no." Domitius +lived, and Caesar saved his life; but his slave had saved it +before. + +XXV. During the civil war, a slave hid his master, who had been +proscribed, put on his rings and clothes, met the soldiers who were +searching for him, and, after declaring that he would not stoop to +entreat them not to carry out their orders, offered his neck to +their swords. What a noble spirit it shows in a slave to have been +willing to die for his master, at a time when few were faithful +enough to wish their master to live! to be found kind when the +state was cruel, faithful when it was treacherous! to be eager for +the reward of fidelity, though it was death, at a time when such +rich rewards were offered for treachery! + +XXVI. I will not pass over the instances which our own age affords. +In the reign of Tiberius Caesar, there was a common and almost +universal frenzy for informing, which was more ruinous to the +citizens of Rome than the whole civil war; the talk of drunkards, +the frankness of jesters, was alike reported to the government; +nothing was safe; every opportunity of ferocious punishment was +seized, and men no longer waited to hear the fate of accused +persons, since it was always the same. One Paulus, of the +Praetorian guard, was at an entertainment, wearing a portrait of +Tiberius Caesar engraved in relief upon a gem. It would be absurd +for me to beat about the bush for some delicate way of explaining +that he took up a chamber-pot, an action which was at once noticed +by Maro, one of the most notorious informers of that time, and the +slave of the man who was about to fall into the trap, who drew the +ring from the finger of his drunken master. When Maro called the +guests to witness that Paulus had dishonoured the portrait of the +emperor, and was already drawing up an act of accusation, the slave +showed the ring upon his own finger. Such a man no more deserves to +be called a slave, than Maro deserved to be called a guest. + +XXVII. In the reign of Augustus men's own words were not yet able +to ruin them, yet they sometimes brought them into trouble. A +senator named Rufus, while at dinner, expressed a hope that Caesar +would not return safe from a journey for which he was preparing, +and added that all bulls and calves wished the same thing. Some of +those present carefully noted these words. At daybreak, the slave +who had stood at his feet during the dinner, told him what he had +said in his cups, and urged him to be the first to go to Caesar, +and denounce himself. Rufus followed this advice, met Caesar as he +was going down to the forum, and, swearing that he was out of his +mind the day before, prayed that what he had said might fall upon +his own head and that of his children; he then begged Caesar pardon +him, and to take him back into favour. When Caesar said that he +would do so, he added, "No one will believe that you have taken me +back into favour unless you make me a present of something;" and he +asked for and obtained a sum of money so large, that it would have +been a gift not to be slighted even if bestowed by an unoffended +prince. Caesar added: "In future I will take care never to quarrel +with you, for my own sake." Caesar acted honourably in pardoning +him, and in being liberal as well as forgiving; no one can hear +this anecdote without praising Caesar, but he must praise the slave +first. You need not wait for me to tell you that the slave who did +his master this service was set free; yet his master did not do +this for nothing, for Caesar had already paid him the price of the +slave's liberty. + +XXVIII. After so many instances, can we doubt that a master may +sometimes receive a benefit from a slave? Why need the person of +the giver detract from the thing which he gives? why should not the +gift add rather to the glory of the giver. All men descend from the +same original stock; no one is better born than another, except in +so far as his disposition is nobler and better suited for the +performance of good actions. Those who display portraits of their +ancestors in their halls, and set up in the entrance to their +houses the pedigree of their family drawn out at length, with many +complicated collateral branches, are they not notorious rather than +noble? The universe is the one parent of all, whether they trace +their descent from this primary source through a glorious or a mean +line of ancestors. Be not deceived when men who are reckoning up +their genealogy, wherever an illustrious name is wanting, foist in +that of a god in its place. You need despise no one, even though he +bears a commonplace name, and owes little to fortune. Whether your +immediate ancestors were freedmen, or slaves, or foreigners, pluck +up your spirits boldly, and leap over any intervening disgraces of +your pedigree; at its source, a noble origin awaits you. Why should +our pride inflate us to such a degree that we think it beneath us +to receive benefits from slaves, and think only of their position, +forgetting their good deeds? You, the slave of lust, of gluttony, +of a harlot, nay, who are owned as a joint chattel by harlots, can +you call anyone else a slave? Call a man a slave? why, I pray you, +whither are you being hurried by those bearers who carry your +litter? whither are these men with their smart military-looking +cloaks carrying you? is it not to the door of some door-keeper, or +to the gardens of some one who has not even a subordinate office? +and then you, who regard the salute of another man's slave as a +benefit, declare that you cannot receive a benefit from your own +slave. What inconsistency is this? At the same time you despise and +fawn upon slaves, you are haughty and violent at home, while out of +doors you are meek, and as much despised as you despise your +slaves; for none abase themselves lower than those who +unconscionably give themselves airs, nor are anymore prepared to +trample upon others than those who have learned how to offer +insults by having endured them. + +XXIX. I felt it my duty to say this, in order to crush the +arrogance of men who are themselves at the mercy of fortune, and to +claim the right of bestowing a benefit for slaves, in order that I +may claim it also for sons. The question arises, whether children +can ever bestow upon their parents greater benefits than those +which they have received from them. + +It is granted that many sons become greater and more powerful than +their parents, and also that they are better men. If this be true, +they may give better gifts to their fathers than they have received +from them, seeing that their fortune and their good nature are +alike greater than that of their father. "Whatever a father +receives from his son," our opponent will urge, "must in any case +be lees than what the son received from him, because the son owes +to his father the very power of giving. Therefore the father can +never be surpassed in the bestowal of benefits, because the benefit +which surpasses his own is really his." I answer, that some things +derive their first origin from others, yet are greater than those +others; and a thing may be greater than that from which it took its +rise, although without that thing to start from it never could have +grown so great. All things greatly outgrow their beginnings. Seeds +are the causes of all things, and yet are the smallest part of the +things which they produce. Look at the Rhine, or the Euphrates, or +any other famous rivers; how small they are, if you only view them +at the place from whence they take their rise? they gain all that +makes them terrible and renowned as they flow along. Look at the +trees which are tallest if you consider their height, and the +broadest if you look at their thickness and the spread of their +branches; compared with all this, how small a part of them is +contained in the slender fibres of the root? Yet take away their +roots, and no more groves will arise, nor great mountains be +clothed with trees. Temples and cities are supported by their +foundations; yet what is built as the foundation of the entire +building lies out of sight. So it is in other matters; the +subsequent greatness of a thing ever eclipses its origin. I could +never have obtained anything without having previously received the +boon of existence from my parents; yet it does not follow from this +that whatever I obtain is less than that without which I could not +obtain it. If my nurse had not fed me when I was a child, I should +not have been able to conduct any of those enterprises which I now +carry on, both with my head and with my hand, nor should I ever +have obtained the fame which is due to my labours both in peace and +war; would you on that account argue that the services of a nurse +were more valuable than the most important undertakings? Yet is not +the nurse as important as the father, since without the benefits +which I have received from each of them alike, I should have been +alike unable to effect anything? If I owe all that I now can do to +my original beginning, I cannot regard my father or my grandfather +as being this original beginning; there always will be a spring +further back, from which the spring next below is derived. Yet no +one will argue that I owe more to unknown and forgotten ancestors +than to my father; though really I do owe them more, if I owe it to +my ancestors that my father begat me. + +XXX. "Whatever I have bestowed upon my father," says my opponent, +"however great it may be, yet is less valuable than what my father +has bestowed upon me, because if he had not begotten me, it never +could have existed at all." By this mode of reasoning, if a man has +healed my father when ill, and at the point of death, I shall not +be able to bestow anything upon him equivalent to what I have +received from him; for had my father not been healed, he could not +have begotten me. Yet think whether it be not nearer the truth to +regard all that I can do, and all that I have done, as mine, due to +my own powers and my own will? Consider what the fact of my birth +is in itself; you will see that it is a small matter, the outcome +of which is dubious, and that it may lead equally to good or to +evil; no doubt it is the first step to everything, but because it +is the first, it is not on that account more important than all the +others. Suppose that I have saved my father's life, raised him to +the highest honours, and made him the chief man in his city, that I +have not merely made him illustrious by my own deeds, but have +furnished him himself with an opportunity of performing great +exploits, which is at once important, easy, and safe, as well as +glorious; that I have loaded him with appointments, wealth, and all +that attracts men's minds; still, even when I surpass all others, I +am inferior to him. Now if you say, "You owe to your father the +power of doing all this," I shall answer, "Quite true, if to do all +this it is only necessary to be born; but if life is merely an +unimportant factor in the art of living well, and if you have +bestowed upon me only that which I have in common with wild beasts +and the smallest, and some of the foulest of creatures, do not +claim for yourself what did not come into being in consequence of +the benefits which you bestowed, even though it could not have come +into being without them." + +XXXI. Suppose, father, that I have saved your life, in return for +the life which I received from you: in this case also I have +outdone your benefit, because I have given life to one who +understands what I have done, and because I understood what I was +doing, since I gave you your life not for the sake of, or by the +means of my own pleasure; for just as it is less terrible to die +before one has time to fear death, so it is a much greater boon to +preserve one's life than to receive it. I have given life to one +who will at once enjoy it, you gave it to one who knew not if he +should ever live; I have given life to one who was in fear of +death, your gift of life merely enables me to die; I have given you +a life complete, perfect; you begat me without intelligence, a +burden upon others. Do you wish to know how far from a benefit it +was to give life under such conditions? You should have exposed me +as a child, for you did me a wrong in begetting me. What do I +gather from this? That the cohabitation of a father and mother is +the very least of benefits to their child, unless in addition this +beginning of kindnesses be followed up by others, and confirmed by +other services. It is not a good thing to live, but to live well. +"But," say you, "I do live well." True, but I might have lived ill; +so that your part in me is merely this, that I live. If you claim +merit to yourself for giving me mere life, bare and helpless, and +boast of it as a great boon, reflect that this you claim merit for +giving me is a boon which I possess in common with flies and worms. +In the next place, if I say no more than that I have applied myself +to honourable pursuits, and have guided the course of my life along +the path of rectitude, then you have received more from your +benefit than you gave; for you gave me to myself ignorant and +unlearned, and I have returned to you a son such as you would wish +to have begotten. + +XXXII. My father supported me. If I repay this kindness, I give him +more than I received, because he has the pleasure, not only of +being supported, but of being supported by a son, and receives more +delight from my filial devotion than from the food itself, whereas +the food which he used to give me merely affected my body. What? if +any man rises so high as to become famous among nations for his +eloquence, his justice, or his military skill, if much of the +splendour of his renown is shed upon his father also, and by its +clear light dispels the obscurity of his birth, does not such a man +confer an inestimable benefit upon his parents? Would anyone have +heard of Aristo and Gryllus except through Xenophon and Plato, +their sons? Socrates keeps alive the memory of Sophroniscus. It +would take long to recount the other men whose names survive for no +other reason than that the admirable qualities of their sons have +handed them down to posterity. Did the father of Marcus Agrippa, of +whom nothing was known, even after Agrippa became famous, confer +the greater benefit upon his son, or was that greater which Agrippa +conferred upon his father when he gained the glory, unique in the +annals of war, of a naval crown, and when he raised so many vast +buildings in Rome, which not only surpassed all former grandeur, +but have been surpassed by none since? Did Octavius confer a +greater benefit upon his son, or the Emperor Augustus upon his +father, obscured as he was by the intervention of an adoptive +father? What joy would he have experienced, if, after the putting +down of the civil war, he had seen his son ruling the state in +peace and security? He would not have recognized the good which he +had himself bestowed, and would hardly have believed, when he +looked back upon himself, that so great a man could have been born +in his house. Why should I go on to speak of others who would now +be forgotten, if the glory of their sons had not raised them from +obscurity, and kept them in the light until this day? In the next +place, as we are not considering what son may have given back to +his father greater benefits than he received from him, but whether +a son can give back greater benefits, even if the examples which I +have quoted are not sufficient, and such benefits do not outweigh +the benefits bestowed by the parents, if no age has produced. an +actual example, still it is not in the nature of things impossible. +Though no solitary act can outweigh the deserts of a parent, yet +many such acts combined by one son may do so. + +XXXIII. Scipio, while under seventeen years of age, rode among the +enemy in battle, and saved his father's life. Was it not enough, +that in order to reach his father he despised so many dangers when +they were pressing hardest upon the greatest generals, that he, a +novice in his first battle, made his way through so many obstacles, +over the bodies of so many veteran soldiers, and showed strength +and courage beyond his years? Add to this, that he also defended +his father in court, and saved him from a plot of his powerful +enemies, that he heaped upon him a second and a third consulship +and other posts which were coveted even by consulars, that when his +father was poor he bestowed upon him the plunder which he took by +military licence, and that he made him rich with the spoils of the +enemy, which is the greatest honour of a soldier. If even this did +not repay his debt, add to it that he caused him to be constantly +employed in the government of provinces and in special commands, +add, that after he had destroyed the greatest cities, and became +without a rival either in the east or in the west, the acknowledged +protector and second founder of the Roman Empire, he bestowed upon +one who was already of noble birth the higher title of "the father +of Scipio;" can we doubt that the commonplace benefit of his birth +was outdone by his exemplary conduct, and by the valour which was +at once the glory and the protection of his country? Next, if this +be not enough, suppose that a son were to rescue his father from +the torture, or to undergo it in his stead. You can suppose the +benefits returned by the son as great as you please, whereas the +gift he received from his father was of one sort only, was easily +performed, and was a pleasure to the giver; that he must +necessarily have given the same thing to many others, even to some +to whom he knows not that he has given it, that he had a partner in +doing so, and that he had in view the law, patriotism, the rewards +bestowed upon fathers of families by the state, the maintenance of +his house and family: everything rather than him to whom he was +giving life. What? supposing that any one were to learn philosophy +and teach it to his father, could it be any longer disputed that +the son had given him something greater than he had received from +him, having returned to his father a happy life, whereas he had +received from him merely life? + +XXXIV. "But," says our opponent, "whatever you do, whatever you are +able to give to your father, is part of his benefit bestowed upon +you." So it is the benefit of my teacher that I have become +proficient in liberal studies; yet we pass on from those who taught +them to us, at any rate from those who taught us the alphabet; and +although no one can learn anything without them, yet it does not +follow that whatsoever success one subsequently obtains, one is +still inferior to those teachers. There is a great difference +between the beginning of a thing and its final development; the +beginning is not equal to the thing at its greatest, merely upon +the ground that, without the beginning, it could never have become +so great. + +XXXV. It is now time for me to bring forth something, so to speak, +from my own mint. So long as there is something better than the +benefit which a man bestows, he may be outdone. A father gives life +to his son; there is something better than life; therefore a father +may be outdone, because there is something better than the benefit +which he has bestowed. Still further, he who has given any one his +life, if he be more than once saved from peril of death by him, has +received a greater benefit than he bestowed. Now, a father has +given life to his son: if, therefore, he be more than once saved +from peril by his son, he can receive a greater benefit than he +gave. A benefit becomes greater to the receiver in proportion to +his need of it. Now he who is alive needs life more than he who has +not been born, seeing that such a one can have no need at all; +consequently a father, if his life is saved by his son, receives a +greater benefit than his son received from him by being born. It is +said, "The benefits conferred by fathers cannot be outdone by those +returned by their sons." Why? "Because the son received life from +his father, and had he not received it, he could not have returned +any benefits at all." A father has this in common with all those +who have given any men their lives; it is impossible that these men +could repay the debt if they had not received their life. Then I +suppose one cannot overpay one's debt to a physician, for a +physician gives life as well as a father; or to a sailor who has +saved us when shipwrecked? Yet the benefits bestowed by these and +by all the others who give us life in whatever fashion, can be +outdone: consequently those of our fathers can be outdone. If any +one bestows upon me a benefit which requires the help of benefits +from many other persons, whereas I give him what requires no one to +help it out, I have given more than I have received; now a father +gave to his son a life which, without many accessories to preserve +it, would perish; whereas a son, if he gives life to his father, +gives him a life which requires no assistance to make it lasting; +therefore the father who receives life from his son, receives a +greater benefit than he himself bestowed upon his son. + +XXXVI. These considerations do not destroy the respect due to +parents, or make their children behave worse to them, nay, better; +for virtue is naturally ambitious, and wishes to outstrip those who +are before it. Filial piety will be all the more eager, if, in +returning a father's benefits, it can hope to outdo them; nor will +this be against the will or the pleasure of the father, since in +many contests it is to our advantage to be outdone. How does this +contest become so desirable? How comes it to be such happiness to +parents that they should confess themselves outdone by the benefits +bestowed by their children? Unless we decide the matter thus, we +give children an excuse, and make them less eager to repay their +debt, whereas we ought to spur them on, saying, "Noble youths, give +your attention to this! You are invited to contend in an honourable +strife between parents and children, as to which party has received +more than it has given. Your fathers have not necessarily won the +day because they are first in the field: only take courage, as +befits you, and do not give up the contest; you will conquer if you +wish to do so. In this honourable warfare you will have no lack of +leaders who will encourage you to perform deeds like their own, and +bid you follow in their footsteps upon a path by which victory has +often before now been won over parents. + +XXXVII. AEneas conquered his father in well doing, for he himself +had been but a light and a safe burden for him when he was a child, +yet he bore his father, when heavy with age, through the midst of +the. enemy's lines and the crash of the city which was falling +around him, albeit the devout old man, who bore the sacred images +and the household gods in his hands, pressed him with more than his +own weight; nevertheless (what cannot filial piety accomplish!) +AEneas bore him safe through the blazing city, and placed him in +safety, to be worshipped as one of the founders of the Roman +Empire. Those Sicilian youths outdid their parents whom they bore +away safe, when Aetna, roused to unusual fury, poured fire over +cities and fields throughout a great part of the island. It is +believed that the fires parted, and that the flames retired on +either side, so as to leave a passage for these youths to pass +through, who certainly deserved to perform their daring task in +safety. Antigonus outdid his father when, after having conquered +the enemy in a great battle, he transferred the fruits of it to +him, and handed over to him the empire of Cyprus. This is true +kingship, to choose not to be a king when you might. Manlius +conquered his father, imperious [Footnote: There is an allusion to +the surname of both the father and the son, "Imperiosus" given them +on account of their severity.] though he was, when, in spite of his +having previously been banished for a time by his father on, +account of his dulness and stupidity as a boy, he came to an +interview which he had demanded with the tribune of the people, who +had filed an action against his father. The tribune had granted him +the interview, hoping that he would betray his hated father, and +believed that he had earned the gratitude of the youth, having, +amongst other matters, reproached old Manlius with sending him into +exile, treating it as a very serious accusation; but the youth, +having caught him alone, drew a sword which he had hidden in his +robe, and said, "Unless you swear to give up your suit against my +father, I will run you through with this sword. It is in your power +to decide how my father shall be freed from his prosecutor." The +tribune swore, and kept his oath; he related the reason of his +abandonment of his action to an assembly at the Rostra. No other +man was ever permitted to put down a tribune with impunity. + +XXXVIII. There are instances without number of men who have saved +their parents from danger, have raised them from the lowest to the +highest station, and, taking them from the nameless mass of the +lower classes, have given them a name glorious throughout all ages. +By no force of words, by no power of genius, can one rightly +express how desirable, how admirable, how never to be erased from +human memory it is to be able to say, "I obeyed my parents, I gave +way to them, I was submissive to their authority whether it was +just, or unjust and harsh; the only point in which I resisted them +was, not to be conquered by them in benefits." Continue this +struggle, I beg of you, and even though weary, yet re-form your +ranks. Happy are they who conquer, happy they who are conquered. +What can be more glorious than the youth who can say to himself--it +would not be right to say it to another--"I have conquered my +father with benefits"? What is more fortunate than that old man who +declares everywhere to everyone that he has been conquered in +benefits by his son? What, again, is more blissful than to be +overcome in such a contest?" + + + + +BOOK IV. + +I. + + +Of all the matters which we have discussed, Aebutius Liberalis, +there is none more essential, or which, as Sallust says, ought to +be stated with more care than that which is now before us: whether +the bestowal of benefits and the return of gratitude for them are +desirable objects in themselves. Some men are found who act +honourably from commercial motives, and who do not care for +unrewarded virtue, though it can confer no glory if it brings any +profit. What can be more base than for a man to consider what it +costs him to be a good man, when virtue neither allures by gain nor +deters by loss, and is so far from bribing any one with hopes and +promises, that on the other hand she bids them spend money upon +herself, and often consists in voluntary gifts? We must go to her, +trampling what is merely useful under our feet: whithersoever she +may call us or send us we must go, without any regard for our +private fortunes, sometimes without sparing even our own blood, nor +must we ever refuse to obey any of her commands. "What shall I +gain," says my opponent, "if I do this bravely and gratefully?" You +will gain the doing of it--the deed itself is your gain. Nothing +beyond this is promised. If any advantage chances to accrue to you, +count it as something extra. The reward of honourable dealings lies +in themselves. If honour is to be sought after for itself, since a +benefit is honourable, it follows that because both of these are of +the same nature, their conditions must also be the same. Now it has +frequently and satisfactorily been proved, that honour ought to be +sought after for itself alone. + +II. In this part of the subject we oppose the Epicureans, an +effeminate and dreamy sect who philosophize in their own paradise, +amongst whom virtue is the handmaid of pleasures, obeys them, is +subject to them, and regards them as superior to itself. You say, +"there is no pleasure without virtue." But wherefore is it superior +to virtue? Do you imagine that the matter in dispute between them +is merely one of precedence? Nay, it is virtue itself and its +powers which are in question. It cannot be virtue if it can follow; +the place of virtue is first, she ought to lead, to command, to +stand in the highest rank; you bid her look for a cue to follow. +"What," asks our opponent, "does that matter to you? I also declare +that happiness is impossible without virtue. Without virtue I +disapprove of and condemn the very pleasures which I pursue, and to +which I have surrendered myself. The only matter in dispute is +this, whether virtue be the cause of the highest good, or whether +it be itself the highest good." Do you suppose, though this be the +only point in question, that it is a mere matter of precedence? It +is a confusion and obvious blindness to prefer the last to the +first. I am not angry at virtue being placed below pleasure, but at +her being mixed up at all with pleasure, which she despises, whose +enemy she is, and from which she separates herself as far as +possible, being more at home with labour and sorrow, which are +manly troubles, than with your womanish good things. + +III. It was necessary to insert this argument, my Liberalis, +because it is the part of virtue to bestow those benefits which we +are now discussing, and it is most disgraceful to bestow benefits +for any other purpose than that they should be free gifts. If we +give with the hope of receiving a return, we should give to the +richest men, not to the most deserving: whereas we prefer a +virtuous poor man to an unmannerly rich one. That is not a benefit, +which takes into consideration the fortune of the receiver. +Moreover, if our only motive for benefiting others was our own +advantage, those who could most easily distribute benefits, such as +rich and powerful men, or kings, and persons who do not stand in +need of the help of others, ought never to do so at all; the gods +would not bestow upon us the countless blessings which they pour +upon us unceasingly by night and by day, for their own nature +suffices them in all respects, and renders them complete, safe, and +beyond the reach of harm; they will, therefore, never bestow a +benefit upon any one, if self and self interest be the only cause +for the bestowal of benefits. To take thought, not where your +benefit will be best bestowed, but where it may be most profitably +placed at interest, from whence you will most easily get it back, +is not bestowal of benefits, but usury. Now the gods have nothing +to do with usury; it follows, therefore, that they cannot be +liberal; for if the only reason for giving is the advantage of the +giver, since God cannot hope to receive any advantages from us, +there is no cause why God should give anything. + +IV. I know what answer may be made to this. "True; therefore God +does not bestow benefits, but, free from care and unmindful of us, +He turns away from our world and either does something else, or +else does nothing, which Epicurus thought the greatest possible +happiness, and He is not affected either by benefits or by +injuries." The man who says this cannot surely hear the voices of +worshippers, and of those who all around him are raising their +hands to heaven and praying for the success both of their private +affairs and those of the state; which certainly would not be the +case, all men would not agree in this madness of appealing to deaf +and helpless gods, unless we knew that their benefits are sometimes +bestowed upon us unasked, sometimes in answer to our prayers, and +that they give us both great and seasonable gifts, which shield us +from the most terrible dangers. Who is there so poor, so uncared +for, born to sorrow by so unkind a fate, as never to have felt the +vast generosity of the Gods? Look even at those who complain and +are discontented with their lot; you will find that they are not +altogether without a share in the bounty of heaven, that there is +no one upon whom something has not been shed from that most +gracious fount. Is the gift which is bestowed upon all alike, at +their birth, not enough? However unequally the blessings of after +life may be dealt out to us, did nature give us too little when she +gave us herself? + +V. It is said, "God does not bestow benefits." Whence, then, comes +all that you possess, that you give or refuse to give, that you +hoard or steal? whence come these innumerable delights of our eyes, +our ears, and our minds? whence the plenty which provides us even +with luxury--for it is not our bare necessities alone against which +provision is made; we are loved so much as actually to be pampered-- +whence so many trees bearing various fruits, so many wholesome +herbs, so many different sorts of food distributed throughout the +year, so that even the slothful may find sustenance in the chance +produce of the earth? Then, too, whence come the living creatures +of all kinds, some inhabiting the dry land, others the waters, +others alighting from the sky, that every part of nature may pay us +some tribute; the rivers which encircle our meadows with most +beauteous bends, the others which afford a passage to merchant +fleets as they flow on, wide and navigable, some of which in summer +time are subject to extraordinary overflowings in order that lands +lying parched under a glowing sun may suddenly be watered by the +rush of a midsummer torrent? + +What of the fountains of medicinal waters? What of the bursting +forth of warm waters upon the seashore itself? Shall I + + "Tell of the seas round Italy that flow, + Which laves her shore above, and which below; + Or of her lakes, unrivalled Larius, thee, + Or thee, Benacus, roaring like a sea?" + +VI. If any one gave you a few acres, you would say that you had +received a benefit; can you deny that the boundless extent of the +earth is a benefit? If any one gave you money, and filled your +chest, since you think that so important, you would call that a +benefit. God has buried countless mines in the earth, has poured +out from the earth countless rivers, rolling sands of gold; He has +concealed in every place huge masses of silver, copper and iron, +and has bestowed upon you the means of discovering them, placing +upon the surface of the earth signs of the treasures hidden below; +and yet do you say that you have received no benefit? If a house +were given you, bright with marble, its roof beautifully painted +with colours and gilding, you would call it no small benefit. God +has built for you a huge mansion that fears no fire or ruin, in +which you see no flimsy veneers, thinner than the very saw with +which they are cut, but vast blocks of most precious stone, all +composed of those various and different substances whose paltriest +fragments you admire so much; he has built a roof which glitters in +one fashion by day, and in another by night; and yet do you say +that you have received no benefit? When you so greatly prize what +you possess, do you act the part of an ungrateful man, and think +that there is no one to whom you are indebted for them? Whence +comes the breath which you draw? the light by which you arrange and +perform all the actions of your life? the blood by whose +circulation your vital warmth is maintained? those meats which +excite your palate by their delicate flavour after your hunger is +appeased? those provocatives which rouse you when wearied with +pleasure? that repose in which you are rotting and mouldering? Will +you not, if you are grateful, say-- + + "'Tis to a god that this repose I owe, + For him I worship, as a god below. + Oft on his altar shall my firstlings bleed, + See, by his bounty here with rustic reed + I play the airs I love the livelong day, + The while my oxen round about me stray." + +The true God is he who has placed, not a few oxen, but all the +herds on their pastures throughout the world; who furnishes food to +the flocks wherever they wander; who has ordained the alternation +of summer and winter pasturage, and has taught us not merely to +play upon a reed, and to reduce to some order a rustic and artless +song, but who has invented so many arts and varieties of voice, so +many notes to make music, some with our own breath, some with +instruments. You cannot call our inventions our own any more than +you call our growth our own, or the various bodily functions which +correspond to each stage of our lives; at one time comes the loss +of childhood's teeth, at another, when our age is advancing and +growing into robuster manhood, puberty and the last wisdom-tooth +marks the end of our youth. "We have implanted in us the seeds of +all ages, of all arts, and God our master brings forth our +intellects from obscurity. + +VII. "Nature," says my opponent, "gives me all this." Do you not +perceive when you say this that you merely speak of God under +another name? for what is nature but God and divine reason, which +pervades the universe and all its parts? You may address the author +of our world by as many different titles as you please; you may +rightly call him Jupiter, Best and Greatest, and the Thunderer, or +the Stayer, so called, not because, as the historians tell us, he +stayed the flight of the Roman army in answer to the prayer of +Romulus, but because all things continue in their stay through his +goodness. If you were to call this same personage Fate, you would +not lie; for since fate is nothing more than a connected chain of +causes, he is the first cause of all upon which all the rest +depend. You will also be right in applying to him any names that +you please which express supernatural strength and power: he may +have as many titles as he has attributes. + +VIII. Our school regards him as Father Liber, and Hercules, and +Mercurius: he is Father Liber because he is the parent of all, who +first discovered the power of seed, and our being led by pleasure +to plant it; he is Hercules, because his might is unconquered, and +when it is wearied after completing its labours, will retire into +fire; he is Mercurius, because in him is reasoning, and numbers, +and system, and knowledge. Whither-soever you turn yourself you +will see him meeting you: nothing is void of him, he himself fills +his own work. Therefore, most ungrateful of mortals, it is in vain +that you declare yourself indebted, not to God, but to nature, +because there can be no God without nature, nor any nature without +God; they are both the same thing, differing only in their +functions. If you were to say that you owe to Annaeus or to Lucius +what you received from Seneca, you would not change your creditor, +but only his name, because he remains the same man whether you use +his first, second, or third name. So whether you speak of nature, +fate, or fortune, these are all names of the same God, using his +power in different ways. So likewise justice, honesty, discretion, +courage, frugality, are all the good qualities of one and the same +mind; if you are pleased with any one of these, you are pleased +with that mind. + +IX. However, not to drift aside into a distinct controversy, God +bestows upon us very many and very great benefits without hope of +receiving any return; since he does not require any offering from +us, and we are not capable of bestowing anything upon him: +wherefore, a benefit is desirable in itself. In it the advantage of +the receiver is all that is taken into consideration: we study this +without regarding our own interests. "Yet," argues our opponent, +"you say that we ought to choose with care the persons upon whom we +bestow benefits, because neither do husbandmen sow seed in the +sand: now if this be true, we follow our own interest in bestowing +benefits, just as much as in ploughing and sowing: for sowing is +not desirable in itself. Besides this you inquire where and how you +ought to bestow a benefit, which would not need to be done if the +bestowal of a benefit was desirable in itself: because in whatever +place and whatever manner it might be bestowed, it still would be +a benefit." We seek to do honourable acts, solely because they are +honourable; yet even though we need think of nothing else, we +consider to whom we shall do them, and when, and how; for in these +points the act has its being. In like manner, when I choose upon +whom I shall bestow a benefit, and when I aim at making it a +benefit; because if it were bestowed upon a base person, it could +neither be a benefit nor an honourable action. + +X. To restore what has been entrusted to one is desirable in +itself; yet I shall not always restore it, nor shall I do so in any +place or at any time you please. Sometimes it makes no difference +whether I deny that I have received it, or return it openly. I +shall consider the interests of the person to whom I am to return +it, and shall deny that I have received a deposit, which would +injure him if returned. I shall act in the same manner in bestowing +a benefit: I shall consider when to give it, to whom, in what +manner, and on what grounds. Nothing ought to be done without a +reason: a benefit is not truly so, if it be bestowed without a +reason, since reason accompanies all honorable action. How often do +we hear men reproaching themselves for some thoughtless gift, and +saying, "I had rather have thrown it away than have given it to +him!" What is thoughtlessly given away is lost in the most +discreditable manner, and it is much worse to have bestowed a +benefit badly than to have received no return for it; that we +receive no return is the fault of another; that we did not choose +upon whom we should bestow it, is our own. In choosing a fit +person, I shall not, as you expect, pay the least attention to +whether I am likely to get any return from him, for I choose one +who will be grateful, not one who will return my goodness, and it +often happens that the man who makes no return is grateful, while +he who returns a benefit is ungrateful for it. I value men by their +hearts alone, and, therefore, I shall pass over a rich man if he be +unworthy, and give to a good man though he be poor; for he will be +grateful however destitute he may be, since whatever he may lose, +his heart will still be left him. + +XI. I do not fish for gain, for pleasure, or for credit, by +bestowing benefits: satisfied in doing so with pleasing one man +alone, I shall give in order to do my duty. Duty, however, leaves +one some choice; do you ask me, how I am to choose? I shall choose +an honest, plain, man, with a good memory, and grateful for +kindness; one who keeps his hands off other men's goods, yet does +not greedily hold to his own, and who is kind to others; when I +have chosen such a man, I shall have acted to my mind, although +fortune may have bestowed upon him no means of returning my +kindness. If my own advantage and mean calculation made me liberal, +if I did no one any service except in order that he might in turn +do a service to me, I should never bestow a benefit upon one who +was setting out for distant and foreign countries, never to return; +I should not bestow a benefit upon one who was so ill as to be past +hope of recovery, nor should I do so when I myself was failing, +because I should not live long enough to receive any return. Yet, +that you may know that to do good is desirable in itself, we afford +help to strangers who put into our harbour only to leave it +straightway; we give a ship and fit it out for a shipwrecked +stranger to sail back in to his own country. He leaves us hardly +knowing who it was who saved him, and, as he will never return to +our presence, he hands over his debt of gratitude to the gods, and +beseeches them to fulfil it for him: in the meanwhile we rejoice in +the barren knowledge that we have done a good action. What? when we +stand upon the extreme verge of life, and make our wills, do we not +assign to others benefits from which we ourselves shall receive no +advantage? How much time we waste, how long we consider in secret +how much property we are to leave, and to whom! What then? does it +make any difference to us to whom we leave our property, seeing +that we cannot expect any return from any one? Yet we never give +anything with more care, we never take such pains in deciding upon +our verdict, as when, without any views of personal advantage, we +think only of what is honourable, for we are bad judges of our duty +as long as our view of it is distorted by hope and fear, and that +most indolent of vices, pleasure: but when death has shut off all +these, and brought us as incorrupt judges to pronounce sentence, we +seek for the most worthy men to leave our property to, and we never +take more scrupulous care than in deciding what is to be done with +what does not concern us. Yet, by Hercules, then there steals over +us a great satisfaction as we think, "I shall make this man richer, +and by bestowing wealth upon that man I shall add lustre to his +high position." Indeed, if we never give without expecting some +return, we must all die without making our wills. + +XII. It may be said, "You define a benefit as a loan which cannot +be repaid: now a loan is not a desirable thing in itself." When we +speak of a loan, we make use of a figure, or comparison, just as we +speak of law as; the standard of right and wrong, although a +standard is not a thing to be desired for its own sake. I have +adopted this phrase in order to illustrate my subject: when I speak +of a loan, I must be understood to mean something resembling a +loan. Do you wish to know how it differs from one? I add the words +"which cannot be repaid," whereas every loan both can and ought to +be repaid. It is so far from being right to bestow a benefit for +one's own advantage, that often, as I have explained, it is one's +duty to bestow it when it involves one's own loss and risk: for +instance, if I assist a man when beset by robbers, so that he gets +away from them safely, or help some victim of power, and bring upon +myself the party spite of a body of influential men, very, probably +incurring myself the same disgrace from which I saved him, although +I might have taken the other side, and looked on with safety at +struggles with which I have nothing to do: if I were to give bail +for one who has been condemned, and when my friend's goods were +advertised for sale I were to give a bond to the effect that I +would make restitution to the creditors, if, in order to save a +proscribed person I myself run the risk of being proscribed. No +one, when about to buy a villa at Tusculum or Tibur, for a summer +retreat, because of the health of the locality, considers how many +years' purchase he gives for it; this must be looked to by the man +who makes a profit by it. The same is true with benefits; when you +ask what return I get for them, I answer, the consciousness of a +good action. "What return does one get for benefits?" Pray tell me +what return one gets for righteousness, innocence, magnanimity, +chastity, temperance? If you wish for anything beyond these +virtues, you do not wish for the virtues themselves. For what does +the order of the universe bring round the seasons? for what does +the sun make the day now longer and now shorter? all these things +are benefits, for they take place for our good. As it is the duty +of the universe to maintain the round of the seasons, as it is the +duty of the sun to vary the points of his rising and setting, and +to do all these things by which we profit, without any reward, so +is it the duty of man, amongst other things, to bestow benefits. +Wherefore then does he give? He gives for fear that he should not +give, lest he might lose an opportunity of doing a good action. + +XIII. You Epicureans take pleasure in making a study of dull +torpidity, in seeking for a repose which differs little from sound +sleep, in lurking beneath the thickest shade, in amusing with the +feeblest possible trains of thought that sluggish condition of your +languid minds which you term tranquil contemplation, and in +stuffing with food and drink, in the recesses of your gardens, your +bodies which are pallid with want of exercise; we Stoics, on the +other hand, take pleasure in bestowing benefits, even though they +cost us labour, provided that they lighten the labours of others; +though they lead us into danger, provided that they save others, +though they straiten our means, if they alleviate the poverty and +distresses of others. What difference does it make to me whether I +receive benefits or not? even if I receive them, it is still my +duty to bestow them. A benefit has in view the advantage of him +upon whom we bestow it, not our own; otherwise we merely bestow it +upon ourselves. Many things, therefore, which are of the greatest +possible use to others lose all claim to gratitude by being paid +for. Merchants are of use to cities, physicians to invalids, +dealers to slaves; yet all these have no claim to the gratitude of +those whom they benefit, because they seek their own advantage +through that of others. That which is bestowed with a view to +profit is not a benefit. "I will give this in order that I may get +a return for it" is the language of a broker. + +XIV. I should not call a woman modest, if she rebuffed her lover in +order to increase his passion, or because she feared the law or her +husband; as Ovid says: + + "She that denies, because she does not dare + To yield, in spirit grants her lover's prayer." + +Indeed, the woman who owes her chastity, not to her own virtue, but +to fear, may rightly be classed as a sinner. In the same manner, he +who merely gave in order that he might receive, cannot be said to +have given. Pray, do we bestow benefits upon animals when we feed +them for our use or for our table? do we bestow benefits upon trees +when we tend them that they may not suffer from drought or from +hardness of ground? No one is moved by righteousness and goodness +of heart to cultivate an estate, or to do any act in which the +reward is something apart from the act itself; but he is moved to +bestow benefits, not by low and grasping motives, but by a kind and +generous mind, which even after it has given is willing to give +again, to renew its former bounties by fresh ones, which thinks +only of how much good it can do the man to whom it gives; whereas +to do any one a service because it is our interest to do so is a +mean action, which deserves no praise, no credit. What grandeur is +there in loving oneself, sparing oneself, gaining profit for +oneself? The true love of giving calls us away from all this, +forcibly leads us to put up with loss, and foregoes its own +interest, deriving its greatest pleasure from the mere act of doing +good. + +XV. Can we doubt that the converse of a benefit is an injury? As +the infliction of injuries is a thing to be avoided, so is the +bestowal of benefits to be desired for its own sake. In the former, +the disgrace of crime outweighs all the advantages which incite us +to commit it; while we are urged to the latter course by the +appearance of honour, in itself a powerful incentive to action, +which attends it. + +I should not lie if I were to affirm that every one takes pleasure +in the benefits which he has bestowed, that everyone loves best to +see the man whom he has most largely benefited. Who does not thinks +that to have bestowed one benefit is a reason for bestowing a +second? and would this be so, if the act of giving did not itself +give us pleasure? How often you may hear a man say, "I cannot bear +to desert one whose life I have preserved, whom I have saved from +danger. True, he asks me to plead his cause against men of great +influence. I do not wish to do so, yet what am I to do? I have +already helped him once, nay twice." Do you not perceive how very +powerful this instinct must be, if it leads us to bestow benefits +first because it is right to do so, and afterwards because we have +already bestowed somewhat? Though at the outset a man may have had +no claim upon us, we yet continue to give to him because we have +already given to him. So untrue is it that we are urged to bestow +benefits by our own interest, that even when our benefits prove +failures we continue to nurse them and encourage them out of sheer +love of benefiting, which has a natural weakness even for what has +been ill-bestowed, like that which we feel for our vicious +children. + +XVI. These same adversaries of ours admit that they are grateful, +yet not because it is honourable, but because it is profitable to +be so. This can be proved to be untrue all the more easily, because +it can be established by the same arguments by which we have +established that to bestow a benefit is desirable for its own sake. +All our arguments start from this settled point, that honour is +pursued for no reason except because it is honour. Now, who will +venture to raise the question whether it be honourable to be +grateful? who does not loathe the ungrateful man, useless as he is +even to himself? How do you feel when any one is spoken of as being +ungrateful for great benefits conferred upon him by a friend? Is it +as though he had done something base, or had merely neglected to do +something useful and likely to be profitable to himself? I imagine +that you think him a bad man, and one who deserves punishment, not +one who needs a guardian; and this would not be the case, unless +gratitude were desirable in itself and honourable. Other qualities, +it may be, manifest their importance less clearly, and require an +explanation to prove whether they be honourable or no; this is +openly proved to be so in the sight of all, and is too beautiful +for anything to obscure or dim its glory. What is more +praiseworthy, upon what are all men more universally agreed, than +to return gratitude for good offices? + +XVII. Pray tell me, what is it that urges us to do so? Is it +profit? Why, unless a man despises profit, he is not grateful. Is +it ambition? why, what is there to boast of in having paid what you +owe? Is it fear? The ungrateful man feels none, for against this +one crime we have provided no law, as though nature had taken +sufficient precautions against it. Just as there is no law which +bids parents love and indulge their children, seeing that it is +superfluous to force us into the path which we naturally take, just +as no one needs to be urged to love himself, since self-love begins +to act upon him as soon as he is born, so there is no law bidding +us to seek that which is honourable in itself; for such things +please us by their very nature, and so attractive is virtue that +the disposition even of bad men leads them to approve of good +rather than of evil. Who is there who does not wish to appear +beneficent, who does not even when steeped in crime and wrong-doing +strive after the appearance of goodness, does not put some show of +justice upon even his most intemperate acts, and endeavour to seem +to have conferred a benefit even upon those whom he has injured? +Consequently, men allow themselves to be thanked by those whom they +have ruined, and pretend to be good and generous, because they +cannot prove themselves so; and this they never would do were it +not that a love of honour for its own sake forces them to seek a +reputation quite at variance with their real character, and to +conceal their baseness, a quality whose fruits we covet, though we +regard it itself with dislike and shame. No one has ever so far +rebelled against the laws of nature and put off human feeling as to +act basely for mere amusement. Ask any of those who live by robbery +whether he would not rather obtain what he steals and plunders by +honest means; the man whose trade is highway robbery and the murder +of travellers would rather find his booty than take it by force; +you will find no one who would not prefer to enjoy the fruits of +wickedness without acting wickedly. Nature bestows upon us all this +immense advantage, that the light of virtue shines into the minds +of all alike; even those who do not follow her, behold her. + +XVIII. A proof that gratitude is desirable for itself lies in the +fact that ingratitude is to be avoided for itself, because no vice +more powerfully rends asunder and destroys the union of the human +race. To what do we trust for safety, if not in mutual good offices +one to another? It is by the interchange of benefits alone that we +gain some measure of protection for our lives, and of safety +against sudden disasters. Taken singly, what should we be? a prey +and quarry for wild beasts, a luscious and easy banquet; for while +all other animals have sufficient strength to protect themselves, +and those which are born to a wandering solitary life are armed, +man is covered by a soft skin, has no powerful teeth or claws with +which to terrify other creatures, but weak and naked by himself is +made strong by union. + +God has bestowed upon him two gifts, reason and union, which raise +him from weakness to the highest power; and so he, who if taken +alone would be inferior to every other creature, possesses supreme +dominion. Union has given him sovereignty over all animals; union +has enabled a being born upon the earth to assume power over a +foreign element, and bids him be lord of the sea also; it is union +which has checked the inroads of disease, provided supports for our +old age, and given us relief from pain; it is union which makes us +strong, and to which we look for protection against the caprices of +fortune. Take away union, and you will rend asunder the association +by which the human race preserves its existence; yet you will take +it away if you succeed in proving that ingratitude is not to be +avoided for itself, but because something is to be feared for it; +for how many are there who can with safety be ungrateful? In fine, +I call every man ungrateful who is merely made grateful by fear. + +XIX. No sane man fears the gods; for it is madness to fear what is +beneficial, and no man loves those whom he fears. You, Epicurus, +ended by making God unarmed; you stripped him of all weapons, of +all power, and, lest anyone should fear him, you banished him out +of the world. There is no reason why you should fear this being, +cut off as he is, and separated from the sight and touch of mortals +by a vast and impassable wall; he has no power either of rewarding +or of injuring us; he dwells alone half-way between our heaven and +that of another world, without the society either of animals, of +men, or of matter, avoiding the crash of worlds as they fall in +ruins above and around him, but neither hearing our prayers nor +interested in us. Yet you wish to seem to worship this being just +as a father, with a mind, I suppose, full of gratitude; or, if you +do not wish to seem grateful, why should you worship him, since you +have received no benefit from him, but have been put together +entirely at random and by chance by those atoms and mites of yours? +"I worship him," you answer, "because of his glorious majesty and +his unique nature." Granting that you do this, you clearly do it +without the attraction of any reward, or any hope; there is +therefore something which is desirable for itself, whose own worth +attracts you, that is, honour. Now what is more honourable than +gratitude? the means of practising this virtue are as extensive as +life itself. + +XX. "Yet," argues he, "there is also a certain amount of profit +inherent in this virtue." In what virtue is there not? But that +which we speak of as desirable for itself is such, that although it +may possess some attendant advantages, yet it would be desirable +even if stripped of all these. It is profitable to be grateful; yet +I will be grateful even though it harm me. What is the aim of the +grateful man? is it that his gratitude may win for him more friends +and more benefits? What then? If a man is likely to meet with +affronts by showing his gratitude, if he knows that far from +gaining anything by it, he must lose much even of what he has +already acquired, will he not cheerfully act to his own +disadvantage? That man is ungrateful who, in returning a kindness, +looks forward to a second gift--who hopes while he repays. I call +him ungrateful who sits at the bedside of a sick man because he is +about to make a will, when he is at leisure to think of +inheritances and legacies. Though he may do everything which a good +and dutiful friend ought to do, yet, if any hope of gain be +floating in his mind, he is a mere legacy-hunter, and is angling +for an inheritance. Like the birds which feed upon carcases, which +come close to animals weakened by disease, and watch till they +fall, so these men are attracted by death and hover around a +corpse. + +XXI. A grateful mind is attracted only by a sense of the beauty of +its purpose. Do you wish to know this to be so, and that it is not +bribed by ideas of profit? There are two classes of grateful men: a +man is called grateful who has made some return for what he +received; this man may very possibly display himself in this +character, he has something to boast of, to refer to. We also call +a man grateful who receives a benefit with goodwill, and owes it to +his benefactor with goodwill; yet this man's gratitude lies +concealed within his own mind. What profit can accrue to him from +this latent feeling? yet this man, even though he is not able to do +anything more than this, is grateful; he loves his benefactor, he +feels his debt to him, he longs to repay his kindness; whatever +else you may find wanting, there is nothing wanting in the man. He +is like a workman who has not the tools necessary for the practice +of his craft, or like a trained singer whose voice cannot be heard +through the noise of those who interrupt him. I wish to repay a +kindness: after this there still remains something for me to do, +not in order that I may become grateful, but that I may discharge +my debt; for, in many cases, he who returns a kindness is +ungrateful for it, and he who does not return it is grateful. Like +all other virtues, the whole value of gratitude lies in the spirit +in which it is done; so, if this man's purpose be loyal, any +shortcomings on his part are due not to himself, but to fortune. A +man who is silent may, nevertheless, be eloquent; his hands may be +folded or even bound, and he may yet be strong; just as a pilot is +a pilot even when upon dry land, because his knowledge is complete, +and there is nothing wanting to it, though there may be obstacles +which prevent his making use of it. In the same way, a man is +grateful who only wishes to be so, and who has no one but himself +who can bear witness to his frame of mind. I will go even further +than this: a man sometimes is grateful when he appears to be +ungrateful, when ill-judging report has declared him to be so. Such +a man can look to nothing but his own conscience, which can please +him even when overwhelmed by calumny, which contradicts the mob and +common rumour, relies only upon itself, and though it beholds a +vast crowd of the other way of thinking opposed to it, does not +count heads, but wins by its own vote alone. Should it see its own +good faith meet with the punishment due to treachery, it will not +descend from its pedestal, and will remain superior to its +punishment. "I have," it says, "what I wished, what I strove for. I +do not regret it, nor shall I do so; nor shall fortune, however +unjust she may be, ever hear me say, 'What did I want? What now is +the use of having meant well?'" A good conscience is of value on +the rack, or in the fire; though fire be applied to each of our +limbs, gradually encircle our living bodies, and burst our heart, +yet if our heart be filled with a good conscience, it will rejoice +in the fire which will make its good faith shine before the world. + +XXII. Now let that question also which has been already stated be +again brought forward; Why is it that we should wish to be grateful +when we are dying, that we should carefully weigh the various +services rendered us by different individuals, and carefully review +our whole life, that we may not seem to have forgotten any +kindness? Nothing then remains for us to hope for; yet when on the +very threshold, we wish to depart from human life as full of +gratitude as possible. There is in truth an immense reward for this +thing merely in doing it, and what is honourable has great power to +attract men's minds, which are overwhelmed by its beauty and +carried off their balance, enchanted by its brilliancy and +splendour. "Yet," argues our adversary, "from it many advantages +take their rise, and good men obtain a safer life and love, and the +good opinion of the better class, while their days are spent in +greater security when accompanied by innocence and gratitude." + +Indeed, nature would have been most unjust had she rendered this +great blessing miserable, uncertain, and fruitless. But consider +this point, whether you would make your way to that virtue, to +which it is generally safe and easy to attain, even though the path +lay over rocks and precipices, and were beset with fierce beasts +and venomous serpents. A virtue is none the less to be desired for +its own sake, because it has some adventitious profit connected +with it: indeed, in most cases the noblest virtues are accompanied +by many extraneous advantages, but it is the virtues that lead the +way, and these merely follow in their train. + +XXIII. Can we doubt that the climate of this abode of the human +race is regulated by the motion of the sun and moon in their +orbits? that our bodies are sustained, the hard earth loosened, +excessive moisture reduced, and the surly bonds of winter broken by +the heat of the one, and that crops are brought to ripeness by the +effectual all-pervading warmth of the other? that the fertility of +the human race corresponds to the courses of the moon? that the sun +by its revolution marks out the year, and that the moon, moving in +a smaller orbit, marks out the months? Yet, setting aside all this, +would not the sun be a sight worthy to be contemplated and +worshipped, if he did no more than rise and set? would not the moon +be worth looking at, even if it passed uselessly through the +heavens? Whose attention is not arrested by the universe itself, +when by night it pours forth its fires and glitters with +innumerable stars? Who, while he admires them, thinks of their +being of use to him? Look at that great company gliding over our +heads, how they conceal their swift motion under the semblance of a +fixed and immovable work. How much takes place in that night which +you make use of merely to mark and count your days! What a mass of +events is being prepared in that silence! What a chain of destiny +their unerring path is forming! Those which you imagine to be +merely strewn about for ornament are really one and all at work. +Nor is there any ground for your belief that only seven stars +revolve, and that the rest remain still: we understand the orbits +of a few, but countless divinities, further removed from our sight, +come and go; while the greater part of those whom our sight reaches +move in a mysterious manner and by an unknown path. + +XXIV. What then? would you not be captivated by the sight of such a +stupendous work, even though it did not cover you, protect you, +cherish you, bring you into existence and penetrate you with its +spirit? Though these heavenly bodies are of the very first +importance to us, and are, indeed, essential to our life, yet we +can think of nothing but their glorious majesty, and similarly all +virtue, especially that of gratitude, though it confers great +advantages upon us, does not wish to be loved for that reason; it +has something more in it than this, and he who merely reckons it +among useful things does not perfectly comprehend it. A man, you +say, is grateful because it is to his advantage to be so. If this +be the case, then his advantage will be the measure of his +gratitude. Virtue will not admit a covetous lover; men must +approach her with open purse. The ungrateful man thinks, "I did +wish to be grateful, but I fear the expense and danger and insults +to which I should expose myself: I will rather consult my own +interest." Men cannot be rendered grateful and ungrateful by the +same line of reasoning: their actions are as distinct as their +purposes. The one is ungrateful, although it is wrong, because it +is his interest; the other is grateful, although it is not his +interest, because it is right. + +XXV. It is our aim to live in harmony with the scheme of the +universe, and to follow the example of the gods. Yet in all their +acts the gods have no object in view other than the act itself, +unless you suppose that they obtain a reward for their work in the +smoke of burnt sacrifices and the scent of incense. See what great +things they do every day, how much they divide amongst us, with how +great crops they fill the earth, how they move the seas with +convenient winds to carry us to all shores, how by the fall of +sudden showers they soften the ground, renew the dried-up springs +of fountains, and call them into new life by unseen supplies of +water. All this they do without reward, without any advantage +accruing to themselves. Let our line of conduct, if it would not +depart from its model, preserve this direction, and let us not act +honourably because we are hired to do so. We ought to feel ashamed +that any benefit should have a price: we pay nothing for the gods. + +XXVI. "If," our adversary may say, "you wish to imitate the gods, +then bestow benefits upon the ungrateful as well as the grateful; +for the sun rises upon the wicked as well as the good, the seas are +open even to pirates." By this question he really asks whether a +good man would bestow a benefit upon an ungrateful person, knowing +him to be ungrateful. Allow me here to introduce a short +explanation, that we may not be taken in by a deceitful question. +Understand that according to the system of the Stoics there are two +classes of ungrateful persons. One man is ungrateful because he is +a fool; a fool is a bad man; a man who is bad possesses every vice: +therefore he is ungrateful. In the same way we speak of all bad men +as dissolute, avaricious, luxurious, and spiteful, not because each +man has all these vices in any great or remarkable degree, but +because he might have them; they are in him, even though they be +not seen. The second form of ungrateful person is he who is +commonly meant by the term, one who is inclined by nature to this +vice. In the case of him who has the vice of ingratitude just as he +has every other, a wise man will bestow a benefit, because if he +sets aside all such men there will be no one left for him to bestow +it on. As for the ungrateful man who habitually misapplies benefits +and acts so by choice, he will no more bestow a benefit upon him +than he would lend money to a spendthrift, or place a deposit in +the hands of one who had already often refused to many persons to +give up the property with which they had entrusted him. + +XXVII. We call some men timid because they are fools: in this they +are like the bad men who are steeped in all vices without +distinction. Strictly speaking, we call those persons timid who are +alarmed even at unmeaning noises. A fool possesses all vices, but +he is not equally inclined by nature to all; one is prone to +avarice, another to luxury, and another to insolence. Those +persons, therefore, are mistaken, who ask the Stoics, "What do you +say, then? is Achilles timid? Aristides, who received a name for +justice, is he unjust? Fabius, who 'by delays retrieved the day,' +is he rash? Does Decius fear death? Is Mucius a traitor? Camillus a +betrayer?" We do not mean that all vices are inherent in all men in +the same way in which some especial ones are noticeable in certain +men, but we declare that the bad man and the fool possess all +vices; we do not even acquit them of fear when they are rash, or of +avarice when they are extravagant. Just as a man has all his +senses, yet all men have not on that account as keen a sight as +Lynceus, so a man that is a fool has not all vices in so active and +vigorous a form as some persons have spine of them, yet he has them +all. All vices exist in all of them, yet all are not prominent in +each individual. One man is naturally prone to avarice, another is +the slave of wine, a third of lust; or, if not yet enslaved by +these passions, he is so fashioned by nature that this is the +direction in which his character would probably lead him. +Therefore, to return to my original proposition, every bad man is +ungrateful, because he has the seeds of every villainy in him; but +he alone is rightly so called who is naturally inclined to this +vice. Upon such a person as this, therefore, I shall not bestow a +benefit. One who betrothed his daughter to an ill-tempered man from +whom many women had sought a divorce, would be held to have +neglected her interests; a man would be thought a bad father if he +entrusted the care of his patrimony to one who had lost his own +family estate, and it would be the act of a madman to make a will +naming as the guardian of one's son a man who had already defrauded +other wards. So will that man be said to bestow benefits as badly +as possible, who chooses ungrateful persons, in whose hands they +will perish. + +XXVIII. "The gods," it may be said, "bestow much, even upon the +ungrateful." But what they bestow they had prepared for the good, +and the bad have their share as well, because they cannot be +separated. It is better to benefit the bad as well, for the sake of +benefiting the good, than to stint the good for fear of benefiting +the bad. Therefore the gods have created all that you speak of, the +day, the sun, the alternations of winter and summer, the +transitions through spring and autumn from one extreme to the +other, showers, drinking fountains, and regularly blowing winds for +the use of all alike; they could not except individuals from the +enjoyment of them. A king bestows honours upon those who deserve +them, but he gives largesse to the undeserving as well. The thief, +the bearer of false witness, and the adulterer, alike receive the +public grant of corn, and all are placed on the register without +any examination as to character; good and bad men share alike in +all the other privileges which a man receives, because he is a +citizen, not because he is a good man. God likewise has bestowed +certain gifts upon the entire human race, from which no one is shut +out. Indeed, it could not be arranged that the wind which was fair +for good men should be foul for bad ones, while it is for the good +of all men that the seas should be open for traffic and the kingdom +of mankind be enlarged; nor could any law be appointed for the +showers, so that they should not fall upon the fields of wicked and +evil men. Some things are given to all alike: cities are founded +for good and bad men alike; works of genius reach, by publication, +even unworthy men; medicine points out the means of health even to +the wicked; no one has checked the making up of wholesome remedies +for fear that the undeserving should be healed. You must seek for +examination and preference of individuals in such things as are +bestowed separately upon those who are thought to deserve them; not +in these, which admit the mob to share them without distinction. +There is a great difference between not shutting a man out and +choosing him. Even a thief receives justice; even murderers enjoy +the blessings of peace; even those who have plundered others can +recover their own property; assassins and private bravoes are +defended against the common enemy by the city wall; the laws +protect even those who have sinned most deeply against them. There +are some things which no man could obtain unless they were given to +all; you need not, therefore, cavil about those matters in which +all mankind is invited to share. As for things which men receive or +not at my discretion, I shall not bestow them upon one whom I know +to be ungrateful. + +XXIX. "Shall we, then," argues he, "not give our advice to an +ungrateful man when he is at a loss, or refuse him a drink of water +when he is thirsty, or not show him the path when he has lost his +way? or would you do him these services and yet not give him +anything?" Here I will draw a distinction, or at any rate endeavour +to do so. A benefit is a useful service, yet all useful service is +not a benefit; for some are so trifling as not to claim the title +of benefits. To produce a benefit two conditions must concur. +First, the importance of the thing given; for some things fall +short of the dignity of a benefit. Who ever called a hunch of bread +a benefit, or a farthing dole tossed to a beggar, or the means of +lighting a fire? yet sometimes these are of more value than the +most costly benefits; still their cheapness detracts from their +value even when, by the exigency of time, they are rendered +essential. The next condition, which is the most important of all, +must necessarily be present, namely, that I should confer the +benefit for the sake of him whom I wish to receive it, that I +should judge him worthy of it, bestow it of my own free will, and +receive pleasure from my own gift, none of which conditions are +present in the cases of which we have just now spoken; for we do +not bestow such things as those upon these who are worthy of them, +but we give them carelessly, as trifles, and do not give them so +much to a man as to humanity. + +XXX. I shall not deny that sometimes I would give even to the +unworthy, out of respect for others; as, for instance, in +competition for public offices, some of the basest of men are +preferred on account of their noble birth, to industrious men of no +family, and that for good reasons; for the memory of great virtues +is sacred, and more men will take pleasure in being good, if the +respect felt for good men does not cease with their lives. What +made Cicero's son a consul, except his father? What lately brought +Cinna [Footnote: See Seneca on "Clemency," book i., ch. ix.] out of +the camp of the enemy and raised him to the consulate? What made +Sextus Pompeius and the other Pompeii consuls, unless it was the +greatness of one man, who once was raised so high that, by his very +fall, he sufficiently exalted all his relatives. What lately made +Fabius Persicus a member of more than one college of priests, +though even profligates avoided his kiss? Was it not Verrucosus, +and Allobrogicus, and the three hundred who to serve their country +blocked the invader's path with the force of a single family? It is +our duty to respect the virtuous, not only when present with us, +but also when removed from our sight: as they have made it their +study not to bestow their benefits upon one age alone, but to leave +them existing after they themselves have passed away, so let us not +confine our gratitude to a single age. If a man has begotten great +men, he deserves to receive benefits, whatever he himself may be: +he has given us worthy men. If a man descends from glorious +ancestors, whatever he himself may be, let him find refuge under +the shadow of his ancestry. As mean places are lighted up by the +rays of the sun, so let the degenerate shine in the light of their +forefathers. + +XXXI. In this place, my Liberalis, I wish to speak in defence of +the gods. We sometimes say, "What could Providence mean by placing +an Arrhidaeus upon the throne?" Do you suppose that the crown was +given to Arrhidaeus? nay, it was given to his father and his +brother. Why did Heaven bestow the empire of the world upon Caius +Caesar, the most bloodthirsty of mankind, who was wont to order +blood to be shed in his presence as freely as if he wished to drink +of it? Why, do you suppose that it was given to him? It was given +to his father, Germanicus, to his grandfather, his great +grandfather, and to others before them, no less illustrious men, +though they lived as private citizens on a footing of equality with +others. Why, when you yourself were making Mamercus Scaurus consul, +were you ignorant of his vices? did he himself conceal them? did he +wish to appear decent? + +Did you admit a man who was so openly filthy to the fasces and the +tribunal? Yes, it was because you were thinking of the great old +Scaurus, the chief of the Senate, and were unwilling that his +descendant should be despised. + +XXXII. It is probable that the gods act in the same manner, that +they show greater indulgence to some for the sake of their parents +and their ancestry, and to others for the sake of their children +and grandchildren, and a long line of descendants beyond them; for +they know the whole course of their works, and have constant access +to the knowledge of all that shall hereafter pass through their +hands. These things come upon us from the unknown future, and the +gods have foreseen and are familiar with the events by which we are +startled. "Let these men," says Providence, "be kings, because +their ancestors were good kings, because they regarded +righteousness and temperance as the highest rule of life, because +they did not devote the state to themselves, but devoted themselves +to the state. Let these others reign, because some one of their +ancestors before them was a good man, who bore a soul superior to +fortune, who preferred to be conquered rather than to conquer in +civil strife, because it was more to the advantage of the state. +[Footnote: Gertz, "Stud. Crit," p. 159, note.] It was not possible +to make a sufficient return to him for this during so long a time; +let this other, therefore, out of regard for him, be chief of the +people, not because he knows how, or is capable, but because the +other has earned it for him. This man is misshapen, loathsome to +look upon, and will disgrace the insignia of his office. Men will +presently blame me, calling me blind and reckless, not knowing upon +whom I am conferring what ought to be given to the greatest and +noblest of men; but I know that, in giving this dignity to one man, +I am paying an old debt to another. How should the men of to-day +know that ancient hero, who so resolutely avoided the glory which +pressed upon him, who went into danger with the same look which +other men wear when they have escaped from danger, who never +regarded his own interest as apart from that of the commonwealth?" +"Where," you ask, "or who is he? whence does he come?" "You know +him not; it lies with me to balance the debit and credit account in +such cases as these; I know how much I owe to each man; I repay +some after a long interval, others beforehand, according as my +opportunities and the exigencies of my social system permit." I +shall, therefore, sometimes bestow somewhat upon an ungrateful man, +though not for his own sake. + +XXXIII. "What," argues he, "if you do not know whether your man be +ungrateful or grateful--will you wait until you know, or will you +not lose the opportunity of bestowing a benefit? To wait is a long +business--for, as Plato says, it is hard to form an opinion about +the human mind,--not to wait, is rash." To this objector we shall +answer, that we never should wait for absolute knowledge of the +whole case, since the discovery of truth is an arduous task, but +should proceed in the direction in which truth appeared to direct +us. All our actions proceed in this direction: it is thus that we +sow seed, that we sail upon the sea, that we serve in the army, +marry, and bring up children. The result of all these actions is +uncertain, so we take that course from which we believe that good +results may be hoped for. Who can guarantee a harvest to the sower, +a harbour to the sailor, victory to the soldier, a modest wife to +the husband, dutiful children to the father? We proceed in the way +in which reason, not absolute truth, directs us. Wait, do nothing +that will not turn out well, form no opinion until you have +searched but the truth, and your life will pass in absolute in +action. Since it is only the appearance of truth, not truth itself, +which leads me hither or thither, I shall confer benefits upon the +man who apparently will be grateful. + +XXXIV. "Many circumstances," argues he, "may arise which may enable +a bad man to steal into the place of a good one, or may cause a +good man to be disliked as though he were a bad one; for +appearances, to which we trust, are deceptive." Who denies it? Yet +I can find nothing else by which to guide my opinion. I must follow +these tracks in my search after truth, for I have none more +trustworthy than these; I will take pains to weigh the value of +these with all possible care, and will not hastily give my assent +to them. For instance, in a battle, it may happen that my hand may +be deceived by some mistake into turning my weapon against my +comrade, and sparing my enemy as though he were on my side; but +this will not often take place, and will not take place through any +fault of mine, for my object is to strike the enemy, and defend my +countryman. If I know a man to be ungrateful, I shall not bestow a +benefit upon him. But the man has passed himself off as a good man +by some trick, and has imposed upon me. Well, this is not at all +the fault of the giver, who gave under the impression that his +friend was grateful. "Suppose," asks he, "that you were to promise +to bestow a benefit, and afterwards were to learn that your man was +ungrateful, would you bestow it or not? If you do, you do wrong +knowingly, for you give to one to whom you ought not; if you +refuse, you do wrong likewise, for you do not give to him to whom +you promised to give. This case upsets your consistency, and that +proud assurance of yours that the wise man never regrets his +actions, or amends what he has done, or alters his plans." The wise +man never changes his plans while the conditions under which he +formed them remain the same; therefore, he never feels regret, +because at the time nothing better than what he did could have been +done, nor could any better decision have been arrived at than that +which was made; yet he begins everything with the saving clause, +"If nothing shall occur to the contrary." This is the reason why we +say that all goes well with him, and that nothing happens contrary +to his expectation, because he bears in mind the possibility of +something happening to prevent the realization of his projects. It +is an imprudent confidence to trust that fortune will be on our +side. The wise man considers both sides: he knows how great is the +power of errors, how uncertain human affairs are, how many +obstacles there are to the success of plans. Without committing +himself, he awaits the doubtful and capricious issue of events, and +weighs certainty of purpose against uncertainty of result. Here +also, however, he is protected by that saving clause, without which +he decides upon nothing, and begins nothing. + +XXXV. When I promise to bestow a benefit, I promise it, unless +something occurs which makes it my duty not to do so. What if, for +example, my country orders me to give to her what I had promised to +my friend? or if a law be passed forbidding any one to do what I +had promised to do for him? Suppose that I have promised you my +daughter in marriage, that then you turn out to be a foreigner, and +that I have no right of intermarriage with foreigners; in this +case, the law, by which I am forbidden to fulfil my promise, forms +my defence. I shall be treacherous, and hear myself blamed for +inconsistency, only if I do not fulfil, my promise when all +conditions remain the same as when I made it; otherwise, any change +makes me free to reconsider the entire case, and absolves me from +my promise. I may have promised to plead a cause; afterwards it +appears that this cause is designed to form a precedent for an +attack upon my father. I may have promised to leave my country, and +travel abroad; then news comes that the road is beset with robbers. +I was going to an appointment at some particular place; but my +son's illness, or my wife's confinement, prevented me. All +conditions must be the same as they were when I made the promise, +if you mean to hold me bound in honour to fulfil it. Now what +greater change can take place than that I should discover you to be +a bad and ungrateful man? I shall refuse to an unworthy man that +which I had intended to give him supposing him to be worthy, and I +shall also have reason to be angry with him for the trick which he +has put upon me. + +XXXVI. I shall nevertheless look into the matter, and consider what +the value of the thing promised may be. If it be trifling, I shall +give it, not because you are worthy of it, but because I promised +it, and I shall not give it as a present, but merely in order to +make good my words and give myself a twitch of the ear. I will +punish my own rashness in promising by the loss of what I gave. +"See how grieved you are; mind you take more care what you say in +future." As the saying is, I will take tongue money from you. If +the matter be important, I will not, as Maecenas said, let ten +million sesterces reproach me. I will weigh the two sides of the +question one against the other: there is something in abiding by +what you have promised; on the other hand, there is a great deal in +not bestowing a benefit upon one who is unworthy of it. Now, how +great is this benefit? If it is a trifling one, let us wink and let +it pass; but if it will cause me much loss or much shame to give +it, I had rather excuse myself once for refusing it than have to do +so ever after for giving it. The whole point, I repeat, depends +upon how much the thing given is worth: let the terms of my promise +be appraised. Not only shall I refuse to give what I may have +promised rashly, but I shall also demand back again what I may have +wrongly bestowed: a man must be mad who keeps a promise made under +a mistake. + +XXXVII. Philip, king of the Macedonians, had a hardy soldier whose +services he had found useful in many campaigns. From time to time +he made this man presents of part of the plunder as the reward of +his valour, and used to excite his greedy spirit by his frequent +gifts. This man was cast by shipwreck upon the estate of a certain +Macedonian, who as soon as he heard the news hastened to him, +restored his breath, removed him to his own farmhouse, gave up his +own bed to him, nursed him out of his weakened and half-dead +condition, took care of him at his own expense for thirty days, +restored him to health and gave him a sum of money for his journey, +as the man kept constantly saying, "If only I can see my chief, I +will repay your kindness." He told Philip of his shipwreck, said +nothing about the help which he had received, and at once demanded +that a certain man's estate should be given to him. The man was a +friend of his: it was that very man by whom he had been rescued and +restored to health. Sometimes, especially in time of war, kings +bestow many gifts with their eyes shut. One just man cannot deal +with such a mass of armed selfishness. It is not possible for any +one to be at the same time a good man and a good general. How are +so many thousands of insatiable men to be satiated? What would they +have, if every man had his own? Thus Philip reasoned with himself +while he ordered the man to be put in possession of the property +which he asked for. However, the other, when driven out of his +estate, did not, like a peasant, endure his wrongs in silence, +thankful that he himself was not given away also, but sent a sharp +and outspoken letter to Philip, who, on reading it, was so much +enraged that he straightway ordered Pausanias to restore the +property to its former owner, and to brand that wickedest of +soldiers, that most ungrateful of guests, that greediest of +shipwrecked men, with letters bearing witness to his ingratitude. +He, indeed, deserved to have the letters not merely branded but +carved in his flesh, for having reduced his host to the condition +in which he himself had been when he lay naked and shipwrecked upon +the beach; still, let us see within what limits one ought to keep +in punishing him. Of course what he had so villainously seized +ought to be taken from him. But who would be affected by the +spectacle of his punishment? The crime which he had committed would +prevent his being pitied even by any humane person. + +XXXVIII. Will Philip then give you a thing because he has promised +to give it, even though he ought not to do so, even though he will +commit a wrong by doing so, nay, a crime, even though by this one +act he will make it impossible for shipwrecked men to reach the +shore? There is no inconsistency in giving up an intention which we +have discovered to be wrong and have condemned as wrong; we ought +candidly to admit, "I thought that it was something different; I +have been deceived." It is mere pride and folly to persist, "what I +once have said, be it what it may, shall remain unaltered and +settled." There is no disgrace in altering one's plans according to +circumstances. Now, if Philip had left this man in possession of +that seashore which he obtained by his shipwreck, would he not have +practically pronounced sentence of banishment against all +unfortunates for the future? "Rather," says Philip, "do thou carry +upon thy forehead of brass those letters, that they may be +impressed upon the eyes of all throughout my kingdom. Go, let men +see how sacred a thing is the table of hospitality; show them your +face, that upon it they may read the decree which prevents its +being a capital crime to give refuge to the unfortunate under one's +roof. The order will be more certainly respected by this means than +if I had inscribed it upon tablets of brass." + +XXXIX. "Why then," argues our adversary, "did your Stoic +philosopher Zeno, when he had promised a loan of five hundred +denarii to some person, whom he afterwards discovered to be of +doubtful character, persist in lending it, because of his promise, +though his friends dissuaded him from doing so?" In the first place +a loan is on a different footing to a benefit. Even when we have +lent money to an undesirable person we can recall it; I can demand +payment upon a certain day, and if he becomes bankrupt, I can +obtain my share of his property; but a benefit is lost utterly and +instantly. Besides, the one is the act of a bad man, the other that +of a bad father of a family. In the next place, if the sum had been +a larger one, not even Zeno would have persisted in lending it. It +was five hundred denarii; the sort of sum of which one says, "May +he spend it in sickness," and it was worth paying so much to avoid +breaking his promise. I shall go out to supper, even though the +weather be cold, because I have promised to go; but I shall not if +snow be falling. I shall leave my bed to go to a betrothal feast, +although I may be suffering from indigestion; but I shall not do so +if I am feverish. I will become bail for you, because I promised; +but not if you wish me to become bail in some transaction of +uncertain issue, if you expose me to forfeiting my money to the +state. There runs through all these cases, I argue, an implied +exception; if I am able, provided it is right for me to do so, if +these things be so and so. Make the position the same when you ask +me to fulfil my promise, as it was when I gave it, and it will be +mere fickleness to disappoint you; but if something new has taken +place in the meanwhile, why should you wonder at my intentions +being changed when the conditions under which I gave the promise +are changed? Put everything back as it was, and I shall be the same +as I was. We enter into recognizances to appear, yet if we fail to +do so an action will not in all cases lie against us, for we are +excused for making default if forced to do so by a power which we +cannot resist. + +XL. You may take the same answer to the question as to whether we +ought in all cases to show gratitude for kindness, and whether a +benefit ought in all cases to be repaid. It is my duty to show a +grateful mind, but in some cases my own poverty, in others the +prosperity of the friend to whom I owe some return, will not permit +me to give it. What, for instance, am I, a poor man, to give to a +king or a rich man in return for his kindness, especially as some +men regard it as a wrong to have their benefits repaid, and are +wont to pile one benefit upon another? In dealing with such +persons, what more can I do than wish to repay them? Yet I ought +not to refuse to receive a new benefit, because I have not repaid +the former one. I shall take it as freely as it is given, and will +offer myself to my friend as a wide field for the exercise of his +good nature: he who is unwilling to receive new benefits must be +dissatisfied with what he has already received. Do you say, "I +shall not be able to return them?" What is that to the purpose? I +am willing enough to do so if opportunity or means were given me. +He gave it to me, of course, having both opportunity and means: is +he a good man or a bad one? if he is a good man, I have a good case +against him, and I will not plead if he be a bad one. Neither do I +think it right to insist on making repayment, even though it be +against the will of those whom we repay, and to press it upon them +however reluctant they may be; it is not repayment to force an +unwilling man to resume what you were once willing to take. Some +people, if any trifling present be sent to them, afterwards send +back something else for no particular reason, and then declare that +they are under no obligation; to send something back at once, and +balance one present by another, is the next thing to refusing to +receive it. On some occasions I shall not return a benefit, even +though I be able to do so. When? When by so doing I shall myself +lose more than he will gain, or if he would not notice any +advantage to himself in receiving that which it would be a great +loss to me to return. The man who is always eager to repay under +all circumstances, has not the feeling of a grateful man, but of a +debtor; and, to put it shortly, he who is too eager to repay, is +unwilling to be in his friend's debt; he who is unwilling, and yet +is in his friend's debt, is ungrateful. + + + + +BOOK V. + +I. + + +In the preceding books I seem to have accomplished the object which +I proposed to myself, since in them I have discussed how a benefit +ought to be bestowed, and how it ought to be received. These are +the limits of this action; when I dwell upon it further I am not +obeying the orders, but the caprices of my subject which ought to +be followed whither it leads, not whither it allures us to wander; +for now and then something will arise, which, although it is all +but unconnected with the subject, instead of being a necessary part +of it, still thrills the mind with a certain charm. However, since +you wish it to be so, let us go on, after having completed our +discussion of the heads of the subject itself, to investigate those +matters which, if you wish for truth, I must call adjacent to it, +not actually connected with it; to examine which carefully is not +one worth one's while, and yet is not labour in vain. No praise, +however, which I can give to benefits does justice to you, Aebutius +Liberalis, a man of excellent disposition and naturally inclined to +bestow them. Never have I seen any one esteem even the most +trifling services more kindly; indeed, your good-nature goes so far +as to regard whatever benefit is bestowed upon anyone as bestowed +upon yourself; you are prepared to pay even what is owed by the +ungrateful, that no one may regret having bestowed benefits. You +yourself are so far from any boastfulness, you are so eager at once +to free those whom you serve from any feeling of obligation to you, +that you like, when giving anything to any one, to seem not so much +to be giving a present as returning one; and therefore what you +give in this manner will all the more fully he repaid to you: for, +as a rule, benefits come to one who does not demand repayment of +them; and just as glory follows those who avoid it, so men receive +a more plentiful harvest in return for benefits bestowed upon those +who had it in their power to be ungrateful. With you there is no +reason why those who have received benefits from you should not ask +for fresh ones; nor would you refuse to bestow others, to overlook +and conceal what you have given, and to add to it more and greater +gifts, since it is the aim of all the best men and the noblest +dispositions to bear with an ungrateful man until you make him +grateful. Be not deceived in pursuing this plan; vice, if you do +not too soon begin to hate it, will yield to virtue. + +II. Thus it is that you are especially pleased with what you think +the grandly-sounding phrase, "It is disgraceful to be worsted in a +contest of benefits." Whether this be true or not deserves to be +investigated, and it means something quite different from what you +imagine; for it is never disgraceful to be worsted in any +honourable contest, provided that you do not throw down your arms, +and that even when conquered you wish to conquer. All men do not +strive for a good object with the same strength, resources, and +good fortune, upon which depend at all events the issues of the +most admirable projects, though we ought to praise the will itself +which makes an effort in the right direction. Even though another +passes it by with swifter pace, yet the palm of victory does not, +as in publicly-exhibited races, declare which is the better man; +though even in the games chance frequently brings an inferior man +to the front. As far as loyalty of feeling goes, which each man +wishes to be possessed in the fullest measure on his own side, if +one of the two be the more powerful, if he have at his disposal all +the resources which he wishes to use, and be favoured by fortune in +his most ambitious efforts, while the other, although equally +willing, can only return less than he receives, or perhaps can make +no return at all, but still wishes to do so and is entirely devoted +to this object; then the latter is no more conquered than he who +dies in arms, whom the enemy found it easier to slay than to turn +back. To be conquered, which you consider disgraceful, cannot +happen to a good man; for he will never surrender, never give up +the contest, to the last day of his life he will stand prepared and +in that posture he will die, testifying that though he has received +much, yet that he had the will to repay as much as he had received. + +III. The Lacedaemonians forbid their young men to contend in the +pancratium, or with the caestus, in which games the defeated party +has to acknowledge himself beaten. The winner of a race is he who +first reaches the goal; he outstrips the others in swiftness, but +not in courage. The wrestler who has been thrown three times loses +the palm of victory, but does not yield it up. Since the +Lacedaemonians thought it of great importance that their countrymen +should be invincible, they kept them away from those contests in +which victory is assigned, not by the judge, or by the issue of the +contest itself, but by the voice of the vanquished begging the +victor to spare him as he falls. This attribute of never being +conquered, which they so jealously guard among their citizens, can +be attained by all men through virtue and goodwill, because even +when all else is vanquished, the mind remains unconquered. For this +cause no one speaks of the three hundred Fabii as conquered, but +slaughtered. Regulus was taken captive by the Carthaginians, not +conquered; and so were all other men who have not yielded in spirit +when overwhelmed by the strength and weight of angry fortune. + +So is it with benefits. A man may have received more than he gave, +more valuable ones, more frequently bestowed; yet is he not +vanquished. It may be that, if you compare the benefits with one +another, those which he has received will outweigh those which he +has bestowed; but if you compare the giver and the receiver, whose +intentions also ought to be considered apart, neither will prove +the victor. It often happens that even when one combatant is +pierced with many wounds, while the other is only slightly injured, +yet they are said to have fought a drawn battle, although the +former may appear to be the worse man. + +IV. No one, therefore, can be conquered in a contest of benefits, +if he knows how to owe a debt, if he wishes to make a return for +what he has received, and raises himself to the same level with his +friend in spirit, though he cannot do so in material gifts. As long +as he remains in this temper of mind, as long as he has the wish to +declare by proofs that he has a grateful mind, what difference does +it make upon which side we can count the greater number of +presents? You are able to give much; I can do nothing but receive. +Fortune abides with you, goodwill alone with me; yet I am as much +on an equality with you as naked or lightly armed men are with a +large body armed to the teeth. No one, therefore, is worsted by +benefits, because each man's gratitude is to be measured by his +will. If it be disgraceful to be worsted in a contest of benefits, +you ought not to receive a benefit from very powerful men whose +kindness you cannot return, I mean such as princes and kings, whom +fortune has placed in such a station that they can give away much, +and can only receive very little and quite inadequate returns for +what they give. I have spoken of kings and princes, who alone can +cause works to be accomplished, and whose superlative power depends +upon the obedience and services of inferiors; but some there are, +free from all earthly lusts, who are scarcely affected by any human +objects of desire, upon whom fortune herself could bestow nothing. +I must be worsted in a contest of benefits with Socrates, or with +Diogenes, who walked naked through the treasures of Macedonia, +treading the king's wealth under his feet. In good sooth, he must +then rightly have seemed, both to himself and to all others whose +eyes were keen enough to perceive the real truth, to be superior +even to him at whose feet all the world lay. He was far more +powerful, far richer even than Alexander, who then possessed +everything; for there was more that Diogenes could refuse to +receive than that Alexander was able to give. + +V. It is not disgraceful to be worsted by these men, for I am not +the less brave because you pit me against an invulnerable enemy, +nor does fire not burn because you throw into it something over +which flames have no power, nor does iron lose its power of +cutting, though you may wish to cut up a stone which is hard, +impervious to blows, and of such a nature that hard tools are +blunted upon it. I give you the same answer about gratitude. A man +is not disgracefully worsted in a contest of benefits if he lays +himself under an obligation to such persons as these, whose +enormous wealth or admirable virtue shut out all possibility of +their benefits being returned. As a rule we are worsted by our +parents; for while we have them with us, we regard them as severe, +and do not understand what they do for us. When our age begins to +bring us a little sense, and we gradually perceive that they +deserve our love for those very things which used to prevent our +loving them, their advice, their punishments, and the careful watch +which they used to keep over our youthful recklessness, they are +taken from us. Few live to reap any real fruit from children; most +men feel their sons only as a burden. Yet there is no disgrace in +being worsted by one's parent in bestowing benefits; how should +there be, seeing that there is no disgrace in being worsted by +anyone. We are equal to some men, and yet not equal; equal in +intention, which is all that they care for, which is all that we +promise to be, but unequal in fortune. And if fortune prevents any +one from repaying a kindness, he need not, therefore, blush, as +though he were vanquished; there is no disgrace in failing to reach +your object, provided you attempt to reach it. It often is +necessary, that before making any return for the benefits which we +have received, we should ask for new ones; yet, if so, we shall not +refrain from asking for them, nor shall we do so as though +disgraced by so doing, because, even if we do not repay the debt, +we shall owe it; because, even if something from without befalls us +to prevent our repaying it, it will not be our fault if we are not +grateful. We can neither be conquered in intention, nor can we be +disgraced by yielding to what is beyond our strength to contend +with. + +VI. Alexander, the king of the Macedonians, used to boast that he +had never been worsted by anybody in a contest of benefits. If so, +it was no reason why, in the fulness of his pride, he should +despise the Macedonians, Greeks, Carians, Persians, and other +tribes of whom his army was composed, nor need he imagine that it +was this that gave him an empire reaching from a corner of Thrace +to the shore of the unknown sea. Socrates could make the same +boast, and so could Diogenes, by whom Alexander was certainly +surpassed; for was he not surpassed on the day when, swelling as he +was beyond the limits of merely human pride, he beheld one to whom +he could give nothing, from whom he could take nothing? King +Archelaus invited Socrates to come to him. Socrates is reported to +have answered that he should be sorry to go to one who would bestow +benefits upon him, since he should not be able to make him an +adequate return for them. In the first place, Socrates was at +liberty not to receive them; next, Socrates himself would have been +the first to bestow a benefit, for he would have come when invited, +and would have given to Archelaus that for which Archelaus could +have made no return to Socrates. Even if Archelaus were to give +Socrates gold and silver, if he learned in return for them to +despise gold and silver, would not Socrates be able to repay +Archelaus? Could Socrates receive from him as much value as he +gave, in displaying to him a man skilled in the knowledge of life +and of death, comprehending the true purpose of each? Suppose that +he had found this king, as it were, groping his way in the clear +sunlight, and had taught him the secrets of nature, of which he was +so ignorant, that when there was an eclipse of the sun, he up his +palace, and shaved his son's head, [Footnote: Gertz very reasonably +conjectures that he shaved his own head which reading would require +a very trifling alteration of the text.] which men are wont to do +in times of mourning and distress. What a benefit it would have +been if he had dragged the terror-stricken king out of his hiding- +place, and bidden him be of good cheer, saying, "This is not a +disappearance of the sun, but a conjunction of two heavenly bodies; +for the moon, which proceeds along a lower path, has placed her +disk beneath the sun, and hidden it by the interposition of her own +mass. Sometimes she only hides a small portion of the sun's disk, +because she only grazes it in passing; sometimes she hides more, by +placing more of herself before it; and sometimes she shuts it out +from our sight altogether, if she passes in an exactly even course +between the sun and the earth. Soon, however, their own swift +motion will draw these two bodies apart; soon the earth will +receive back again the light of day. And this system will continue +throughout centuries, having certain days, known beforehand, upon +which the sun cannot display all rays, because of the intervention +of the moon. Wait only for a short time; he will soon emerge, he +will soon leave that seeming cloud, and freely shed abroad his +light without any hindrances." Could Socrates not have made an +adequate return to Archelaus, if he had taught him to reign? as +though Socrates would not benefit him sufficiently, merely by +enabling him to bestow a benefit upon Socrates. Why, then, did +Socrates say this? Being a joker and a speaker in parables--a man +who turned all, especially the great, into ridicule--he preferred +giving him a satirical refusal, rather than an obstinate or haughty +one, and therefore said that he did not wish to receive benefits +from one to whom he could not return as much as he received. He +feared, perhaps, that he might be forced to receive something which +he did not wish, he feared that it might be something unfit for +Socrates to receive. Some one may say, "He ought to have said that +he did not wish to go." But by so doing he would have excited +against himself the anger of an arrogant king, who wished +everything connected with himself to be highly valued. It makes no +difference to a king whether you be unwilling to give anything to +him or to accept anything from him; he is equally incensed at +either rebuff, and to be treated with disdain is more bitter to a +proud spirit than not to be feared. Do you wish to know what +Socrates really meant? He, whose freedom of speech could not be +borne even by a free state, was not willing of his own choice to +become a slave. + +VII. I think that we have sufficiently discussed this part of the +subject, whether it be disgraceful to be worsted in a contest of +benefits. Whoever asks this question must know that men are not +wont to bestow benefits upon themselves, for evidently it could not +be disgraceful to be worsted by oneself. Yet some of the Stoics +debate this question, whether any one can confer a benefit upon +himself, and whether one ought to return one's own kindness to +oneself. This discussion has been raised in consequence of our +habit of saying, "I am thankful to myself," "I can complain of no +one but myself," "I am angry with myself," "I will punish myself," +"I hate myself," and many other phrases of the same sort, in which +one speaks of oneself as one would of some other person. "If," they +argue, "I can injure myself, why should I not be able also to +bestow a benefit upon myself? Besides this, why are those things +not called benefits when I bestow them upon myself which would be +called benefits if I bestowed them upon another? If to receive a +certain thing from another would lay me under an obligation to him, +how is it that if I give it to myself, I do not contract an +obligation to myself? why should I be ungrateful to my own self, +which is no less disgraceful than it is to be mean to oneself, or +hard and cruel to oneself, or neglectful of oneself? The procurer +is equally odious whether he prostitutes others or himself. We +blame a flatterer, and one who imitates another man's mode of +speech, or is prepared to give praise whether it be deserved or +not; we ought equally to blame one who humours himself and looks up +to himself, and so to speak is his own flatterer. Vices are not +only hateful when outwardly practised, but also when they are +repressed within the mind. Whom would you admire more than he who +governs himself and has himself under command? It is easier to rule +savage nations, impatient of foreign control, than to restrain +one's own mind and keep it under one's own control. Plato, it is +argued, was grateful to Socrates for having been taught by him; why +should not Socrates be grateful to himself for having taught +himself? Marcus Cato said, "Borrow from yourself whatever you +lack;" why, then, if I can lend myself anything, should I be unable +to give myself anything? The instances in which usage divides us +into two persons are innumerable; we are wont to say, "Let me +converse with myself," and, "I will give myself a twitch of the +ear;" [Footnote: See book iv. ch. xxxvi.] and if it be true that +one can do so, then a man ought to be grateful to himself, just as +he is angry with himself; as he blames himself, SO he ought to +praise himself; since he can impoverish himself, he can also enrich +himself. Injuries and benefits are the converse of one another: if +we say of a man, 'he has done himself an injury,' we can also say +'he has bestowed upon himself a benefit?' + +VIII. It is natural that a man should first incur an obligation, +and then that he should return gratitude for it; a debtor cannot +exist without a creditor, any more than a husband without a wife, +or a son without a father; someone must give in order that some one +may receive. Just as no one carries himself, although he moves his +body and transports it from place to place; as no one, though he +may have made a speech in his own defence, is said to have stood by +himself, or erects a statue to himself as his own patron; as no +sick man, when by his own care he has regained his health, asks +himself for a fee; so in no transaction, even when a man does what +is useful to himself, need he return thanks to himself, because +there is no one to whom he can return them. Though I grant that a +man can bestow a benefit upon himself, yet at the same time that he +gives it, he also receives it; though I grant that a man may +receive a benefit from himself, yet he receives it at the same time +that he gives it. The exchange takes place within doors, as they +say, and the transfer is made at once, as though the debt were a +fictitious one; for he who gives is not a different person to he +who receives, but one and the same. The word "to owe" has no +meaning except as between two persons; how then can it apply to one +man who incurs an obligation, and by the same act frees himself +from it? In a disk or a ball there is no top or bottom, no +beginning or end, because the relation of the parts is changed when +it moves, what was behind coming before, and what went down on one +side coming up on the other, so that all the parts, in whatever +direction they may move, come back to the same position. Imagine +that the same thing takes place in a man; into however many pieces +you may divide him, he remains one. If he strikes himself, he has +no one to call to account for the insult; if he binds himself and +locks himself up, he cannot demand damages; if he bestows a benefit +upon himself, he straightway returns it to the giver. It is said +that there is no waste in nature, because everything which is taken +from nature returns to her again, and nothing can perish, because +it cannot fall out of nature, but goes round again to the point +from whence it started. You ask, "What connection has this +illustration with the subject?" I will tell you. Imagine yourself +to be ungrateful, the benefit bestowed upon you is not lost, he who +gave it has it; suppose that you are unwilling to receive it, it +still belongs to you before it is returned. You cannot lose +anything, because what you take away from yourself, you +nevertheless gain yourself. The matter revolves in a circle within +yourself; by receiving you give, by giving you receive. + +IX. "It is our duty," argues our adversary, "to bestow benefits +upon ourselves, therefore we ought also to be grateful to +ourselves." The original axiom, upon which the inference depends, +is untrue, for no one bestows benefits upon himself, but obeys the +dictates of his nature, which disposes him to affection for +himself, and which makes him take the greatest pains to avoid +hurtful things, and to follow after those things which are +profitable to him. Consequently, the man who gives to himself is +not generous, nor is he who pardons himself forgiving, nor is he +who is touched by his own misfortunes tender-hearted; it is natural +to do those things to oneself which when done to others become +generosity, clemency, and tenderness of heart. A benefit is a +voluntary act, but to do good to oneself is an instinctive one. The +more benefits a man bestows, the more beneficent he is, yet who +ever was praised for having been of service to himself? or for +having rescued himself from brigands? No one bestows a benefit upon +himself any more than he bestows hospitality upon himself; no one +gives himself anything, any more than he lends himself anything. If +each man bestows benefits upon himself, is always bestowing them, +and bestows them without any cessation, then it is impossible for +him to make any calculation of the number of his benefits; when +then can he show his gratitude, seeing that by the very act of +doing so he would bestow a benefit? for what distinction can you +draw between giving himself a benefit or receiving a benefit for +himself, when the whole transaction takes place in the mind of the +same man? Suppose that I have freed myself from danger, then I have +bestowed a benefit upon myself; suppose I free myself a second +time, by so doing do I bestow or repay a benefit? In the next +place, even if I grant the primary axiom, that we can bestow +benefits upon ourselves, I do not admit that which follows; for +even if we can do so, we ought not to do so. Wherefore? Because we +receive a return for them at once. It is right for me to receive a +benefit, then to lie under an obligation, then to repay it; now +here there is no time for remaining under an obligation, because we +receive the return without any delay. No one really gives except to +another, no one owes except to another, no one repays except to +another. An act which always requires two persons cannot take place +within the mind of one. + +X. A benefit means the affording of something useful, and the word +AFFORDING implies other persons. Would not a man be thought mad if +he said that he had sold something to himself, because selling +means alienation, and the transferring of a thing and of one's +rights in that thing to another person? Yet giving, like selling +anything, consists in making it pass away from you, handing over +what you yourself once owned into the keeping of some one else. + +If this be so, no one ever gave himself a benefit, because no one +gives to himself; if not, two opposites coalesce, so that it +becomes the same thing to give and to receive. Yet there is a great +difference between giving and receiving; how should there not be, +seeing that these words are the converse of one another? Still, if +any one can give himself a benefit, there can be no difference +between giving and receiving. I said a little before that some +words apply only to other persons, and are so constituted that +their whole meaning lies apart from ourselves; for instance, I am a +brother, but a brother of some other man, for no one is his own +brother; I am an equal, but equal to somebody else, for who is +equal to himself? A thing which is compared to another thing is +unintelligible without that other thing; a thing which is joined to +something else does not exist apart from it; so that which is given +does not exist without the other person, nor can a benefit have any +existence without another person. This is clear from the very +phrase which describes it, 'to do good,' yet no one does good to +himself, any more than he favours himself or is on his own side. I +might enlarge further upon this subject and give many examples. Why +should benefits not be included among those acts which require two +persons to perform them? Many honourable, most admirable and highly +virtuous acts cannot take place without a second person. Fidelity +is praised and held to be one of the chief blessings known among +men, yet was any one ever on that account said to have kept faith +with himself? + +XI. I come now to the last part of this subject. The +man who returns a kindness ought to expend something, just as he +who repays expends money; but the man who returns a kindness to +himself expends nothing, just as he who receives a benefit from +himself gains nothing. A benefit and gratitude for it must pass to +and fro between two persons; their interchange cannot take place +within one man. He who returns a kindness does good in his turn to +him from whom he has received something; but the man who returns +his own kindness, to whom does he do good? To himself? Is there any +one who does not regard the returning of a kindness, and the +bestowal of a benefit, as distinct acts? 'He who returns a kindness +to himself does good to himself.' Was any man ever unwilling to do +this, even though he were ungrateful? nay, who ever was ungrateful +from any other motive than this? "If," it is argued, "we are right +in thanking ourselves, we ought to return our own kindness;" yet we +say, "I am thankful to myself for having refused to marry that +woman," or "for having refused to join a partnership with that +man." When we speak thus, we are really praising ourselves, and +make use of the language of those who return thanks to approve our +own acts. A benefit is something which, when given, may or may not +be returned. Now, he who gives a benefit to himself must needs +receive what he gives; therefore, this is not a benefit. A benefit +is received at one time, and is returned at another; (but when a +man bestows a benefit upon himself, he both receives it and returns +it at the same time). In a benefit, too, what we commend and admire +is, that a man has for the time being forgotten his own interests, +in order that he may do good to another; that he has deprived +himself of something, in order to bestow it upon another. Now, he +who bestows a benefit upon himself does not do this. The bestowal +of a benefit is an act of companionship--it wins some man's +friendship, and lays some man under an obligation; but to bestow it +upon oneself is no act of companionship--it wins no man's +friendship, lays no man under an obligation, raises no man's hopes, +or leads him to say, "This man must be courted; he bestowed a +benefit upon that person, perhaps he will bestow one upon me also." +A benefit is a thing which one gives not for one's own sake, but +for the sake of him to whom it is given; but he who bestows a +benefit upon himself, does so for his own sake; therefore, it is +not a benefit. + +XII. Now I seem to you not to have made good what I said at the +beginning of this book. You say that I am far from doing what is +worth any one's while; nay, that in real fact I have thrown away +all my trouble. Wait, and soon you will be able to say this more +truly, for I shall lead you into covert lurking-places, from which +when you have escaped, you will have gained nothing except that you +will have freed yourself from difficulties with which you need +never have hampered yourself. What is the use of laboriously +untying knots which you yourself have tied, in order that you might +untie them? Yet, just as some knots are tied in fun and for +amusement, so that a tyro may find difficulty in untying them, +which knots he who tied them can loose without any trouble, because +he knows the joinings and the difficulties of them, and these +nevertheless afford us some pleasure, because they test the +sharpness of our wits, and engross, our attention; so also these +questions, which seem subtle and tricky, prevent our intellects +becoming careless and lazy, for they ought at one time to have a +field given them to level, in order that they may wander about it, +and at another to have some dark and rough passage thrown in their +way for them to creep through, and make their way with caution. It +is said by our opponent that no one is ungrateful; and this is +supported by the following arguments: "A benefit is that which does +good; but, as you Stoics say, no one can do good to a bad man; +therefore, a bad man does not receive a benefit. (If he does not +receive it, he need not return it; therefore, no bad man is +ungrateful.) Furthermore, a benefit is an honourable and +commendable thing. No honourable or commendable thing can find any +place with a bad man; therefore, neither can a benefit. If he +cannot receive one, he need not repay one; therefore, he does not +become ungrateful. Moreover, as you say, a good man does everything +rightly; if he does everything rightly, he cannot be ungrateful. A +good man returns a benefit, a bad man does not receive one. If this +be so, no man, good or bad, can be ungrateful. Therefore, there is +no such thing in nature as an ungrateful man: the word is +meaningless." We Stoics have only one kind of good, that which is +honourable. This cannot come to a bad man, for he would cease to be +bad if virtue entered into him; but as long as he is bad, no one +can bestow a benefit upon him, because good and bad are contraries, +and cannot exist together. Therefore, no one can do good to such a +man, because whatever he receives is corrupted by his vicious way +of using it. Just as the stomach, when disordered by disease and +secreting bile, changes all the food which it receives, and turns +every kind of sustenance into a source of pain, so whatever you +entrust to an ill-regulated mind becomes to it a burden, an +annoyance, and a source of misery. Thus the most prosperous and the +richest men have the most trouble; and the more property they have +to perplex them, the less likely they are to find out what they +really are. Nothing, therefore, can reach bad men which would do +them good; nay, nothing which would not do them harm. They change +whatever falls to their lot into their own evil nature; and things +which elsewhere would, if given to better men, be both beautiful +and profitable, are ruinous to them. They cannot, therefore, bestow +benefits, because no one can give what he does not possess, and, +therefore, they lack the pleasure of doing good to others. + +XIII. But, though this be so, yet even a bad man can receive some +things which resemble benefits, and he will be ungrateful if he +does not return them. There are good things belonging to the mind, +to the body, and to fortune. A fool or a bad man is debarred from +the first--those, that is, of the mind; but he is admitted to a +share in the two latter, and, if he does not return them, he is +ungrateful. Nor does this follow from our (Stoic) system alone the +Peripatetics, also, who widely extend the boundaries of human +happiness, declare that trifling benefits reach bad men, and that +he who does not return them is ungrateful. We therefore do not +agree that things which do not tend to improve the mind should be +called benefits, yet do not deny that these things are convenient +and desirable. Such things as these a bad man may bestow upon a +good man, or may receive from him--such, for example, as money, +clothes, public office, or life; and, if he makes no return for +these, he will come under the denomination of ungrateful. "But how +can you call a man ungrateful for not returning that which you say +is not a benefit?" Some things, on account of their similarity, are +included under the same designation, although they do not really +deserve it. Thus we speak of a silver or golden box; ["The original +word is 'pyx,' which means a box made of box-wood."] thus we call a +man illiterate, although he may not be utterly ignorant, but only +not acquainted with the higher branches of literature; thus, seeing +a badly-dressed ragged man we say that we have seen a naked man. +These things of which we spoke are not benefits, but they possess +the appearance of benefits. "Then, just as they are quasi-benefits, +so your man is quasi-ungrateful, not really ungrateful." This is +untrue, because both he who gives and he who receives them speaks +of them as benefits; so he who fails to return the semblance of a +real benefit is as much an ungrateful man as he who mixes a +sleeping draught, believing it to be poison, is a poisoner. + +XIV. Cleanthes speaks more impetuously than this. "Granted," says +he, "that what he received was not a benefit, yet he is ungrateful, +because he would not have returned a benefit if he had received +one." So he who carries deadly weapons and has intentions of +robbing and murdering, is a brigand even before he has dipped his +hands in blood; his wickedness consists and is shown in action, but +does not begin thereby. Men are punished for sacrilege, although no +one's hands can reach to the gods. "How," asks our opponent, "can +any one be ungrateful to a bad man, since a bad man cannot bestow a +benefit?" In the same way, I answer, because that which he received +was not a benefit, but was called one; if any one receives from a +bad man any of those things which are valued by the ignorant, and +of which bad men often possess great store, it becomes his duty to +make a return in the same kind, and to give back as though they +were truly good those things which he received as though they were +truly good. A man is said to be in debt, whether he owes gold +pieces or leather marked with a state stamp, such as the +Lacedaemonians used, which passes for coined money. Pay your debts +in that kind in which you incurred them. You have nothing to do +with the definition of benefits, or with the question whether so +great and noble a name ought to be degraded by applying it to such +vulgar and mean matters as these, nor do we seek for truth that we +may use it to the disadvantage of others; do you adjust your minds +to the semblance of truth, and while you are learning what is +really honourable, respect everything to which the name of honour +is applied. + +XV. "In the same way," argues our adversary, "that your school +proves that no one is ungrateful, you afterwards prove that all men +are ungrateful. For, as you say, all fools are bad men; he who has +one vice has all vices; all men are both fools and bad men; +therefore all men are ungrateful." Well, what then? Are they not? +Is not this the universal reproach of the human race? is there not +a general complaint that benefits are thrown away, and that there +are very few men who do not requite their benefactors with the +basest ingratitude? Nor need you suppose that what we say is merely +the grumbling of men who think every act wicked and depraved which +falls short of an ideal standard of righteousness. Listen! I know +not who it is who speaks, yet the voice with which he condemns +mankind proceeds, not from the schools of philosophers, but from +the midst of the crowd: + + "Host is not safe from guest; + Father-in-law from son; but seldom love + Exists 'twixt brothers; wives long to destroy + Their husbands; husbands long to slay their wives." + +This goes even further: according to this, crimes take the place of +benefits, and men do not shrink from shedding the blood of those +for whom they ought to shed their own; we requite benefits by steel +and poison. We call laying violent hands upon our own country, and +putting down its resistance by the fasces of its own lictors, +gaining power and great place; every man thinks himself to be in a +mean and degraded position if he has not raised himself above the +constitution; the armies which are received from the state are +turned against her, and a general now says to his men, "Fight +against your wives, fight against your children, march in arms +against your altars, your hearths and homes!" Yes, [Footnote: I +believe, in spite of Gertz, that this is part of the speech of the +Roman general, and that the conjecture of Muretus, "without the +command of the senate," gives better sense.] you, who even when +about to triumph ought not to enter the city at the command of the +senate, and who have often, when bringing home a victorious army, +been given an audience outside the walls, you now, after +slaughtering your countrymen, stained with the blood of your +kindred, march into the city with standards erect. "Let liberty," +say you, "be silent amidst the ensigns of war, and now that wars +are driven far away and no ground for terror remains, let that +people which conquered and civilized all nations be beleaguered +within its own walls, and shudder at the sight of its own eagles." + +XVI. Coriolanus was ungrateful, and became dutiful late, and after +repenting of his crime; he did indeed lay down his arms, but only +in the midst of his unnatural warfare. Catilina was ungrateful; he +was not satisfied with taking his country captive without +overturning it, without despatching the hosts of the Allobroges +against it, without bringing an enemy from beyond the Alps to glut +his old inborn hatred, and to offer Roman generals as sacrifices +which had been long owing to the tombs of the Gaulish dead. Caius +Marius was ungrateful, when, after being raised from the ranks to +the consulship, he felt that he would not have wreaked his +vengeance upon fortune, and would sink to his original obscurity, +unless he slaughtered Romans as freely as he had slaughtered the +Cimbri, and not merely gave the signal, but was himself the signal +for civil disasters and butcheries. Lucius Sulla was ungrateful, +for he saved his country by using remedies worse than the perils +with which it was threatened, when he marched through human blood +all the way from the citadel of Praeneste to the Colline Gate, +fought more battles and caused more slaughter afterwards within the +city, and most cruelly after the victory was won, most wickedly +after quarter had been promised them, drove two legions into a +corner and put them to the sword, and, great gods! invented a +proscription by which he who slew a Roman citizen received +indemnity, a sum of money, everything but a civic crown! Cnaeus +Pompeius was ungrateful, for the return which he made to his +country for three consulships, three triumphs, and the innumerable +public offices into most of which he thrust himself when under age, +was to lead others also to lay hands upon her under the pretext of +thus rendering his own power less odious; as though what no one +ought to do became right if more than one person did it. Whilst he +was coveting extraordinary commands, arranging the provinces so as +to have his own choice of them, and dividing the whole state with a +third person, [Footnote: Crassus.] in such a manner as to leave +two-thirds of it in the possession of his own family, [Footnote: +Pompey was married to Caesar's daughter. Cf. Virg., "Aen.," vi., +831, sq., and Lucan's beautiful verses, "Phars.," i., 114.] he +reduced the Roman people to such a condition that they could only +save themselves by submitting to slavery. The foe and conqueror +[Footnote: Seneca is careful to avoid the mention of Caesar's name, +which might have given offence to the emperors under whom he lived, +who used the name as a title.] of Pompeius was himself ungrateful; +he brought war from Gaul and Germany to Rome, and he, the friend of +the populace, the champion of the commons, pitched his camp in the +Circus Flaminus, nearer to the city than Porsena's camp had been. +He did, indeed, use the cruel privileges of victory with +moderation; as was said at the time, he protected his countrymen, +and put to death no man who was not in arms. Yet what credit is +there in this? Others used their arms more cruelly, but flung them +away when glutted with blood, while he, though he soon sheathed the +sword, never laid it aside. Antonius was ungrateful to his +dictator, who he declared was rightly slain, and whose murderers he +allowed to depart to their commands in the provinces; as for his +country, after it had been torn to pieces by so many proscriptions, +invasions, and civil wars, he intended to subject it to kings, not +even of Roman birth, and to force that very state to pay tribute to +eunuchs, [Footnote: The allusion is to Antonius's connection with +Cleopatra. Cf. Virg. "Aen.," viii., 688.] which had itself restored +sovereign rights, autonomy, and immunities, to the Achaeans, the +Rhodians, and the people of many other famous cities. + +XVII. The day would not be long enough for me to enumerate those +who have pushed their ingratitude so far as to ruin their native +land. It would be as vast a task to mention how often the state has +been ungrateful to its best and most devoted lovers, although it +has done no less wrong than it has suffered. It sent Camillus and +Scipio into exile; even after the death of Catiline it exiled +Cicero, destroyed his house, plundered his property, and did +everything which Catiline would have done if victorious; Rutilius +found his virtue rewarded with a hiding-place in Asia; to Cato the +Roman people refused the praetorship, and persisted in refusing the +consulship. We are ungrateful in public matters; and if every man +asks himself, you will find that there is no one who has not some +private ingratitude to complain of. Yet it is impossible that all +men should complain, unless all were deserving of complaint, +therefore all men are ungrateful. Are they ungrateful alone? nay, +they are also all covetous, all spiteful, and all cowardly, +especially those who appear daring; and, besides this, all men fawn +upon the great, and all are impious. Yet you need not be angry with +them; pardon them, for they are all mad. I do not wish to recall +you to what is not proved, or to say, "See how ungrateful is youth! +what young man, even if of innocent life, does not long for his +father's death? even if moderate in his desires, does not look +forward to it? even if dutiful, does not think about it? How few +there are who fear the death even of the best of wives, who do not +even calculate the probabilities of it. Pray, what litigant, after +having been successfully defended, retains any remembrance of so +great a benefit for more than a few days?" All agree that no one +dies without complaining. Who on his last day dares to say, + + "I've lived, I've done the task which Fortune set me." + +Who does not leave the world with reluctance, and with +lamentations? Yet it is the part of an ungrateful man not to be +satisfied with the past. Your days will always be few if you count +them. Reflect that length of time is not the greatest of blessings; +make the best of your time, however short it may be; even if the +day of your death be postponed, your happiness will not be +increased, for life is merely made longer, not pleasanter, by +delay. How much better is it to be thankful for the pleasures which +one has received, not to reckon up the years of others, but to set +a high value upon one's own, and score them to one's credit, +saying, "God thought me worthy of this; I am satisfied with it; he +might have given me more, but this, too, is a benefit." Let us be +grateful towards both gods and men, grateful to those who have +given us anything, and grateful even to those who have given +anything to our relatives. + +XVIII. "You render me liable to an infinite debt of gratitude," +says our opponent, "when you say 'even to those who have given any +thing to our relations,' so fix some limit. He who bestows a +benefit upon the son, according to you, bestows it likewise upon +the father: this is the first question I wish to raise. In the next +place I should like to have a clear definition of whether a +benefit, if it be bestowed upon your friend's father as well as +upon himself, is bestowed also upon his brother? or upon his uncle? +or his grandfather? or his wife and his father-in-law? tell me +where I am to stop, how far I am to follow out the pedigree of the +family?" + +SENECA. If I cultivate your land, I bestow a benefit upon you; if I +extinguish your house when burning, or prop it so as to save it +from falling, I shall bestow a benefit upon you; if I heal your +slave, I shall charge it to you; if I save your son's life, will +you not thereby receive a benefit from me? + +XIX. THE ADVERSARY. Your instances are not to the purpose, for he +who cultivates my land, does not benefit the land, but me; he who +props my house so that it does not fall, does this service to me, +for the house itself is without feeling, and as it has none, it is +I who am indebted to him; and he who cultivates my land does so +because he wishes to oblige me, not to oblige the land. I should +say the same of a slave; he is a chattel owned by me; he is saved +for my advantage, therefore I am indebted for him. My son is +himself capable of receiving a benefit; so it is he who receives +it; I am gratified at a benefit which comes so near to myself, but +am not laid under any obligation. + +SE. Still I should like you, who say that you are under no +obligation, to answer me this. The good health, the happiness, and +the inheritance of a son are connected with his father; his father +will be more happy if he keeps his son safe, and more unhappy if he +loses him. What follows, then? when a man is made happier by me and +is freed from the greatest danger of unhappiness, does he not +receive a benefit? + +AD. No, because there are some things which are bestowed upon +others, and yet flow from them so as to reach ourselves; yet we +must ask the person upon whom it was bestowed for repayment; as for +example, money must be sought from the man to whom it was lent, +although it may, by some means, have come into my hands. There is +no benefit whose advantages do not extend to the receiver's nearest +friends, and sometimes even to those less intimately connected with +him; yet we do not enquire whither the benefit has proceeded from +him to whom it was first given, but where it was first placed. You +must demand repayment from the defendant himself personally. + +SE. Well, but I pray you, do you not say, "you have preserved my +son for me; had he perished, I could not have survived him?" Do you +not owe a benefit for the life of one whose safety you value above +your own? Moreover, should I save your son's life, you would fall +down before my knees, and would pay vows to heaven as though you +yourself had been saved; you would say, "It makes no difference +whether you have saved mine or me; you have saved us both, yet me +more than him." Why do you say this, if you do not receive a +benefit? + +A.D. Because, if my son were to contract a loan, I should pay his +creditor, yet I should not, therefore, be indebted to him; or if my +son were taken in adultery, I should blush, yet I should not, +therefore, be an adulterer. I say that I am under an obligation to +you for saving my son, not because I really am, but because I am +willing to constitute myself your debtor of my own free will. On +the other hand I have derived from his safety the greatest possible +pleasure and advantage, and I have escaped that most dreadful blow, +the loss of my child. True, but we are not now discussing whether +you have done me any good or not, but whether you have bestowed a +benefit upon me; for animals, stones, and herbs can do one good, +but do not bestow benefits, which can only be given by one who +wishes well to the receiver. Now you do not wish well to the +father, but only to the son; and sometimes you do not even know the +father. So when you have said, "Have I not bestowed a benefit upon +the father by saving the son?" you ought to meet this with, "Have +I, then, bestowed a benefit upon a father whom I do not know, whom +I never thought of?" And what will you say when, as is sometimes the +case, you hate the father, and yet save his son? Can you be thought +to have bestowed a benefit upon one whom you hated most bitterly +while you were bestowing it? + +However, if I were to lay aside the bickering of dialogue, and +answer you as a lawyer, I should say that you ought to consider the +intention of the giver, you must regard his benefit as bestowed +upon the person upon whom he meant to bestow it. If he did it in +honour of the father, then the father received the benefit; if he +thought only of the son, then the father is not laid under any +obligation: by the benefit which was conferred upon the son, even +though the father derives pleasure from it. Should he, however, +have an opportunity, he will himself wish to give you something, +yet not as though he were forced to repay a debt, but rather as if +he had grounds for beginning an exchange of favours. No return for +a benefit ought to be demanded from the father of the receiver; if +he does you any kindness in return for it, he should be regarded +as, a righteous man, but not as a grateful one. For there is no end +to it; if I bestow a benefit on the receiver's father, do I +likewise bestow it upon his mother, his grandfather, his maternal +uncle, his children, relations, friends, slaves, and country? +Where, then, does a benefit begin to stop? for there follows it +this endless chain of people, to whom it is hard to assign bounds, +because they join it by degrees, and are always creeping on towards +it. + +XX. A common question is, "Two brothers are at variance. If I save +the life of one, do I confer a benefit upon the other, who will be +sorry that his hated brother did not perish?" There can be no doubt +that it is a benefit to do good to a man, even against that man's +will, just as he, who against his own will does a man good, does +not bestow a benefit upon him. "Do you," asks our adversary, "call +that by which he is displeased and hurt a benefit?" Yes; many +benefits have a harsh and forbidding appearance, such as cutting or +burning to cure disease, or confining with chains. We must not +consider whether a man is grieved at receiving a benefit, but +whether he ought to rejoice: a coin is not bad because it is +refused by a savage who is unacquainted with its proper stamp. A +man receives a benefit even though he hates what is done, provided +that it does him good, and that the giver bestowed it in order to +do him good. It makes no difference if he receives a good thing in +a bad spirit. Consider the converse of this. Suppose that a man +hates his brother, though it is to his advantage to have a brother, +and I kill this brother, this is not a benefit, though he may say +that it is, and be glad of it. Our most artful enemies are those +whom we thank for the wrongs which they do us. + +"I understand; a thing which does good is a benefit, a thing which +does harm is not a benefit. Now I will suggest to you an act which +neither does good nor harm, and yet is a benefit. Suppose that I +find the corpse of some one's father in a wilderness, and bury it, +then I certainly have done him no good, for what difference could +it make to him in what manner his body decayed? Nor have I done any +good to his son, for what advantage does he gain by my act?" I will +tell you what he gains. He has by my means performed a solemn and +necessary rite; I have performed a service for his father which he +would have wished, nay, which it would have been his duty to have +performed himself. Yet this act is not a benefit, if I merely +yielded to those feelings of pity and kindliness which would make +me bury any corpse whatever, but only if I recognized this body, +and buried it, with the thought in my mind that I was doing this +service to the son; but, by merely throwing earth over a dead +stranger, I lay no one under an obligation for an act performed on +general principles of humanity. + +It may be asked, "Why are you so careful in inquiring upon whom you +bestow benefits, as though some day you meant to demand repayment +of them? Some say that repayment should never be demanded; and they +give the following reasons. An unworthy man will not repay the +benefit which he has received, even if it be demanded of him, while +a worthy man will do so of his own accord. Consequently, if you +have bestowed it upon a good man, wait; do not outrage him by +asking him for it, as though of his own accord he never would repay +it. If you have bestowed it upon a bad man, suffer for it, but do +not spoil your benefit by turning it into a loan. Moreover the law, +by not authorizing you, forbids you, by implication, to demand the +repayment of a benefit." All this is nonsense. As long as I am in +no pressing need, as long as I am not forced by poverty, I will +lose my benefits rather than ask for repayment; but if the lives of +my children were at stake, if my wife were in danger, if my regard +for the welfare of my country and for my own liberty were to force +me to adopt a course which I disliked, I should overcome my +delicacy, and openly declare that I had done all that I could to +avoid the necessity of receiving help from an ungrateful man; the +necessity of obtaining repayment of one's benefit will in the end +overcome one's delicacy about asking for it. In the next place, +when I bestow a benefit upon a good man, I do so with the intention +of never demanding repayment, except in case of absolute necessity. + +XXI. "But," argues he, "by not authorizing you, the law forbids you +to exact repayment." There are many things which are not enforced +by any law or process, but which the conventions of society, which +are stronger than any law, compel us to observe. There is no law +forbidding us to divulge our friend's secrets; there is no law +which bids us keep faith even with an enemy; pray what law is there +which binds us to stand by what we have promised? There is none. +Nevertheless I should remonstrate with one who did not keep a +secret, and I should be indignant with one who pledged his word and +broke it. "But," he argues, "you are turning a benefit into a +loan." By no means, for I do not insist upon repayment, but only +demand it; nay, I do not even demand it, but remind my friend of +it. Even the direst need will not bring me to apply for help to one +with whom I should have to undergo a long struggle. + +If there be any one so ungrateful that it is not sufficient to +remind him of his debt, I should pass him over, and think that he +did not deserve to be made grateful by force. A money-lender does +not demand repayment from his debtors if he knows they have become +bankrupt, and, to their shame, have nothing but shame left to lose; +and I, like him, should pass over those who are openly and +obstinately ungrateful, and would demand repayment only from those +who were likely to give it me, not from those from whom I should +have to extort it by force. + +XXII. There are many who cannot deny that they have received a +benefit, yet cannot return it--men who are not good enough to be +termed grateful, nor yet bad enough to be termed ungrateful; but +who are dull and sluggish, backward debtors, though not defaulters. +Such men as these I should not ask for repayment, but forcibly +remind them of it, and, from a state of indifference, bring them +back to their duty. They would at once reply, "Forgive me; I did +not know, by Hercules, that you missed this, or I would have +offered it of my own accord, I beg that you will not think me +ungrateful; I remember your goodness to me." Why need I hesitate to +make such men as these better to themselves and to me? I would +prevent any one from doing wrong, if I were able; much more would I +prevent a friend, both lest he should do wrong, and lest he should +do wrong to me in particular. I bestow a second benefit upon him by +not permitting him to be ungrateful; and I should not reproach him +harshly with what I had done for him, but should speak as gently as +I could. In order to afford him an opportunity of returning my +kindness, I should refresh his remembrance of it, and ask for a +benefit; he would understand that I was asking for repayment. +Sometimes I would make use of somewhat severe language, if I had +any hope that by it he might be amended; though I would not +irritate a hopelessly ungrateful man, for fear that I might turn +him into an enemy. If we spare the ungrateful even the affront of +reminding them of their conduct, we shall render them' more +backward in returning benefits; and although some might be cured of +their evil ways, and be made into good men, if their consciences +were stung by remorse, yet we shall allow them to perish for want +of a word of warning, with which a father sometimes corrects his +son, a wife brings back to herself an erring husband, or a man +stimulates the wavering fidelity of his friend. + +XXIII. To awaken some men, it is only necessary to stir them, not +to strike them; in like manner, with some men, the feeling of +honour about returning a benefit is not extinct, but slumbering. +Let us rouse it. "Do not," they will say, "make the kindness you +have done me into a wrong: for it is a wrong, if you do not demand +some return from me, and so make me ungrateful. What if I do not +know what sort of repayment you wish for? if I am so occupied by +business, and my attention is so much diverted to other subjects +that I have not been able to watch for an opportunity of serving +you? Point out to me what I can do for you, what you wish me to do. +Why do you despair, before making a trial of me? Why are you in +such haste to lose both your benefit and your friend? How can you +tell whether I do not wish, or whether I do not know how to repay +you: whether it be in intention or in opportunity that I am +wanting? Make a trial of me." I would therefore remind him of what +I had done, without bitterness, not in public, or in a reproachful +manner, but so that he may think that he himself has remembered it +rather than that it has been recalled to him. + +XXIV. One of Julius Caesar's veterans was once pleading before him +against his neighbours, and the cause was going against him. "Do +you remember, general," said he, "that in Spain you dislocated your +ankle near the river Sucro [Footnote: Xucar]?" When Caesar said +that he remembered it, he continued, "Do you remember that when, +during the excessive heat, you wished to rest under a tree which +afforded very little shade, as the ground in which that solitary +tree grew was rough and rocky, one of your comrades spread his +cloak under you?" Caesar answered, "Of course, I remember; indeed, +I was perishing with thirst; and since was unable to walk to the +nearest spring, I would have crawled thither on my hands and knees, +had not my comrade, a brave and active man, brought me water in his +helmet." "Could you, then, my general, recognize that man or that +helmet?" Caesar replied that he could not remember the helmet, but +that he could remember the man well; and he added, I fancy in anger +at being led away to this old story in the midst of a judicial +enquiry, "At any rate, you are not he." "I do not blame you, +Caesar," answered the man, "for not recognizing me; for when this +took place, I was unwounded; but afterwards, at the battle of +Munda, my eye was struck out, and the bones of my skull crushed. +Nor would you recognize that helmet if you saw it, for it was split +by a Spanish sword." Caesar would not permit this man to be +troubled with lawsuits, and presented his old soldier with the +fields through which a village right of way had given rise to the +dispute. + +XXV. In this case, what ought he to have done? Because his +commander's memory was confused by a multitude of incidents, and +because his position as the leader of vast armies did not permit +him to notice individual soldiers, ought the man not to have asked +for a return for the benefit which he had conferred? To act as he +did is not so much to ask for a return as to take it when it lies +in a convenient position ready for us, although we have to stretch +out our hands in order to receive it. I shall therefore ask for the +return of a benefit, whenever I am either reduced to great straits, +or where by doing so I shall act to the advantage of him from whom +I ask it. Tiberius Caesar, when some one addressed him with the +words, "Do you remember . . . .?" answered, before the man could +mention any further proofs of former acquaintance, "I do not +remember what I was." Why should it not be forbidden to demand of +this man repayment of former favours? He had a motive for +forgetting them: he denied all knowledge of his friends and +comrades, and wished men only to see, to think, and to speak of him +as emperor. He regarded his old friend as an impertinent meddler. + +We ought to be even more careful to choose a favorable opportunity +when we ask for a benefit to be repaid to us than when we ask for +one to be bestowed upon us. We must be temperate in our language, +so that the grateful may not take offence, or the ungrateful +pretend to do so. If we lived among wise men, it would be our duty +to wait in silence until our benefits were returned. Yet even to +wise men it would be better to give some hint of what our position +required. We ask for help even from the gods themselves, from whose +knowledge nothing is hid, although our prayers cannot alter their +intentions towards us, but can only recall them to their minds. +Homer's priest, [Il. i. 39 sqq.] I say, recounts even to the gods +his duteous conduct and his pious care of their altars. The second +best form of virtue is to be willing and able to take advice.[Hes. +Op. 291.] A horse who is docile and prompt to obey can be guided +hither and thither by the slightest movement of the reins. Very few +men are led by their own reason: those who come next to the best +are those who return to the right path in consequence of advice; +and these we must not deprive of their guide. When our eyes are +covered they still possess sight; but it is the light of day which, +when admitted to them, summons them to perform their duty: tools +lie idle, unless the workman uses them to take part in his work. +Similarly men's minds contain a good feeling, which, however, lies +torpid, either through luxury and disuse, or through ignorance of +its duties. This we ought to render useful, and not to get into a +passion with it, and leave it in its wrong doing, but bear with it +patiently, just as schoolmasters bear patiently with the blunders +of forgetful scholars; for as by the prompting of a word or two +their memory is often recalled to the text of the speech which they +have to repeat, so men's goodwill can be brought to return kindness +by reminding them of it. + + + + +BOOK VI. + +I. + + +There are some things, my most excellent Liberalis, which lie +completely outside of our actual life, and which we only inquire +into in order to exercise our intellects, while others both give us +pleasure while we are discovering them, and are of use when +discovered. I will place all these in your hands; you, at your own +discretion, may order them either to be investigated thoroughly, or +to be reserved, and be used as agreeable interludes. Something will +be gained even by those which you dismiss at once, for it is +advantageous even to know what subjects are not worth learning. I +shall be guided, therefore, by your face: according to its +expression, I shall deal with some questions at greater length, and +drive others out of court, and put an end to them at once. + +II. It is a question whether a benefit can be taken away from one +by force. Some say that it cannot, because it is not a thing, but +an act. A gift is not the same as the act of giving, any more than +a sailor is the same as the act of sailing. A sick man and a +disease are not the same thing, although no one can be ill without +disease; and, similarly, a benefit itself is one thing, and what +any of us receive through a benefit is another. The benefit itself +is incorporeal, and never becomes invalid; but its subject-matter +changes owners, and passes from hand to hand. So, when you take +away from anyone what you have given him, you take away the +subject-matter only of the benefit, not the benefit itself. Nature +herself cannot recall what she has given. She may cease to bestow +benefits, but cannot take them away: a man who dies, yet has lived; +a man who becomes blind, nevertheless has seen. She can cut off her +blessings from us in the future, but she cannot prevent our having +enjoyed them in the past. We are frequently not able to enjoy a +benefit for long, but the benefit is not thereby destroyed. Let +Nature struggle as hard as she please, she cannot give herself +retrospective action. A man may lose his house, his money, his +property--everything to which the name of benefit can be given-- +yet the benefit itself will remain firm and unmoved; no power can +prevent his benefactor's having bestowed them, or his having +received them. + +III. I think that a fine passage in Rabirius's poem, where M. +Antonius, seeing his fortune deserting him, nothing left him except +the privilege of dying, and even that only on condition that he +used it promptly, exclaims, + + "What I have given, that I now possess!" + +How much he might have possessed, had he chosen! These are riches +to be depended upon, which through all the turmoil of human life +will remain steadfast; and the greater they are, the less envy they +will attract. Why are you sparing of your property, as though it +were your own? You are but the manager of it. All those treasures, +which make you swell with pride, and soar above mere mortals, till +you forget the weakness of your nature; all that which you lock up +in iron-grated treasuries, and guard in arms, which you win from +other men with their lives, and defend at the risk of your own; for +which you launch fleets to dye the sea with blood, and shake the +walls of cities, not knowing what arrows fortune may be preparing +for you behind your back; to gain which you have so often violated +all the ties of relationship, of friendship, and of colleagueship, +till the whole world lies crushed between the two combatants: all +these are not yours; they are a kind of deposit, which is on the +point of passing into other hands: your enemies, or your heirs, who +are little better, will seize upon them. "How," do you ask, "can +you make them your own?" "By giving them away." Do, then, what is +best for your own interests, and gain a sure enjoyment of them, +which cannot be taken from you, making them at once more certainly +yours, and more honorable to you. That which you esteem so highly, +that by which you think that you are made rich and powerful, owns +but the shabby title of "house," "slave," or "money;" but when you +have given it away, it becomes a benefit. + +IV. "You admit," says our adversary, "that we sometimes are under +no obligation to him from whom we have received a benefit. In that +case it has been taken by force." Nay, there are many things which +would cause us to cease to feel gratitude for a benefit, not +because the benefit has been taken from me, but because it has been +spoiled. Suppose that a man has defended me in a lawsuit, but has +forcibly outraged my wife; he has not taken away the benefit which +he conferred upon me, but by balancing it with an equivalent wrong, +he has set me free from my debt; indeed, if he has injured me more +than he had previously benefited me, he not only puts an end to my +gratitude, but makes me free to revenge myself upon him, and to +complain of him, when the wrong outweighs the benefit; in such a +case the benefit is not taken away, but is overcome. Why, are not +some fathers so cruel and so wicked that it is right and proper for +their sons to turn away from them, and disown them? Yet, pray, have +they taken away the life which they gave? No, but their unnatural +conduct in later years has destroyed all the gratitude which was +due to them for their original benefit. In these cases it is not a +benefit itself, but the gratitude owing for a benefit which is +taken away, and the result is, not that one does not possess the +benefit, but that one is not laid under any obligation by it. It is +as though a man were to lend me money, and then burn my house down; +the advantage of the loan is balanced by the damage which he has +caused: I do not repay him, and yet I am not in his debt. In like +manner any one who may have acted kindly and generously to me, and +who afterwards has shown himself haughty, insulting, and cruel, +places me in just the same position as though I never had received +anything from him: he has murdered his own benefits. Though the +lease may remain in force, still a man does not continue to be a +tenant if his landlord tramples down his crops, or cuts down his +orchard; their contract is at an end, not because the landlord has +received the rent which was agreed upon, but because he has made it +impossible that he should receive it. So, too, a creditor often has +to pay money to his debtor, should he have taken more property from +him in other transactions than he claims as having lent him. The +judge does not sit merely to decide between debtor and creditor, +when he says, "You did lend the man money; but then, what followed? +You have driven away his cattle, you have murdered his slave, you +have in your possession plate which you have not paid for. After +valuing what each has received, I order you, who came to this court +as a creditor, to leave it as a debtor." In like manner a balance +is struck between benefits and injuries. In many cases, I repeat, a +benefit is not taken away from him who receives it, and yet it lays +him under no obligation, if the giver has repented of giving it, +called himself unhappy because he gave it, sighed or made a wry +face while he gave it; if he thought that he was throwing it away +rather than giving it, if he gave it to please himself, or to +please any one except me, the receiver; if he persistently makes +himself offensive by boasting of what he has done, if he brags of +his gift everywhere, and makes it a misery to me, then indeed the +benefit remains in my hands, but I owe him nothing for it, just as +sums of money to which a creditor has no legal right are owed to +him, but cannot be claimed by him; + +V. Though you have bestowed a benefit upon me, yet you have since +done me a wrong; the benefit demanded gratitude, the wrong required +vengeance: the result is that I do not owe you gratitude, nor do +you owe me compensation--each is cancelled by the other. When we +say, "I returned him his benefit," we do not mean that we restored +to him the very thing which we had received, but something else in +its place. To return is to give back one thing instead of another, +because, of course, in all repayment it is not the thing itself, +but its equivalent which is returned. We are said to have returned +money even though we count out gold pieces instead of silver ones, +or even if no money passes between us, but the transaction be +effected verbally by the assignment of a debt. + +I think I see you say, "You are wasting your time; of what use is +it to me to know whether what I do not owe to another still remains +in my hands or not? These are like the ingenious subtleties of the +lawyers, who declare that one cannot acquire an inheritance by +prescription, but can only acquire those things of which the +inheritance consists, as though there were any difference between +the heritage and the things of which it consists. Rather decide +this point for me, which may be of use. If the same man confers a +benefit upon me, and afterwards does me a wrong, is it my duty to +return the benefit to him, and nevertheless to avenge myself upon +him, having, as it were, two distinct accounts open with him, or to +mix them both together, and do nothing, leaving the benefit to be +wiped out by the injury, the injury by the benefit? I see that the +former course is adopted by the law of the land; you know best what +the law may be among you Stoic philosophers in such a case. I +suppose that you keep the action which I bring against another +distinct from that which he Strings against me, and the two +processes are not merged into one? For instance, if a man entrusts +me with money, and afterwards robs me, I shall bring an action +against him for theft, and he will bring one against me for +unlawfully detaining his property?" + +VI. The cases which you have mentioned, my Liberalis, come under +well-established laws, which it is necessary for us to follow. One +law cannot be merged in another: each one proceeds its own way. +There is a particular action which deals with deposits just as +there is one which deals with theft. A benefit is subject to no +law; it depends upon my own arbitration. I am at liberty to +contrast the amount of good or harm which any one may have done me, +and then to decide which of us is indebted to the other. In legal +processes we ourselves have no power, we must go whither they lead +us; in the case of a benefit the supreme power is mine, I pronounce +sentence. Consequently I do not separate or distinguish between +benefits and wrongs, but send them before the same judge. Unless I +did so, you would bid me love and hate, give thanks and make +complaints at the same time, which human nature does not admit of. +I would rather compare the benefit and the injury with one another, +and see whether there were any balance in my favour. If anybody +puts lines of other writing upon my manuscript he conceals, though +he does not take away, the letters which were there before, and in +like manner a wrong coming after a benefit does not allow it to be +seen. + +VII. Your face, by which I have agreed to be guided, now becomes +wrinkled with frowns, as though I were straying too widely from the +subject. You seem to say to me: + + "Why steer to seaward? Hither bend thy course, Hug close the +shore..." + +I do hug it as close as possible. So now, if you think that we have +dwelt sufficiently upon this point, let us proceed to the +consideration of the next--that is, whether we are at all indebted +to any one who does us good without wishing to do so. I might have +expressed this more clearly, if it were not right that the question +should be somewhat obscurely stated, in order that by the +distinction immediately following it may be shown that we mean to +investigate the case both of him who does us good against his will, +and that of him who does us good without knowing it. That a man who +does us good by acting under compulsion does not thereby lay us +under any obligation, is so clear, that no words are needed to +prove it. Both this question, and any other of the like character +which may be raised, can easily be settled if in each case we bear +in mind that, for anything to be a benefit, it must reach us in the +first place through some thought, and secondly through the thought +of a friend and well-wisher. Therefore we do not feel any gratitude +towards rivers, albeit they may bear large ships, afford an ample +and unvarying stream for the conveyance of merchandise, or flow +beauteously and full of fish through fertile fields. No one +conceives himself to be indebted for a benefit to the Nile, any +more than he would owe it a grudge if its waters flooded his fields +to excess, and retired more slowly than usual; the wind does not +bestow benefits, gentle and favorable though it may be, nor does +wholesome and useful food; for he who would bestow a benefit upon +me, must not only do me good, but must wish to do so. No obligation +can therefore be incurred towards dumb animals; yet how many men +have been saved from peril by the swiftness of a horse!--nor yet +towards trees--yet how many sufferers from summer heat have been +sheltered by the thick foliage of a tree! What difference can it +make, whether I have profited by the act of one who did not know +that he was doing me good, or one who could not know it, when in +each case the will to do me good was wanting? You might as well bid +me be grateful to a ship, a carriage, or a lance for saving me from +danger, as bid me be grateful to a man who may have done me good by +chance, but with no more intention of doing me good than those +things could have. + +VIII. Some men may receive benefits without knowing it, but no man +can bestow them without knowing it. Many sick persons have been +cured by chance circumstances, which do not therefore become +specific remedies; as, for instance, one man was restored to health +by falling into a river during very cold weather, as another was +set free from a quartan fever by means of a flogging, because the +sudden terror turned his attention into a new channel, so that the +dangerous hours passed unnoticed. Yet none of these are remedies, +even though they may have been successful; and in like manner some +men do us good, though they are unwilling--indeed, because they are +unwilling to do so--yet we need not feel grateful to them as though +we had received a benefit from them, because fortune has changed +the evil which they intended into good. Do you suppose that I am +indebted to a man who strikes my enemy with a blow which he aimed +at me, who would have injured me had he not missed his mark? It +often happens that by openly perjuring himself a man makes even +trustworthy witnesses disbelieved, and renders his intended victim +an object of compassion, as though he were being ruined by a +conspiracy. Some have been saved by the very power which was +exerted to crush them, and judges who would have condemned a man by +law, have refused to condemn him by favour. Yet they did not confer +a benefit upon the accused, although they rendered him a service, +because we must consider at what the dart was aimed, not what it +hits, and a benefit is distinguished from an injury not by its +result, but by the spirit in which it was meant. By contradicting +himself, by irritating the judge by his arrogance, or by rashly +allowing his whole case to depend upon the testimony of one +witness, my opponent may have saved my cause. I do not consider +whether his mistakes benefited me or not, for he wished me ill. + +IX. In order that I may be grateful, I must wish to do what my +benefactor must have wished in order that he might bestow a +benefit. Can anything be more unjust than to bear a grudge against +a person who may have trodden upon one's foot in a crowd, or +splashed one, or pushed one the way which one did not wish to go? +Yet it was by his act that we were injured, and we only refrain +from complaining of him, because he did not know what he was doing. +The same reason makes it possible for men to do us good without +conferring benefits upon us, or to harm us without doing us wrong, +because it is intention which distinguishes our friends from our +enemies. How many have been saved from service in the army by +sickness! Some men have been saved from sharing the fall of their +house, by being brought up upon their recognizances to a court of +law by their enemies; some have been saved by ship-wreck from +falling into the hands of pirates; yet we do not feel grateful to +such things, because chance has no feeling of the service it +renders, nor are we grateful to our enemy, though his lawsuit, +while it harassed and detained us, still saved our lives. Nothing +can be a benefit which does not proceed from good will, and which +is not meant as such by the giver. If any one does me a service, +without knowing it, I am under no obligation to him; should he do +so, meaning to injure me, I shall imitate his conduct. + +X. Let us turn our attention to the first of these. Can you desire +me to do anything to express my gratitude to a man who did nothing +in order to confer a benefit upon me? Passing on to the next, do +you wish me to show my gratitude to such a man, and of my own will +to return to him what I received from him against his will? What am +I to say of the third, he who, meaning to do an injury, blunders +into bestowing a benefit? That you should have wished to confer a +benefit upon me is not sufficient to render me grateful; but that +you should have wished not to do so is enough to set me free from +any obligation to you. A mere wish does not constitute a benefit; +and just as the best and heartiest wish is not a benefit when +fortune prevents its being carried into effect, neither is what +fortune bestows upon us a benefit, unless good wishes preceded it. +In order to lay me under an obligation, you must not merely do me a +service, but you must do so intentionally. + +XI. Cleanthes makes use of the following example:--"I sent," says +he, "two slaves to look for Plato and bring him to me from the +Academy. One of them searched through the whole of the colonnade, +and every other place in which he thought that he was likely to be +found, and returned home alike weary and unsuccessful; the other +sat down among the audience of a mountebank close by, and, while +amusing himself in the society of other slaves like a careless +vagabond as he was, found Plato, without seeking for him, as he +happened to pass that way. We ought," says he, "to praise that +slave who, as far as lay in his power, did what he was ordered, and +we ought to punish the other whose laziness turned out so +fortunate." It is goodwill alone which does one real service; let +us then consider under what conditions it lays us under +obligations. It is not enough to wish a man well, without doing him +good; nor is it enough to do him good without wishing him well. +Suppose that some one wished to give me a present, but did not give +it; I have his good will, but I do not have his benefit, which +consists of subject matter and goodwill together. I owe nothing to +one who wished to lend me money but did not do so, and in like +manner I shall be the friend of one who wished but was not able to +bestow a benefit upon me, but I shall not be under any obligation +to him. I also shall wish to bestow something upon him, even as he +did upon me; but if fortune be more favorable to me than to him, +and I succeed in bestowing something upon him, my doing so will be +a benefit bestowed upon him, not a repayment out of gratitude for +what he did for me. It will become his duty to be grateful to me; I +shall have begun the interchange of benefits; the series must be +counted from my act. + +XII. I already understand what you wish to ask; there is no need +for you to say anything, your countenance speaks for you. "If any +one does us good for his own sake, are we," you ask, "under an +obligation to him? I often hear you complain that there are some +things which men make use of themselves, but which they put down to +the account of others." I will tell you, my Liberalis; but first +let me distinguish between the two parts of your question, and +separate what is fair from what is unfair. It makes a great +difference whether any one bestows a benefit upon us for his own +sake, or whether he does so partly for his own sake and partly for +ours. He who looks only to his own interests, and who does us good +because he cannot otherwise make a profit for himself, seems to me +to be like the farmer who provides winter and summer fodder for his +flocks, or like the man who feeds up the captives whom he has +bought in order that they may fetch a better price in the slave +market, or who crams and curry-combs fat oxen for sale; or like the +keeper of a school of arms, who takes great pains in exercising and +equipping his gladiators. As Cleanthes says, there is a great +difference between benefits and trade. + +XIII. On the other hand, I am not so unjust as to feel no gratitude +to a man, because, while helping me, he helped himself also; for I +do not insist upon his consulting my interests to the exclusion of +his own--nay, I should prefer that the benefit which I receive may +be of even greater advantage to the giver, provided that he thought +of us both when giving it, and meant to divide it between me and +himself. Even should he possess the larger portion of it, still, if +he admits me to a share, if he meant it for both of us, I am not +only unjust but ungrateful, if I do not rejoice in what has +benefited me benefiting him also. It is the essence of spitefulness +to say that nothing can be a benefit which does not cause some +inconvenience to the giver. + +As for him who bestows a benefit for his own sake, I should say to +him, "You have made use of me, and how can you say that you have +bestowed a benefit upon me, rather than I upon you?" "Suppose," +answers he, "that I cannot obtain a public office except by +ransoming ten citizens out of a great number of captives, will you +owe me nothing for setting you free from slavery and bondage? Yet I +shall do so for my own sake." To this I should answer, "You do this +partly for my sake, partly for your own. It is for your own sake +that you ransom captives, but it is for my sake that you ransom me; +for to serve your purpose it would be enough for you to ransom any +one. I am therefore your debtor, not for ransoming me but for +choosing me, since you might have attained the same result by +ransoming some one else instead of me. You divide the advantages of +the act between yourself and me, and you confer upon me a benefit +by which both of us profit. What you do entirely for my sake is, +that you choose me in preference to others. If therefore you were +to be made praetor for ransoming ten captives, and there were only +ten of us captives, none of us would be under any obligation to +you, because there is nothing for which you can ask any one of us +to give you credit apart from your own advantage. I do not regard a +benefit jealously and wish it to be given to myself alone, but I +wish to have a share in it." + +XIV. "Well, then," says he, "suppose that I were to order all your +names to be put into a ballot-box, and that your name was drawn +among those who were to be ransomed, would you owe me nothing?" +Yes, I should owe you something, but very little: how little, I +will explain to you. By so doing you do something for my sake, in +that you grant me the chance of being ransomed; I owe to fortune +that my name was drawn, all I owe to you is that my name could be +drawn. You have given me the means of obtaining your benefit. For +the greater part of that benefit I am indebted to fortune; that I +could be so indebted, I owe to you. + +I shall take no notice whatever of those whose benefits are +bestowed in a mercenary spirit, who do not consider to whom, but +upon what terms they give, whose benefits are entirely selfish. +Suppose that some one sells me corn; I cannot live unless I buy it; +yet I do not owe my life to him because I have bought it. I do not +consider how essential it was to me, and that I could not live +without it; but how little thanks are due for it, since I could not +have had it without paying for it, and since the merchant who +imported it did not consider how much good he would do me, but how +much he would gain for himself, I owe nothing for what I have +bought and paid for. + +XV. "According to this reasoning," says my opponent, "you would say +that you owe nothing to a physician beyond his paltry fee, nor to +your teacher, because you have paid him some money; yet these +persons are all held very dear, and are very much respected." In +answer to this I should urge that some things are of greater value +than the price which we pay for them. You buy of a physician life +and good health, the value of which cannot be estimated in money; +from a teacher of the liberal sciences you buy the education of a +gentleman and mental culture; therefore you pay these persons the +price, not of what they give us, but of their trouble in giving it; +you pay them for devoting their attention to us, for disregarding +their own affairs to attend to us: they receive the price, not of +their services, but of the expenditure of their time. Yet this may +be more truly stated in another way, which I will at once lay +before you, having first pointed out how the above may be confuted. +Our adversary would say, "If some things are of greater value than +the price which we pay for them, then, though you may have bought +them, you still owe me something more for them." I answer, in the +first place, what does their real value matter, since the buyer and +seller have settled the price between them? Next, I did not buy it +at it's own price, but at yours. "It is," you say, "worth more than +its sale price." True, but it cannot be sold for more. The price of +everything varies according to circumstances; after you have well +praised your wares, they are worth only the highest price at which +you can sell them; a man who buys things cheap is not on that +account under any obligation to the seller. In the next place, even +if they are worth more, there is no generosity in your letting them +go for less, since the price is settled by custom and the rate of +the market, not by the uses and powers of the merchandise. What +would you state to be the proper payment of a man who crosses the +seas, holding a true course through the midst of the waves after +the land has sunk out of sight, who foresees coming storms, and +suddenly, when no one expects danger, orders sails to be furled, +yards to be lowered, and the crew to stand at their posts ready to +meet the fury of the unexpected gale? and yet the price of such +great skill is fully paid for by the passage money. At what sum can +you estimate the value of a lodging in a wilderness, of a shelter +in the rain, of a bath or fire in cold weather? Yet I know on what +terms I shall be supplied with these when I enter an inn. How much +the man does for us who props our house when it is about to fall, +and who, with a skill beyond belief, suspends in the air a block of +building which has begun to crack at the, foundation; yet we can +contract for underpinning at a fixed and cheap rate. The city wall +keeps us safe from our enemies, and from sudden inroads of +brigands; yet it is, well known how much a day a smith would earn +for erecting towers and scaffoldings [Footnote: See Viollet-le- +Duc's "Dictionnaire d'Architecture," articles "Architecture +Militaire" and "Hourds," for the probable meaning of +"Propugnacula."]to provide for the public safety. + +XVI. I might go on for ever collecting instances to prove that +valuable things are sold at a low price. What then? why is it that +I owe something extra both to my physician and to my teacher, and +that I do not acquit myself of all obligation to them by paying +them their fee? It is because they pass from physicians and +teachers into friends, and lay us under obligations, not by the +skill which they sell to us, but by kindly and familiar good will. +If my physician does no more than feel my pulse and class me among +those whom he sees in his daily rounds, pointing out what I ought +to do or to avoid without any personal interest, then I owe him no +more than his fee, because he views me with the eye not of a +friend, but of a commander. [Footnote: I read "Nbn tamquam amicus +videt sed tamquam imperator."] Neither have I any reason for loving +my teacher, if he has regarded me merely as one of the mass of his +scholars, and has not thought me worthy of taking especial pains +with by myself, if he has never fixed his attention upon me, and if +when he discharged his knowledge on the public, I might be said +rather to have picked it up than to have learnt it from him. What +then is our reason for owing them much? It is, not that what they +have sold us is worth more than we paid for it, but that they have +given something to us personally. Suppose that my physician has +spent more consideration upon my case than was professionally +necessary; that it was for me, not for his own credit, that he +feared: that he was not satisfied with pointing out remedies, but +himself applied them, that he sat by my bedside among my anxious +friends, and came to see me at the crises of my disorder; that no +service was too troublesome or too disgusting for him to perform; +that he did not hear my groans unmoved; that among the numbers who +called for him I was his favourite case; and that he gave the +others only so much time as his care of my health permitted him: I +should feel obliged to such a man not as to a physician, but as to +a friend. Suppose again that my teacher endured labour and +weariness in instructing me; that he taught me something more than +is taught by all masters alike; that he roused my better feelings +by his encouragement, and that at one time he would raise my +spirits by praise, and at another warn me to shake off +slothfulness: that he laid his hand, as it were, upon my latent and +torpid powers of intellect and drew them out into the light of day; +that he did not stingily dole out to me what he knew, in order that +he might be wanted for a longer time, but was eager, if possible, +to pour all his learning into me; then I am ungrateful, if I do not +love him as much as I love my nearest relatives and my dearest +friends. + +XVII. We give something additional even to those who teach the +meanest trades, if their efforts appear to be extraordinary; we +bestow a gratuity upon pilots, upon workmen who deal with the +commonest materials and hire themselves out by the day. In the +noblest arts, however, those which either preserve or beautify our +lives, a man would be ungrateful who thinks he owes the artist no +more than he bargained for. Besides this, the teaching of such +learning as we have spoken of blends mind with mind; now when this +takes place, both in the case of the physician and of the teacher +the price of his work is paid, but that of his mind remains owing. + +XVIII. Plato once crossed a river, and as the ferryman did not ask +him for anything, he supposed that he had let him pass free out of +respect, and said that the ferryman had laid Plato under an +obligation. Shortly afterwards, seeing the ferryman take one person +after another across the river with the same pains, and without +charging anything, Plato declared that the ferryman had not laid +him under an obligation. If you wish me to be grateful for what you +give, you must not merely give it to me, but show that you mean it +specially for me; you cannot make any claim upon one for having +given him what you fling away broad-cast among the crowd. What +then? shall I owe you nothing for it? Nothing, as an individual; I +will pay, when the rest of mankind do, what I owe no more than +they. + +XIX. "Do you say," inquires my opponent, "that he who carries me +gratis in a boat across the river Po, does not bestow any benefit +upon me?" I do. He does me some good, but he does not bestow a +benefit upon me; for he does it for his own sake, or at any rate +not for mine; in short, he himself does not imagine that he is +bestowing a benefit upon me, but does it for the credit of the +State, or of the neighbourhood, or of himself, and expects some +return for doing so, different from what he would receive from +individual passengers. "Well," asks my opponent, "if the emperor +were to grant the franchise to all the Gauls, or exemption, from +taxes to all the Spaniards, would each individual of them owe him +nothing on that account?" Of course he would: but he would be +indebted to him, not as having personally received a benefit +intended for himself alone, but as a partaker in one conferred upon +his nation. He would argue, "The emperor had no thought of me at +the time when he benefited us all; he did not care to give me the +franchise separately, he did not fix his attention upon me; why +then should I be grateful to one who did not have me in his mind +when he was thinking of doing what he did? In answer to this, I say +that when he thought of doing good to all the Gauls, he thought of +doing good to me also, for I was a Gaul, and he included me under +my national, if not under my personal appellation. In like manner, +I should feel grateful to him, not as for a personal, but for a +general benefit; being only one of the people, I should regard the +debt of gratitude as incurred, not by myself, but by my country, +and should not pay it myself, but only contribute my share towards +doing so. I do not call a man my creditor because he has lent money +to my country, nor should I include that money in a schedule of my +debts were I either a candidate for a public office, or a defendant +in the courts; yet I would pay my share towards extinguishing such +a debt. Similarly, I deny that I am laid under an obligation by a +gift bestowed upon my entire nation, because although the giver +gave it to me, yet he did not do so for my sake, but gave it +without knowing whether he was giving it to me or not: nevertheless +I should feel that I owed something for the gift, because it did +reach me, though not directly. To lay me under an obligation, a +thing must be done for my sake alone. + +XX. "According to this," argues our opponent, "you are under no +obligation to the sun or the moon; for they do not move for your +sake alone." No, but since they move with the object of preserving +the balance of the universe, they move for my sake also, seeing +that I am a fraction of the universe. Besides, our position and +theirs is not the same, for he who does me good in order that he +may by my means do good to himself, does not bestow a benefit upon +me, because he merely makes use of me as an instrument for his own +advantage; whereas the sun and the moon, even if they do us good +for their own sakes, still cannot do good to us in order that by +our means they may do good to themselves, for what is there which +we can bestow upon them? + +XXI. "I should be sure," replies he, "that the sun and the moon +wished to do us good, if they were able to refuse to do so; but +they cannot help moving as they do. In short, let them stop and +discontinue their work." + +See now, in how many ways this argument may be refuted. One who +cannot refuse to do a thing may nevertheless wish to do it; indeed +there is no greater proof of a fixed desire to do anything, than +not to be able to alter one's determination. A good man cannot +leave undone what he does: for unless he does it he will not be a +good man. Is a good man, then, not able to bestow a benefit, +because he does what he ought to do, and is not able not to do what +he ought to do? Besides this, it makes a great difference whether +you say, "He is not able not to do this, because he is forced to do +it," or "He is not able to wish not to do it;" for, if he could not +help doing it, then I am not indebted for it to him, but to the +person who forced him to do it; if he could not help wishing for it +because he had nothing better to wish for, then it is he who forces +himself to do it, and in this case the debt which as acting under +compulsion he could not claim, is due to him as compelling himself. + +"Let the sun and moon cease to wish to benefit us," says our +adversary. I answer, "Remember what has been said. Who can be so +crazy as to refuse the name of free-will to that which has no +danger of ceasing to act, and of adopting the opposite course, +since, on the contrary, he whose will is fixed for ever, must be +thought to wish more earnestly than any one else. Surely if he, who +may at any moment change his mind, can be said to wish, we must not +deny the existence of will in a being whose nature does not admit +of change of mind. + +XXII. "Well," says he "let them stop, if it be possible." What you +say is this:--Let all those heavenly bodies, placed as they are at +vast distances from each other, and arranged to preserve the +balance of the universe, leave their appointed posts: let sudden +confusion arise, so that constellations may collide with +constellations, that the established harmony of all things may be +destroyed and the works of God be shaken into ruin; let the whole +frame of the rapidly moving heavenly bodies abandon in mid career +those movements which we were assured would endure for ages, and +let those which now by their regular advance and retreat keep the +world at a moderate temperature, be instantly consumed by fire, so +that instead of the infinite variety of the seasons all may be +reduced to one uniform condition; let fire rage everywhere, +followed by dull night, and let the bottomless abyss swallow up all +the gods." Is it worth while to destroy all this merely in order to +refute you? Even though you do not wish it, they do you good, and +they wheel in their courses for your sake, though their motion may +be due to some earlier and more important cause. + +XXIII. Besides this, the gods act under no external constraint, but +their own will is a law to them for all time. They have established +an order which is not to be changed, and consequently it is +impossible that they should appear to be likely to do anything +against their will, since they wish to continue doing whatever they +cannot cease from doing, and they never regret their original +decision, No doubt it is impossible for them to stop short, or to +desert to the other side, but it is so for no other reason than +that their own force holds them to their purpose. It is from no +weakness that they persevere; no, they have no mind to leave the +best course, and by this it is fated that they should proceed. +When, at the time of the original creation, they arranged the +entire universe, they paid attention to us as well as to the rest, +and took thought about the human race; and for this reason we +cannot suppose that it is merely for their own pleasure that they +move in their orbits and display their work since we also are a +part of that work. We are, therefore; under an obligation to the +sun and moon and the rest of the heavenly host, because, although +they may rise in order to bestow more important benefits than those +which we receive from them, yet they do bestow these upon us as +they pass on their way to greater things. Besides this, they assist +us of set purpose, and, therefore, lay us under an obligation, +because we do not in their case stumble by chance upon a benefit +bestowed by one who knew not what he was doing, but they knew that +we should receive from them the advantages which we do; so that, +though they may have some higher aim, though the result of their +movements may be something of greater importance than the +preservation of the human race, yet from the beginning thought has +been directed to our comforts, and the scheme of the world has been +arranged in a fashion which proves that our interests were neither +their least nor last concern. It is our duty to show filial love +for our parents, although many of them had no thought of children +when they married. Not so with the gods: they cannot but have known +what they were doing when they furnished mankind with food and +comforts. Those for whose advantage so much was created, could not +have been created without design. Nature conceived the idea of us +before she formed us, and, indeed, we are no such trifling piece of +work as could have fallen from her hands unheeded. See how great +privileges she has bestowed upon us, how far beyond the human race +the empire of mankind extends; consider how widely she allows us to +roam, not having restricted us to the land alone, but permitted us +to traverse every part of herself; consider, too, the audacity of +our intellect, the only one which knows of the gods or seeks for +them, and how we can raise our mind high above the earth, and +commune with those divine influences: you will perceive that man is +not a hurriedly put together, or an unstudied piece of work. Among +her noblest products nature has none of which she can boast more +than man, and assuredly no other which can comprehend her boast. +What madness is this, to call the gods in question for their +bounty? If a man declares that he has received nothing when he is +receiving all the while, and from those who will always be giving +without ever receiving anything in return, how will he be grateful +to those whose kindness cannot be returned without expense? and how +great a mistake is it not to be thankful to a giver, because he is +good even to him who disowns him, or to use the fact of his bounty +being poured upon us in an uninterrupted stream, as an argument to +prove that he cannot help bestowing it. Suppose that such men as +these say, "I do not want it," "Let him keep it to himself," "Who +asks him for it?" and so forth, with all the other speeches of +insolent minds: still, he whose bounty reaches you, although you +say that it does not, lays you under an obligation nevertheless; +indeed, perhaps the greatest part of the benefit which he bestows +is that he is ready to give even when you are complaining against +him. + +XXIV. Do you not see how parents force children during their +infancy to undergo what is useful for their health? Though the +children cry and struggle, they swathe them and bind their limbs +straight lest premature liberty should make them grow crooked, +afterwards instill into them a liberal education, threatening those +who are unwilling to learn, and finally, if spirited young men do +not conduct themselves frugally, modestly, and respectably, they +compel them to do so. Force and harsh measures are used even to +youths who have grown up and are their own masters, if they, either +from fear or from insolence, refuse to take what is good for them. +Thus the greatest benefits that we receive, we receive either +without knowing it, or against our will, from our parents. + +XXV. Those persons who are ungrateful and repudiate benefits, not +because they do not wish to receive them, but in order that they +may not be laid under an obligation for them, are like those who +fall into the opposite extreme, and are over grateful, who pray +that some trouble or misfortune may befall their benefactors to +give them an opportunity of proving how gratefully they remember +the benefit which they have received. It is a question whether they +are right, and show a truly dutiful feeling; their state of mind is +morbid, like that of frantic lovers who long for their mistress to +be exiled, that they may accompany her when she leaves her country +forsaken by all her friends, or that she may be poor in order that +she may the more need what they give her, or who long that she may +be ill in order that they may sit by her bedside, and who, in +short, out of sheer love form the same wishes as her enemies would +wish for her. Thus the results of hatred and of frantic love are +very nearly the same; and these lovers are very like those who hope +that their friends may meet with difficulties which they may +remove, and who thus do a wrong that they may bestow a benefit, +whereas it would have been much better for them to do nothing, than +by a crime to gain an opportunity of doing good service. What +should we say of a pilot who prayed to the gods for dreadful storms +and tempests, in order that danger might make his skill more highly +esteemed? what of a general who should pray that a vast number of +the enemy surround his camp, fill the ditches by a sudden charge, +tear down the rampart round his panic-stricken army, and plant its +hostile standards at the very gates, in order that he might gain +more glory by restoring his broken ranks and shattered fortunes? +All such men confer their benefits upon us by odious means, for +they beg the gods to harm those whom they mean to help, and wish +them to be struck down before they raise them up; it is a cruel +feeling, brought about by a distorted sense of gratitude, to wish +evil to befall one whom one is bound in honour to succour. + +XXVI. "My wish," argues our opponent, "does him no harm, because +when I wish for the danger I wish for the rescue at the same time." +What you mean by this is not that you do no wrong, but that you do +less than if you wished that the danger might befall him, without +wishing for the rescue. It is wicked to throw a man into the water +in order that you may pull him out, to throw him down that you may +raise him up, or to shut him up that you may release him. You do +not bestow a benefit upon a man by ceasing to wrong him, nor can it +ever be a piece of good service to anyone to remove from him a +burden which you yourself imposed on him. True, you may cure the +hurt which you inflict, but I had rather that you did not hurt me +at all. You may gain my gratitude by curing me because I am +wounded, but not by wounding me in order that you may cure me: no +man likes scars except as compared with wounds, which he is glad to +see thus healed, though he had rather not have received them. It +would be cruel to wish such things to befall one from whom you had +never received a kindness; how much more cruel is it to wish that +they may befall one in whose debt you are. + +XXVII. "I pray," replies he, "at the same time, that I may be able +to help him." In the first place, if I stop you short in the middle +of your prayer, it shows at once that you are ungrateful: I have +not yet heard what you wish to do for him; I have heard what you +wish him to suffer. You pray that anxiety and fear and even worse +evil than this may come upon him. You desire that he may need aid: +this is to his disadvantage; you desire that he may need your aid: +this is to your advantage. You do not wish to help him, but to be +set free from your obligation to him: for when you are eager to +repay your debt in such a way as this, you merely wish to be set +free from the debt, not to repay it. So the only part of your wish +that could be thought honourable proves to be the base and +ungrateful feeling of unwillingness to lie under an obligation: for +what you wish for is, not that you may have an opportunity of +repaying his kindness, but that he may be forced to beg you to do +him a kindness. You make yourself the superior, and you wickedly +degrade beneath your feet the man who has done you good service. +How much better would it be to remain in his debt in an honourable +and friendly manner, than to seek to discharge the debt by these +evil means! You would be less to blame if you denied that you had +received it, for your benefactor would then lose nothing more than +what he gave you, whereas now you wish him to be rendered inferior +to you, and brought by the loss of his property and social position +into a condition below his own benefits. Do you think yourself +grateful? Just utter your wishes in the hearing of him to whom you +wish to do good. Do you call that a prayer for his welfare, which +can be divided between his friend and his enemy, which, if the last +part were omitted, you would not doubt was pronounced, by one who +opposed and hated him? Enemies in war have sometimes wished to +capture certain towns in order to spare them, or to conquer certain +persons in order to pardon, them, yet these were the wishes of +enemies, and what was the kindest part of them began by cruelty. +Finally, what sort of prayers do you think those can be which he, +on whose behalf they are made, hopes more earnestly than any one +else may not be granted? In hoping that the gods may injure a man, +and that you may help him, you deal most dishonourably with him, +and you do not treat the gods themselves fairly, for you give them +the odious part to play, and reserve the generous one for yourself: +the gods must do him wrong in order that you may do him a service. +If you were to suborn an informer to accuse a man, and afterwards +withdrew him, if you engaged a man in a law suit and afterwards +gave it up, no one would hesitate to call you a villain: what +difference does it make, whether you attempt to do this by +chicanery or by prayer, unless it be that by prayer you raise up +more powerful enemies to him than by the other means? You cannot +say "Why, what harm do I do him?" your prayer is either futile or +harmful, indeed it is harmful even though nothing comes of it. You +do your friend wrong by wishing him harm: you must thank the gods +that you do him no harm. The fact of your wishing it is enough: we +ought to be just as angry with you as if you had effected it. + +XXVIII. "If," argues our adversary, "my prayers had any efficacy, +they would also have been efficacious to save him from danger." In +the first place, I reply, the danger into which you wish me to fall +is certain, the help which I should receive is uncertain. Or call +them both certain; it is that which injures me that comes first. +Besides, YOU understand the terms of your wish; _I_ shall be tossed +by the storm without being sure that I have a haven of rest at +hand. + +Think what torture it must have been to me, even if I receive your +help, to have stood in need of it: if I escape safely, to have +trembled for myself; if I be acquitted, to have had to plead my +cause. To escape from fear, however great it may be, can never be +so pleasant as to live in sound unassailable safety. Pray that you +may return my kindnesses when I need their return, but do not pray +that I may need them. You would have done what you prayed for, had +it been in your power. + +XXIX. How far more honourable would a prayer of this sort be: "I +pray that he may remain in such a position as that he may always +bestow benefits and never need them: may he be attended by the +means of giving and helping, of which he makes such a bountiful +use; may he never want benefits to bestow, or be sorry for any +which he has bestowed; may his nature, fitted as it is for acts of +pity, goodness, and clemency, be stimulated and brought out by +numbers of grateful persons, whom I trust he will find without +needing to make trial of their gratitude; may he refuse to be +reconciled to no one, and may no one require to be reconciled to +him: may fortune so uniformly continue to favour him that no one +may be able to return his kindness in any way except by feeling +grateful to him." + +How far more proper are such prayers as these, which do not put you +off to some distant opportunity, but express your gratitude at +once? What is there to prevent your returning your benefactor's +kindness, even while he is in prosperity? How many ways are there +by which we can repay what we owe even to the affluent--for +instance, by honest advice, by constant intercourse, by courteous +conversation, pleasing him without flattering him, by listening +attentively to any subject which he may wish to discuss, by keeping +safe any secret that he may impart to us, and by social +intercourse. There is no one so highly placed by fortune as not to +want a friend all the more because he wants nothing. + +XXX. The other is a melancholy opportunity, and one which we ought +always to pray may be kept far from us: must the gods be angry with +a man in order that you may prove your gratitude to him? Do you not +perceive that you are doing wrong, from the very fact that those to +whom you are ungrateful fare better? Call up before your mind +dungeons, chains, wretchedness, slavery, war, poverty: these are +the opportunities for which you pray; if any one has any dealings +with you, it is by means of these that you square your account. Why +not rather wish that he to whom you owe most may be powerful and +happy? for, as I have just said, what is there to prevent your +returning the kindness even of those who enjoy the greatest +prosperity? to do which, ample and various opportunities will +present themselves to you, What! do you not know that a debt can be +paid even to a rich man? Nor will I trouble you with many instances +of what you may do. Though a man's riches and prosperity may +prevent your making him any other repayment, I will show you what +the highest in the land stand in need of, what is wanting to those +who possess everything. They want a man to speak the truth, to save +them from the organized mass of falsehood by which they are beset, +which so bewilders them with lies that the habit of hearing only +what is pleasant instead of what is true, prevents their knowing +what truth really is. Do you not see how such persons are driven to +ruin by the want of candour among their friends, whose loyalty has +degenerated into slavish obsequiousness? No one, when giving them +his advice, tells them what he really thinks, but each vies with +the other in flattery; and while the man's friends make it their +only object to see who can most pleasantly deceive him, he himself +is ignorant of his real powers, and, believing himself to be as +great a man as he is told that he is, plunges the State in useless +wars, which bring disasters upon it, breaks off a useful and +necessary peace, and, through a passion of anger which no one +checks, spills the blood of numbers of people, and at last sheds +his own. Such persons assert what has never been investigated as +certain facts, consider that to modify their opinion is as +dishonourable as to be conquered, believe that institutions which +are just flickering out of existence will last for ever, and, thus +overturn great States, to the destruction of themselves and all who +are connected with them. Living as they do in a fool's paradise, +resplendent with unreal and short-lived advantages, they forget +that, as soon as they put it out of their power to hear the truth, +there is no limit to the misfortunes which they may expect. + +XXXI. When Xerxes declared war against Greece, all his courtiers +encouraged his boastful temper, which forgot how unsubstantial his +grounds for confidence were. One declared that the Greeks would not +endure to hear the news of the declaration of war, and would take +to flight at the first rumour of his approach; another, that with +such a vast army Greece could not only be conquered, but utterly +overwhelmed, and that it was rather to be feared that they would +find the Greek cities empty and abandoned, and that the panic +flight of the enemy would leave them only vast deserts, where no +use could be made of their enormous forces. Another told him that +the world was hardly large enough to contain him, that the seas +were too narrow for his fleets, the camps would not take in his +armies, the plains were not wide enough to deploy his cavalry in, +and that the sky itself was scarcely large enough to enable all his +troops to hurl their darts at once. While much boasting of this +sort was going on around him, raising his already overweening self- +confidence to a frantic pitch, Demaratus, the Lacedaemonian, alone +told him that the disorganized and unwieldy multitude in which he +trusted, was in itself a danger to its chief, because it possessed +only weight without strength; for an army which is too large cannot +be governed, and one which cannot be governed, cannot long exist. +"The Lacedaemonians," said he, "will meet you upon the first +mountain in Greece, and will give you a taste of their quality. All +these thousands of nations of yours will be held in check by three +hundred men: they will stand firm at their posts, they will defend +the passes entrusted to them with their weapons, and block them up +with their bodies: all Asia will not force them to give way; few as +they are, they will stop all this terrible invasion, attempted +though it be by nearly the whole human race. Though the laws of +nature may give way to you, and enable you to pass from Europe to +Asia, yet you will stop short in a bypath; consider what your +losses will be afterwards, when you have reckoned up the price +which you have to pay for the pass of Thermopylae; when you learn +that your march can be stayed, you will discover that you may be +put to flight. The Greeks will yield up many parts of their country +to you, as if they were swept out of them by the first terrible +rush of a mountain torrent; afterwards they will rise against you +from all quarters and will crush you by means of your own strength. +What people say, that your warlike preparations are too great to be +contained in the countries which you intend to attack, is quite +true; but this is to our disadvantage. Greece will conquer you for +this very reason, that she cannot contain you; you cannot make use +of the whole of your force. Besides this, you will not be able to +do what is essential to victory--that is, to meet the manoeuvres of +the enemy at once, to support your own men if they give way, or to +confirm and strengthen them when their ranks are wavering; long +before you know it, you will be defeated. Moreover, you should not +think that because your army is so large that its own chief does +not know its numbers, it is therefore irresistible; there is +nothing so great that it cannot perish; nay, without any other +cause, its own excessive size may prove its ruin." What Demaratus +predicted came to pass. He whose power gods and men obeyed, and who +swept away all that opposed him, was bidden to halt by three +hundred men, and the Persians, defeated in every part of Greece, +learned how great a difference there is between a mob and an army. +Thus it came to pass that Xerxes, who suffered more from the shame +of his failure than from the losses which he sustained, thanked +Demaratus for having been the only man who told him the truth, and +permitted him to ask what boon he pleased. He asked to be allowed +to drive a chariot into Sardis, the largest city in Asia, wearing a +tiara erect upon his head, a privilege which was enjoyed by kings +alone. He deserved his reward before he asked for it, but how +wretched must the nation have been, in which there was no one who +would speak the truth to the king except one man. who did not speak +it to himself. + +XXXII. The late Emperor Augustus banished his daughter, whose +conduct went beyond the shame of ordinary immodesty, and made +public the scandals of the imperial house + +Led away by his passion, he divulged all these crimes which, as +emperor, he ought to have kept secret with as much care as he +punished them, because the shame of some deeds asperses even him +who avenges them. Afterwards, when by lapse of time shame took the +place of anger in his mind, he lamented that he had not kept +silence about matters which he had not learned until it was +disgraceful to speak of them, and often used to exclaim, "None of +these things would have happened to me, if either Agrippa or +Maecenas had lived!" So hard was it for the master of so many +thousands of men to repair the loss of two. When his legions were +slaughtered, new ones were at once enrolled; when his fleet was +wrecked, within a few days another was afloat; when the public +buildings were consumed by fire, finer ones arose in their stead; +but the places of Agrippa and Maecenas remained unfilled throughout +his life. What am I to imagine? that there were not any men like +these, who could take their place, or that it was the fault of +Augustus himself, who preferred mourning for them to seeking for +their likes? We have no reason for supposing that it was the habit +of Agrippa or Maecenas to speak the truth to him; indeed, if they +had lived they would have been as great dissemblers as the rest. It +is one of the habits of kings to insult their present servants by +praising those whom they have lost, and to attribute the virtue of +truthful speaking to those from whom there is no further risk of +hearing it. + +XXXIII. However, to return to my subject, you see how easy it is to +return the kindness of the prosperous, and even of those who occupy +the highest places of all mankind. Tell them, not what they wish to +hear, but what they will wish that they always had heard; though +their ears be stopped by flatteries, yet sometimes truth may +penetrate them; give them useful advice. Do you ask what service +you can render to a prosperous man? Teach him not to rely upon his +prosperity, and to understand that it ought to be supported by the +hands of many trusty friends. Will you not have done much for him, +if you take away his foolish belief that his influence will endure +for ever, and teach him that what we gain by chance passes away +soon, and at a quicker rate than it came; that we cannot fall by +the same stages by which we rose to the height of good fortune, but +that frequently between it and ruin there is but one step? You do +not know how great is the value of friendship, if you do not +understand how much you give to him to whom you give a friend, a +commodity which is scarce not only in men's houses, but in whole +centuries, and which is nowhere scarcer than in the places where it +is thought to be most plentiful. Pray, do you suppose that those +books of names, which your nomenclator [Footnote: The nomenclator +was a slave who attended his master in canvassing and on similar +occasions, for the purpose of telling him the names of whom he met +in the street.] can hardly carry or remember, are those of friends? +It is not your friends who crowd to knock at your door, and who are +admitted to your greater or lesser levees. + +XXXIV. To divide one's friends into classes is an old trick of +kings and their imitators; it shows great arrogance to think that +to touch or to pass one's threshold can be a valuable privilege, or +to grant as an honour that you should sit nearer one's front door +than others, or enter house before them, although within the house +there are many more doors, which shut out even those who have been +admitted so far. With us Gaius Gracchus, and shortly after him +Livius Drusus, were the first to keep themselves apart from the +mass of their adherents, and to admit some to their privacy, some +to their more select, and others to their general receptions. These +men consequently had friends of the first and second rank, and so +on, but in none had they true friends. Can you apply the name of +friend to one who is admitted in his regular order to pay his +respects to you? or can you expect perfect loyalty from one who is +forced to slip into your presence through a grudgingly-opened door? +How can a man arrive at using bold freedom of speech with you, if +he is only allowed in his proper turn to make use of the common +phrase, "Hail to you," which is used by perfect strangers? Whenever +you go to any of these great men, whose levees interest the whole +city, though you find all the streets beset with throngs of people, +and the passers-by hardly able to make their way through the crowd, +you may be sure that you have come to a place where there are many +men, but no friends of their patron. We must not seek our friends +in our entrance hall, but in our own breast; it is there that he +ought to be received, there retained, and hoarded up in our minds. +Teach this, and you will have repaid your debt of gratitude. + +XXXV. If you are useful to your friend only when he is in distress, +and are superfluous when all goes well with him, you form a mean +estimate of your own value. As you can bear yourself wisely both in +doubtful, in prosperous, and in adverse circumstances, by showing +prudence in doubtful cases, courage in misfortune, and self- +restraint in good fortune, so in all circumstances you can make +yourself useful to your friend. Do not desert him in adversity, but +do not wish that it may befall him: the various incidents of human +life will afford you many opportunities of proving your loyalty to +him without wishing him evil. He who prays that another may become +rich, in order that he may share his riches, really has a view to +his own advantage, although his prayers are ostensibly offered in +behalf of his friend; and similarly he who wishes that his friend +may get into some trouble from which his own friendly assistance +may extricate him--a most ungrateful wish--prefers himself to his +friend, and thinks it worthwhile that his friend should be unhappy, +in order that he may prove his gratitude. This very wish makes him +ungrateful, for he wishes to rid himself of his gratitude as though +it were a heavy burden. In returning a kindness it makes a great +difference whether you are eager to bestow a benefit, or merely to +free yourself from a debt. He who wishes to return a benefit will +study his friend's interests, and will hope that a suitable +occasion will arise; he who only wishes to free himself from an +obligation will be eager to do so by any means whatever, which +shows very bad feeling. "Do you say," we may be asked, "that +eagerness to repay kindness belongs to a morbid feeling of +gratitude?" I cannot explain my meaning more clearly than by +repeating what I have already said. You do not want to repay, but +to escape from the benefit which you. have received. You seem to +say, "When shall I get free from this obligation? I must strive by +any means in my power to extinguish my debt to him." You would be +thought to be far from grateful, if you wished to pay a debt to him +with his own money; yet this wish of yours is even more unjust; for +you invoke curses upon him, and call down terrible imprecations +upon the head of one who ought to be held sacred by you. No one, I +suppose, would have any doubt of your wickedness if you were openly +to pray that he might suffer poverty, captivity, hunger, or fear; +yet what is the difference between openly praying for some of these +things, and silently wishing for them? for you do wish for some of +these. Go, and enjoy your belief that this is gratitude, to do what +not even an ungrateful man would do, supposing he confined himself +to repudiating the benefit, and did not go so far as to hate his +benefactor. + +XXXVI. Who would call Aeneas pious, if he wished that his native +city might be captured, in order that he might save his father from +captivity? Who would point to the Sicilian youths as good examples +for his children, if they had prayed that Aetna might flame with +unusual heat and pour forth a vast mass of fire in order to afford +them an opportunity of displaying their filial affection by +rescuing their parents from the midst of the conflagration? Rome +owes Scipio nothing if he kept the Punic War alive in order that he +might have the glory of finishing it; she owes nothing to the Decii +if they prayed for public disasters, to give themselves an +opportunity of displaying their brave self-devotion. It is the +greatest scandal for a physician to make work for himself; and many +who have aggravated the diseases of their patients that they may +have the greater credit for curing them, have either failed to cure +them, at all or have done so at the cost of the most terrible +suffering to their victims. + +XXXVII. It is said (at any rate Hecaton tells us) that when +Callistratus with many others was driven into exile by his factious +and licentiously free country, some one prayed that such trouble +might befall the Athenians that they would be forced to recall the +exiles, on hearing which, he prayed that God might forbid his +return upon such terms. When some one tried to console our own +countryman, Rutilius, for his exile, pointing out that civil war +was at hand, and that all exiles would soon be restored to Rome, he +answered with even greater spirit, "What harm have I done you, that +you should wish that I may return to my country more unhappily than +I quit it? My wish is, that my country should blush at my being +banished, rather than that she should mourn at my having returned." +An exile, of which every one is more ashamed than the sufferer, is +not exile at all. These two persons, who did not wish to be +restored to their homes at the cost of a public disaster, but +preferred that two should suffer unjustly than that all should +suffer alike, are thought to have acted like good citizens; and in +like manner it does not accord with the character of a grateful +man, to wish that his benefactor may fall into troubles which he +may dispel; because, even though he may mean well to him, yet he +wishes him evil. To put out a fire which you yourself have lighted, +will not even gain acquittal for you, let alone credit. + +XXXVIII. In some states an evil wish was regarded as a crime. It is +certain that at Athens Demades obtained a verdict against one who +sold furniture for funerals, by proving that he had prayed for +great gains, which he could not obtain without the death of many +persons. Yet it is a stock question whether he was rightly found +guilty. Perhaps he prayed, not that he might sell his wares to many +persons, but that he might sell them dear, or that he might procure +what he was going to sell, cheaply. Since his business consisted of +buying and selling, why should you consider his prayer to apply to +one branch of it only, although he made profit from both? Besides +this, you might find every one of his trade guilty, for they all +wish, that is, secretly pray, as he did. You might, moreover, find +a great part of the human race guilty, for who is there who does +not profit by his neighbour's wants? A soldier, if he wishes for +glory, must wish for war; the farmer profits by corn being dear; a +large number of litigants raises the price of forensic eloquence; +physicians make money by a sickly season; dealers in luxuries are +made rich by the effeminacy of youth; suppose that no storms and no +conflagrations injured our dwellings, the builder's trade would be +at a standstill. The prayer of one man was detected, but it was +just like the prayers of all other men. Do you imagine that +Arruntius and Haterius, and all other professional legacy-hunters +do not put up the same prayers as undertakers and grave-diggers? +though the latter know not whose death it is that they wish for, +while the former wish for the death of their dearest friends, from +whom, on account of their intimacy, they have most hopes of +inheriting a fortune. No one's life does the undertaker any harm, +whereas these men starve if their friends are long about dying; +they do not, therefore, merely wish for their deaths in order that +they may receive what they have earned by a disgraceful servitude, +but in order that they may be set free from a heavy tax. There can, +therefore, be no doubt that such persons repeat with even greater +earnestness the prayer for which the undertaker was condemned, for +whoever is likely to profit such men by dying, does them an injury +by living. Yet the wishes of all these are alike well known and +unpunished. Lastly, let every man examine his own self, let him +look into the secret thoughts of his heart and consider what it is +that he silently hopes for; how many of his prayers he would blush +to acknowledge, even to himself; how few there are which we could +repeat in the presence of witnesses! + +XXXIX. Yet we must not condemn every thing which we find worthy of +blame, as, for instance, this wish about our friends which we have +been discussing, arises from a misdirected feeling of affection, +and falls into the very error which it strives to avoid, for the +man is ungrateful at the very time when he hurries to prove his +gratitude. He prays aloud, "May he fall into my power, may he need +my influence, may not be able to be safe and respectable without my +aid, may he be so unfortunate that whatever return I make to him +may be regarded as a benefit." To the gods alone he adds, "May +domestic treasons encompass him, which can be quelled by me alone; +may some powerful and virulent enemy, some excited and armed mob, +assail him; may he be set upon by a creditor or an informer." + +XL. See, how just you are; you would never have wished any of these +misfortunes to befall him, if he had not bestowed a benefit upon +you. Not to speak of the graver guilt which you incur by returning +evil for good, you distinctly do wrong in not waiting for the +fitting time for each action, for it is as wrong to anticipate this +as it is not to take it when it comes. A benefit ought not always +to be accepted, and ought not in all cases to be returned. If you +were to return it to me against my will, you would be ungrateful, +how much more ungrateful are you, if you force me to wish for it? +Wait patiently; why are you unwilling to let my bounty abide with +you? Why do you chafe at being laid under an obligation? why, as +though you were dealing with a harsh usurer, are you in such a +hurry to sign and seal an equivalent bond? Why do you wish me to +get into trouble? Why do you call upon the gods to ruin me? If this +is your way of returning a kindness, what would you do if you were +exacting repayment of a debt? + +XLI. Above all, therefore, my Liberalis, let us learn to live +calmly under an obligation to others, and watch for opportunities +of repaying our debt without manufacturing them. Let us remember +that this anxiety to seize the first opportunity of setting +ourselves free shows ingratitude; for no one repays with good will +that which he is unwilling to owe, and his eagerness to get it out +of his hands shows that he regards it as a burden rather than as a +favour. How much better and more righteous is it to bear in mind +what we owe to our friends, and to offer repayment, not to obtrude +it, nor to think ourselves too much indebted; because a benefit is +a common bond which connects two persons. Say "I do not delay to +repay your kindness to me; I hope that you will accept my gratitude +cheerfully. If irresistible fate hangs over either of us, and +destiny rules either that you must receive your benefit back again, +or that I must receive a second benefit, why then, of us two, let +him give that was wont to give. I am ready to receive it. + + "'Tis not the part of Turnus to delay." + +That is the spirit which I shall show whenever the time comes; in +the meanwhile the gods shall be my witnesses. + +XLII. I have noted in you, my Liberalis, and as it were touched +with my hand a feeling of fussy anxiety not to be behindhand in +doing what is your duty. This anxiety is not suitable to a grateful +mind, which, on the contrary, produces the utmost confidence in +oneself, and which drives away all trouble by the consciousness of +real affection towards one's benefactor. To say "Take back what you +gave me," is no less a reproach than to say "You are in my debt." +Let this be the first privilege of a benefit, that he who bestowed +it may choose the time when he will have it returned. "But I fear +that men may speak ill of me." You do wrong if you are grateful +only for the sake of your reputation, and not to satisfy your +conscience. You have in this matter two judges, your benefactor, +whom you ought not, and yourself, whom you cannot deceive. "But," +say you, "if no occasion of repayment offers, am I always to remain +in his debt?" Yes; but you should do so openly, and willingly, and +should view with great pleasure what he has entrusted to you. If +you are vexed at not having yet returned a benefit, you must be +sorry that you ever received it; but if he deserved that you should +receive a benefit from him, why should he not deserve that you +should long remain in his debt? + +XLIII. Those persons are much mistaken who regard it as a proof of +a great mind to make offers to give, and to fill many men's pockets +and houses with their presents, for sometimes these are due not to +a great mind, but to a great fortune; they do not know how far more +great and more difficult it sometimes is to receive than to lavish +gifts. I must disparage neither act; it is as proper to a noble +heart to owe as to receive, for both are of equal value when done +virtuously; indeed, to owe is the more difficult, because it +requires more pains to keep a thing safe than to give it away. We +ought not therefore to be in a hurry to repay, nor need we seek to +do so out of due season, for to hasten to make repayment at the +wrong time is as bad as to be slow to do so at the right time. My +benefactor has entrusted his bounty to me: I ought not to have any +fears either on his behalf or on my own. He has a sufficient +security; he cannot lose it except he loses me--nay, not even if he +loses me. I have returned thanks to him for it--that is, I have +requited him. He who thinks too much about repaying a benefit must +suppose that his friend thinks too much about receiving repayment. +Make no difficulty about either course. If he wishes to receive his +benefit back again, let us return it cheerfully; if he prefers to +leave it in our hands, why should we dig up his treasure? why +should we decline to be its guardians? he deserves to be allowed to +do whichever he pleases. As for fame and reputation, let us regard +them as matters which ought to accompany, but which ought not to +direct our actions. + + + + +BOOK VII. + +I. + + + Be of good cheer, my Liberalis: + + "Our port is close, and I will not delay, + Nor by digressions wander from the way." + +This book collects together all that has been omitted, and in it, +having exhausted my subject, I shall consider not what I am to say, +but what there is which I have not yet said. If there be anything +superfluous in it, I pray you take it in good part, since it is for +you that it is superfluous. Had I wished to set off my work to the +best advantage, I ought to have added to it by degrees, and to have +kept for the last that part which would be eagerly perused even by +a sated reader. However, instead of this, I have collected together +all that was essential in the beginning; I am now collecting +together whatever then escaped me; nor, by Hercules, if you ask me, +do I think that, after the rules which govern our conduct have been +stated, it is very much to the purpose to discuss the other +questions which have been raised more for the exercise of our +intellects than for the health of our minds. The cynic Demetrius, +who in my opinion was a great man even if compared with the +greatest philosophers, had an admirable saying about this, that one +gained more by having a few wise precepts ready and in common use +than by learning many without having them at hand. "The best +wrestler," he would say, "is not he who has learned thoroughly all +the tricks and twists of the art, which are seldom met with in +actual wrestling, but he who has well and carefully trained himself +in one or two of them, and watches keenly for an opportunity of +practising them. It does not matter how many of them he knows, if +he knows enough to give him the victory; and so in this subject of +ours there are many points of interest, but few of importance. You +need not know what is the system of the ocean tides, why each +seventh year leaves its mark upon the human body, why the more +distant parts of a long portico do not keep their true proportion, +but seem to approach one another until at last the spaces between +the columns disappear, how it can be that twins are conceived +separately, though they are born together, whether both result from +one, or each from a separate act, why those whose birth was the +same should have such different fates in life, and dwell at the +greatest possible distance from one another, although they were +born touching one another; it will not do you much harm to pass +over matters which we are not permitted to know, and which we +should not profit by knowing. Truths so obscure may be neglected +with impunity. [Footnote: The old saying, 'Truth lurks deep in a +well (or abyss).'] Nor can we complain that nature deals hardly +with us, for there is nothing which is hard to discover except +those things by which we gain nothing beyond the credit of having +discovered them; whatever things tend to make us better or happier +are either obvious or easily discovered. Your mind can rise +superior to the accidents of life, if it can raise itself above +fears and not greedily covet boundless wealth, but has learned to +seek for riches within itself; if it has cast out the fear of men +and gods, and has learned that it has not much to fear from man, +and nothing to fear from God; if by scorning all those things which +make life miserable while they adorn it, the mind can soar to such +a height as to see clearly that death cannot be the beginning of +any trouble, though it is the end of many; if it can dedicate +itself to righteousness and think any path easy which leads to it; +if, being a gregarious creature, and born for the common good, it +regards the world as the universal home, if it keeps its conscience +clear towards God and lives always as though in public, fearing +itself more than other men, then it avoids all storms, it stands on +firm ground in fair daylight, and has brought to perfection its +knowledge of all that is useful and essential. All that remains +serves merely to amuse our leisure; yet, when once anchored in +safety, the mind may consider these matters also, though it can +derive no strength, but only culture from their discussion." + +II. The above are the rules which my friend Demetrius bids him who +would make progress in philosophy to clutch with both hands, never +to let go, but to cling to them, and make them a part of himself, +and by daily meditation upon them to bring himself into such a +state of mind, that these wholesome maxims occur to him of their +own accord, that wherever he may be, they may straightway be ready +for use when required, and that the criterion of right and wrong +may present itself to him without delay. Let him know that nothing +is evil except what is base, and nothing good except what is +honourable: let him guide his life by this rule: let him both act +and expect others to act in accordance with this law, and let him +regard those whose minds are steeped in indolence, and who are +given up to lust and gluttony, as the most pitiable of mankind, no +matter how splendid their fortunes may be. Let him say to himself, +"Pleasure is uncertain, short, apt to pall upon us, and the more +eagerly we indulge in it, the sooner we bring on a reaction of +feeling against it; we must necessarily afterwards blush for it, or +be sorry for it, there is nothing grand about it, nothing worthy of +man's nature, little lower as it is than that of the gods; pleasure +is a low act, brought about by the agency of our inferior and baser +members, and shameful in its result. True pleasure, worthy of a +human being and of a man, is, not to stuff or swell his body with +food and drink, nor to excite lusts which are least hurtful when +they are most quiet, but to be free from all forms of mental +disturbance, both those which arise from men's ambitious struggles +with one another, and those which come from on high and are more +difficult to deal with, which flow from our taking the traditional +view of the gods, and estimating them by the analogy of our own +vices." This equable, secure, uncloying pleasure is enjoyed by the +man now described; a man skilled, so to say, in the laws of gods +and men alike. Such a man enjoys the present without anxiety for +the future: for he who depends upon what is uncertain can rely +confidently upon nothing. Thus he is free from all those great +troubles which unhinge the mind, he neither hopes for, nor covets +anything, and engages in no uncertain adventures, being satisfied +with what he has. Do not suppose that he is satisfied with a +little; for everything is his, and that not in the sense in which +all was Alexander's, who, though he reached the shore of the Red +Sea, yet wanted more territory than that through which he had come. +He did not even own those countries which he held or had conquered, +while Onesicritus, whom he had sent on before him to discover new +countries, was wandering about the ocean and engaging in war in +unknown seas. Is it clear that he who pushed his armies beyond the +bounds of the universe, who with reckless greed dashed headlong +into a boundless and unexplored sea, must in reality have been full +of wants? It matters not how many kingdoms he may have seized or +given away, or how great a part of the world may pay him tribute; +such a man must be in need of as much as he desires. + +III. This was not the vice of Alexander alone, who followed with a +fortunate audacity in the footsteps of Bacchus and Hercules, but it +is common to all those whose covetousness is whetted rather than +appeased by good fortune. Look at Cyrus and Cambyses and all the +royal house of Persia: can you find one among them who thought his +empire large enough, or was not at the last gasp still aspiring +after further conquests? We need not wonder at this, for whatever +is obtained by covetousness is simply swallowed up and lost, nor +does it matter how much is poured into its insatiable maw. Only the +wise man possesses everything without having to struggle to retain +it; he alone does not need to send ambassadors across the seas, +measure out camps upon hostile shores, place garrisons in +commanding forts, or manoeuvre legions and squadrons of cavalry. +Like the immortal gods, who govern their realm without recourse to +arms, and from their serene and lofty heights protect their own, so +the wise man fulfils his duties, however far-reaching they may be, +without disorder, and looks down upon the whole human race, because +he himself is the greatest and most powerful member thereof. You +may laugh at him, but if you in your mind survey the east and the +west, reaching even to the regions separated from us by vast +wildernesses, if you think of all the creatures of the earth, all +the riches which the bounty of nature lavishes, it shows a great +spirit to be able to say, as though you were a god, "All these are +mine." Thus it is that he covets nothing, for there is nothing +which is not contained in everything, and everything is his. + +IV. "This," say you, "is the very thing that I wanted! I have +caught you! I shall be glad to see how you will extricate yourself +from the toils into which you have fallen of your own accord. Tell +me, if the wise man possesses everything, how can one give anything +to a wise man? for even what you give him is his already. It is +impossible, therefore, to bestow a benefit upon a wise man, if +whatever is given him comes from his own store; yet you Stoics +declare that it is possible to give to a wise man. I make the same +inquiry about friends as well: for you say that friends own +everything in common, and if so, no one can give anything to his +friend, for he gives what his friend owned already in common with +himself." + +There is nothing to prevent a thing belonging to a wise man, and +yet being the property of its legal owner. According to law +everything in a state belongs to the king, yet all that property +over which the king has rights of possession is parcelled out among +individual owners, and each separate thing belongs to somebody: and +so one can give the king a house, a slave, or a sum of money +without being said to give him what was his already; for the king +has rights over all these things, while each citizen has the +ownership of them. We speak of the country of the Athenians, or of +the Campanians, though the inhabitants divide them amongst +themselves into separate estates; the whole region belongs to one +state or another, but each part of it belongs to its own individual +proprietor; so that we are able to give our lands to the state, +although they are reckoned as belonging to the state, because we +and the state own them in different ways. Can there be any doubt +that all the private savings of a slave belong to his master as +well as he himself? yet he makes his master presents. The slave +does not therefore possess nothing, because if his master chose he +might possess nothing; nor does what he gives of his own free will +cease to be a present, because it might have been wrung from him +against his will. As for how we are to prove that the wise man +possesses all things, we shall see afterwards; for the present we +are both agreed to regard this as true; we must gather together +something to answer the question before us, which is, how any means +remain of acting generously towards one who already possesses all +things? All things that a son has belong to his father, yet who +does not know that in spite of this a son can make presents to his +father? All things belong to the gods; yet we make presents and +bestow alms even upon the gods. What I have is not necessarily not +mine because it belongs to you; for the same thing may belong both +to me and to you. + +"He to whom courtezans belong," argues our adversary, "must be a +procurer: now courtezans are included in all things, therefore +courtezans belong to the wise man. But he to whom courtezans belong +is a procurer; therefore the wise man is a procurer." Yes! by the +same reasoning, our opponents would forbid him to buy anything, +arguing, "No man buys his own property. Now all things are the +property of the wise man; therefore the wise man buys nothing." By +the same reasoning they object to his borrowing, because no one +pays interest for the use of his own money. They raise endless +quibbles, although they perfectly well understand what we say. + +V. For, when I say that the wise man possesses everything, I mean +that he does so without thereby impairing each man's individual +rights in his own property, in the same way as in a country ruled +by a good king, everything belongs to the king, by the right of his +authority, and to the people by their several rights of ownership. +This I shall prove in its proper place; in the mean time it is a +sufficient answer to the question to declare that I am able to give +to the wise man that which is in one way mine, and in another way +his. Nor is it strange that I should be able to give anything to +one who possesses everything. Suppose I have hired a house from +you: some part of that house is mine, some is yours; the house +itself is yours, the use of your house belongs to me. Crops may +ripen upon your land, but you cannot touch them against the will of +your tenant; and if corn be dear, or at famine price, you will + + "In vain another's mighty store behold," + +grown upon your land, lying upon your land, and to be deposited in +your own barns. Though you be the landlord, you must not enter my +hired house, nor may you take away your own slave from me if I have +contracted for his services; nay, if I hire a carriage from you, I +bestow a benefit by allowing you to take your seat in it, although +it is your own. You see, therefore, that it is possible for a man +to receive a present by accepting what is his own. + +VI. In all the cases which I have mentioned, each party is the +owner of the same thing. How is this? It is because the one owns +the thing, the other owns the use of the thing. We speak of the +books of Cicero. Dorus, the bookseller, calls these same books his +own; the one claims them because he wrote them, the other because +he bought them; so that they may quite correctly be spoken of as +belonging to either of the two, for they do belong to each, though +in a different manner. Thus Titus Livius may receive as a present, +or may buy his own books from Dorus. Although the wise man +possesses everything, yet I can give him what I individually +possess; for though, king-like, he in his mind possesses +everything, yet the ownership of all things is divided among +various individuals, so that he can both receive a present and owe +one; can buy, or hire things. Everything belongs to Caesar; yet he +has no private property beyond his own privy purse; as Emperor all +things are his, but nothing is his own except what he inherits. It +is possible, without treason, to discuss what is and what is not +his; for even what the court may decide not to be his, from another +point of view is his. In the same way the wise man in his mind +possesses everything, in actual right and ownership he possesses +only his own property. + +VII. Bion is able to prove by argument at one time that everyone is +sacrilegious, at another that no one is. When he is in a mood for +casting all men down the Tarpeian rock, he says, "Whosoever touches +that which belongs to the gods, and consumes it or converts it to +his own uses, is sacrilegious; but all things belong to the gods, +so that whatever thing any one touches belongs to them to whom all +belongs; whoever, therefore, touches anything is sacrilegious." +Again, when he bids men break open temples and pillage the Capitol +without fear of the wrath of heaven, he declares that no one can be +sacrilegious; because, whatever a man takes away, he takes from one +place which belongs to the gods into another place which belongs to +the gods. The answer to this is that all places do indeed belong to +the gods, but all are not consecrated to them, and that sacrilege +can only be done in places solemnly dedicated to heaven. Thus, +also, the whole world is a temple of the immortal gods, and, +indeed, the only one worthy of their greatness and splendour, and +yet there is a distinction between things sacred and profane; all +things which it is lawful to do under the sky and the stars are not +lawful to do within consecrated walls. The sacrilegious man cannot +do God any harm, for He is placed beyond his reach by His divine +nature; yet he is punished because he seems to have done Him harm: +his punishment is demanded by our feeling on the matter, and even +by his own. In the same way, therefore, as he who carries off any +sacred things is regarded as sacrilegious, although that which he +stole is nevertheless within the limits of the world, so it is +possible to steal from a wise man: for in that case it will be +some, not of that universe which he possesses, but some of those +things of which he is the acknowledged owner, and which are +severally his own property, which will be stolen from him. The +former of these possessions he will recognize as his own, the +latter he will be unwilling, even if he be able to possess; he will +say, as that Roman commander said, when, to reward his courage and +good service to the state, he was assigned as much land as he could +inclose in one day's ploughing. "You do not," said he, "want a +citizen who wants more than is enough for one citizen." Do you not +think that it required a much greater man to refuse this reward +than to earn it? for many have taken away the landmarks of other +men's property, but no one sets up limits to his own. + +VIII. When, then, we consider that the mind of the truly wise man +has power over all things and pervades all things, we cannot help +declaring that everything is his, although, in the estimation of +our common law, it may chance that he may be rated as possessing no +property whatever. It makes a great difference whether we estimate +what he owns by the greatness of his mind, or by the public +register. He would pray to be delivered from that possession of +everything of which you speak. I will not remind you of Socrates, +Chrysippus, Zeno, and other great men, all the greater, however, +because envy prevents no one from praising the ancients. But a +short time ago I mentioned Demetrius, who seems to have been placed +by nature in our times that he might prove that we could neither +corrupt him nor be corrected by him; a man of consummate wisdom, +though he himself disclaimed it, constant to the principles which +he professed, of an eloquence worthy to deal with the mightiest +subjects, scorning mere prettinesses and verbal niceties, but +expressing with infinite spirit, the ideas which inspired it. I +doubt not that he was endowed by divine providence with so pure a +life and such power of speech in order that our age might neither +be without a model nor a reproach. Had some god wished to give all +our wealth to Demetrius on the fixed condition that he should not +be permitted to give it away, I am sure that he would have refused +to accept it, and would have said, + +IX. "I do not intend to fasten upon my back a burden like this, of +which I never can rid myself, nor do I, nimble and lightly equipped +as I am, mean to hinder my progress by plunging into the deep +morass of business transactions. Why do you offer to me what is the +bane of all nations? I would not accept it even if I meant to give +it away, for I see many things which it would not become me to +give. I should like to place before my eyes the things which +fascinate both kings and peoples, I wish to behold the price of +your blood and your lives. First bring before me the trophies of +Luxury, exhibiting them as you please, either in succession, or, +which is better, in one mass. I see the shell of the tortoise, a +foul and slothful brute, bought for immense sums and ornamented +with the most elaborate care, the contrast of colours which is +admired in it being obtained by the use of dyes resembling the +natural tints. I see tables and pieces of wood valued at the price +of a senator's estate, which are all the more precious, the more +knots the tree has been twisted into by disease. I see crystal +vessels, whose price is enhanced by their fragility, for among the +ignorant the risk of losing things increases their value instead of +lowering it, as it ought. I see murrhine cups, for luxury would be +too cheap if men did not drink to one another out of hollow gems +the wine to be afterwards thrown up again. I see more than one +large pearl placed in each ear; for now our ears are trained to +carry burdens, pearls are hung from them in pairs, and each pair +has other single ones fastened above it. This womanish folly is not +exaggerated enough for the men of our time, unless they hang two or +three estates upon each ear. I see ladies' silk dresses, if those +deserve to be called dresses which can neither cover their body or +their shame; when wearing which, they can scarcely with a good +conscience, swear that they are not naked. These are imported at a +vast expense from nations unknown even to trade, in order that our +matrons may show as much of their persons in public as they do to +their lovers in private." + +X. What are you doing, Avarice? see how many things there are whose +price exceeds that of your beloved gold: all those which I have +mentioned are more highly esteemed and valued. I now wish to +review your wealth, those plates of gold and silver which dazzle +our covetousness. By Hercules, the very earth, while she brings +forth upon the surface every thing that is of use to us, has buried +these, sunk them deep, and rests upon them with her whole weight, +regarding them as pernicious substances, and likely to prove the +ruin of mankind if brought into the light of day. I see that iron +is brought out of the same dark pits as gold and silver, in order +that we may lack neither the means nor the reward of murder. Thus +far we have dealt with actual substances; but some forms of wealth +deceive our eyes and minds alike. I see there letters of credit, +promissory notes, and bonds, empty phantoms of property, ghosts of +sick Avarice, with which she deceives our minds, which delight in +unreal fancies; for what are these things, and what are interest, +and account books, and usury, except the names of unnatural +developments of human covetousness? I might complain of nature for +not having hidden gold and silver deeper, for not having laid over +it a weight too heavy to be removed: but what are your documents, +your sale of time, your blood-sucking twelve per cent. interest? +these are evils which we owe to our own will, which flow merely +from our perverted habit, having nothing about them which can be +seen or handled, mere dreams of empty avarice. Wretched is he who +can take pleasure in the size of the audit book of his estate, in +great tracts of land cultivated by slaves in chains, in huge flocks +and herds which require provinces and kingdoms for their pasture +ground, in a household of servants, more in number than some of the +most warlike nations, or in a private house whose extent surpasses +that of a large city! After he has carefully reviewed all his +wealth, in what it is invested, and on what it is spent, and has +rendered himself proud by the thoughts of it, let him compare what +he has with what he wants: he becomes a poor man at once. Let me +go: restore me to those riches of mine. I know the kingdom of +wisdom, which is great and stable: I possess every thing, and in +such a manner that it belongs to all men nevertheless." + +XI. When, therefore, Gaius Csesar offered him two hundred thousand +sesterces, he laughingly refused it, thinking it unworthy of +himself to boast of having refused so small a sum. Ye gods and +goddesses, what a mean mind must the emperor have had, if he hoped +either to honour or to corrupt him. I must here repeat a proof of +his magnanimity. I have heard that when he was expressing his +wonder at the folly of Gaius at supposing that he could be +influenced by such a bribe, he said, "If he meant to tempt me, he +ought to have tried to do so by offering his entire kingdom." + +XII. It is possible, then, to give something to the wise man, +although all things belong to the wise man. Similarly, though we +declare that friends have all things in common, it is nevertheless +possible to give something to a friend: for I have not everything +in common with a friend in the same manner as with a partner, where +one part belongs to him, and another to me, but rather as a father +and a mother possess their children in common when they have two, +not each parent possessing one child, but each possessing both. +First of all I will prove that any chance would-be partner of mine +has nothing in common with me: and why? Because this community of +goods can only exist between wise men, who are alone capable of +friendship: other men can neither be friends nor partners one to +another. In the next place, things may be owned in common in +various ways. The knights' seats in the theatre belong to all the +Roman knights; yet of these the seat which I occupy becomes my own, +and if I yield it up to any one, although I only yield him a thing +which we own in common, still I appear to have given him something. +Some things belong to certain persons under particular conditions. +I have a place among the knights, not to sell, or to let, or to +dwell in, but simply to see the spectacle from, wherefore I do not +tell an untruth when I say that I have a place among the knights' +seats. Yet if, when I come into the theatre, the knights' seats are +full, I both have a seat there by right, because I have the +privilege of sitting there, and I have not a seat there, because my +seat is occupied by those who share my right to those places. +Suppose that the same thing takes place between friends; whatever +our friend possesses, is common to us, but is the property of him +who owns it; I cannot make use of it against his will. "You are +laughing at me," say you; "if what belongs to my friend is mine, I +am able to sell it." You are not able; for you are not able to sell +your place among the knights' seats, and yet they are in common +between you and the other knights. Consequently, the fact that you +cannot sell a thing, or consume it, or exchange it for the better +or the worse does not prove that it is not yours; for that which is +yours under certain conditions is yours nevertheless. + +XIII. I have received, but certainly not less. Not to detain you +longer than is necessary, a benefit can be no more than a benefit; +but the means employed to convey benefits may be both greater and +more numerous. I mean those things by which kindness expresses and +gives vent to itself, like lovers, whose many kisses and close +embraces do not increase their love but give it play. + +XIV. The next question which arises has been thoroughly threshed out +in the former books, so here it shall only be touched on shortly; +for the arguments which have been used for other cases can be +transferred to it. + +The question is, whether one who has done everything in his power +to return a benefit, has returned it. "You may know," says our +adversary, "that he has not returned it, because he did everything +in his power to return it; it is evident, therefore, that he did +not not do that which he did not have an opportunity of doing. A +man who searches everywhere for his creditor without finding him +does not thereby pay him what he owes." Some are in such a position +that it is their duty to effect something material; in the case of +others to have done all in their power to effect it is as good as +effecting it. If a physician has done all in his power to heal his +patient he has performed his duty; an advocate who employs his +whole powers of eloquence on his client's behalf, performs his duty +even though his client be convicted; the generalship even of a +beaten commander is praised if he has prudently, laboriously, and +courageously exercised his functions. Your friend has done all in +his power to return your kindness, but your good fortune stood in +his way; no adversity befell you in which he could prove the truth +of his friendship; he could not give you money when you were rich, +or nurse you when you were in health, or help you when you were +succeeding; yet he repaid your kindness, even though you did not +receive a benefit from him. Moreover, this man, being always eager, +and on the watch for an opportunity of doing this, as he has +expended much anxiety and much trouble upon it, has really done +more than he who quickly had an opportunity of repaying your +kindness. The case of a debtor is not the same, for it is not +enough for him to have tried to find the money unless he pays it; +in his case a harsh creditor stands over him who will not let a +single day pass without charging him interest; in yours there is a +most kind friend, who seeing you busy, troubled, and anxious would +say. + + "'Dismiss this trouble from thy breast;' + +leave off disturbing yourself; I have received from you all that I +wish; you wrong me, if you suppose that I want anything further; +you have fully repaid me in intention." + +"Tell me," says our adversary, "if he had repaid the benefit you +would say that he had returned your kindness: is, then, he who +repays it in the same position as he who does not repay it?" + +On the other hand, consider this: if he had forgotten the benefit +which he had received, if he had not even attempted to be grateful, +you would say that he had not returned the kindness; but this man +has laboured day and night to the neglect of all his other duties +in his devoted care to let no opportunity of proving his gratitude +escape him; is then he who took no pains to return a kindness to be +classed with this man who never ceased to take pains? you are +unjust, if you require a material payment from me when you see that +I am not wanting in intention. + +XV. In short, suppose that when you are taken captive, I have +borrowed money, made over my property as security to my creditor, +that I have sailed in a stormy winter season along coasts swarming +with pirates, that I have braved all the perils which necessarily +attend a voyage even on a peaceful sea, that I have wandered +through all wildernesses seeking for those men whom all others flee +from, and that when I have at length reached the pirates, someone +else has already ransomed you: will you say that I have not +returned your kindness? Even if during this voyage I have lost by +shipwreck the money that I had raised to save you, even if I myself +have fallen into the prison from which I sought to release you, +will you say that I have not returned your kindness? No, by +Hercules! the Athenians call Harmodius and Aristogiton, +tyrannicides; the hand of Mucius which he left on the enemy's altar +was equivalent to the death of Porsena, and valour struggling +against fortune is always illustrious, even if it falls short of +accomplishing its design. He who watches each opportunity as it +passes, and tries to avail himself of one after another, does more +to show his gratitude than he whom the first opportunity enabled to +be grateful without any trouble whatever. "But," says our +adversary, "he gave you two things, material help and kindly +feeling; you, therefore, owe him two." You might justly say this to +one who returns your kindly feeling without troubling himself +further; this man is really in your debt; but you cannot say so of +one who wishes to repay you, who struggles and leaves no stone +unturned to do so; for, as far as in him lies, he repays you in +both kinds; in the next place, counting is not always a true test, +sometimes one thing is equivalent to two; consequently so intense +and ardent a wish to repay takes the place of a material repayment. +Indeed, if a feeling of gratitude has no value in repaying a +kindness without giving something material, then no one can be +grateful to the gods, whom we can repay by gratitude alone. "We +cannot," says our adversary, "give the gods anything else." Well, +but if I am not able to give this man, whose kindness I am bound to +return, anything beside my gratitude, why should that which is all +that I can bestow on a god be insufficient to prove my gratitude +towards a man? + +XVI. If, however, you ask me what I really think, and wish me to +give a definite answer, I should say that the one party ought to +consider his benefit to have been returned, while the other ought +to feel that he has not returned it; the one should release his +friend from the debt, the other should hold himself bound to pay +it; the one should say, "I have received;" the other should answer, +"I owe." In our whole investigation, we ought to look entirely to +the public good; we ought to prevent the ungrateful having any +excuses in which they can take refuge, and under cover of which +they can disown their debts. "I have done all in my power," say +you. Well, keep on doing so still. Do you suppose that our +ancestors were so foolish, as not to understand that it is most +unjust that the man who has wasted the money which he received from +his creditor on debauchery, or gambling, should be classed with one +who has lost his own property as well as that of others in a fire, +by robbery, or some sadder mischance? They would take no excuse, +that men might understand that they were always bound to keep their +word; it was thought better that even a good excuse should not be +accepted from a few persons, than that all men should be led to try +to make excuses. You say that you have done all in your power to +repay your debt; this ought to be enough for your friend, but not +enough for you. He to whom you owe a kindness, is unworthy of +gratitude if he lets all your anxious care and trouble to repay it +go for nothing; and so, too, if your friend takes your good will as +a repayment, you are ungrateful if you are not all the more eager +to feel the obligation of the debt which he has forgiven you. Do +not snap up his receipt, or call witnesses to prove it; rather seek +opportunities for repaying not less than before; repay the one man +because he asks for repayment, the other because he forgives you +your debt; the one because he is good, the other because he is bad. +You, need not, therefore, think that you have anything to do with +the question whether a man be bound to repay the benefit which he +has received from a wise man, if that man has ceased to be wise and +has turned into a bad man. You would return a deposit which you had +received from a wise man; you would return a loan even to a bad +man; what grounds have you for not returning a benefit also? +Because he has changed, ought he to change you? What? if you had +received anything from a man when healthy, would you not return it +to him when he was sick, though we always are more bound to treat +our friends with more kindness when they are ailing? So, too, this +man is sick in his mind; we ought to help him, and bear with him; +folly is a disease of the mind. + +XVII. I think here we ought to make a distinction, in order to +render this point more intelligible. Benefits are of two kinds: +one, the perfect and true benefit, which can only be bestowed by +one wise man upon another; the other, the common vulgar form which +ignorant men like ourselves interchange. With regard to the latter, +there is no doubt that it is my duty to repay it whether my friend +turns out to be a murderer, a thief, or an adulterer. Crimes have +laws to punish them; criminals are better reformed by judges than +by ingratitude; a man ought not to make you bad by being so +himself. I will fling a benefit back to a bad man, I will return it +to a good man; I do so to the latter, because I owe it to him; to +the former, that I may not be in his debt. + +XVIII. With regard to the other class of benefit, the question +arises whether if I was not able to take it without being a wise +man, I am able to return it, except to a wise man. For suppose I do +return it to him, he cannot receive it, he is not any longer able +to receive such a thing, he has lost the knowledge of how to use +it. You would not bid me throw back [Footnote: i.e. in the game of +ball.] a ball to a man who has lost his hand; it is folly to give +any one what he cannot receive. If I am to begin to reply to the +last argument, I say that I should not give him what he is unable +to take; but I would return it, even though he is not able to +receive it. I cannot lay him under an obligation unless he takes my +bounty; but by returning it I can free myself from my obligations +to him. You say, "he will not be able to use it." Let him see to +that; the fault will lie with him, not with me. + +XIX. "To return a thing," says our adversary, "is to hand it over +to one who can receive it. Why, if you owed some wine to any man, +and he bade you pour it into a net or a sieve, would you say that +you had returned it? or would you be willing to return it in such a +way that in the act of returning it was lost between you?" To +return is to give that which you owe back to its owner when he +wishes for it. It is not my duty to perform more than this; that he +should possess what he has received from me is a matter for further +consideration; I do not owe him the safe-keeping of his property, +but the honourable payment of my debt, and it is much better that +he should not have it, than that I should not return it to him. I +would repay my creditor, even though he would at once take what I +paid him to the market; even if he deputed an adulteress to receive +the money from me, I would pay it to her; even if he were to pour +the coins which he receives into a loose fold of his cloak, I would +pay it. It is my business to return it to him, not to keep it and +save it for him after I have returned it; I am bound to take care +of his bounty when I have received it, but not when I have returned +it to him. While it remains with me, it must be kept safe; but when +he asks for it again I must give it to him, even though it slips +out of his hands as he takes it. I will repay a good man when it is +convenient; I will repay a bad man when he asks me to do so. + +"You cannot," argues our adversary, "return him a benefit of the +same kind as that which you received; for you received it from a +wise man, and you are returning it to a fool." Do I not return to +him such a benefit, as he is now able to receive? It is not my +fault if I return it to him worse than I received it, the fault +lies with him, and so, unless he regains his former wisdom, I shall +return it in such a form as he in his fallen condition is able to +receive. "But what," asks he, "if he become not only bad, but +savage and ferocious, like Apollodorus or Phalaris, would you +return even to such a man as this a benefit which you had received +from him?" I answer, Nature does not admit of so great a change in +a wise man. Men do not change from the best to the worst; even in +becoming bad, he would necessarily retain some traces of goodness; +virtue is never so utterly quenched as not to imprint on the mind +marks which no degradation can efface. If wild animals bred in +captivity escape into the woods, they still retain something of +their original tameness, and are as remote from the gentlest in the +one extreme as they are in the other from those which have always +been wild, and have never endured to be touched by man's hand. No +one who has ever applied himself to philosophy ever becomes +completely wicked; his mind becomes so deeply coloured with it, +that its tints can never be entirely spoiled and blackened. In the +next place, I ask whether this man of yours be ferocious merely in +intent, or whether he breaks out into actual outrages upon mankind? +You have instanced the tyrants Apollodorus and Phalaris; if the bad +man restrains their evil likeness within himself, why should I not +return his benefit to him, in order to set myself free from any +further dealings with him? If, however, he not only delights in +human blood, but feeds upon it; if he exercises his insatiable +cruelty in the torture of persons of all ages, and his fury is not +prompted by anger, but by a sort of delight in cruelty, if he cuts +the throats of children before the eyes of their parents; if, not +satisfied with merely killing his victims, he tortures them, and +not only burns but actually roasts them; if his castle is always +wet with freshly shed blood; then it is not enough not to return +his benefits. All connexion between me and such a man has been +broken off by his destruction of the bonds of human society. If he +had bestowed something upon me, but were to invade my native +country, he would have lost all claim to my gratitude, and it would +be counted a crime to make him any return; if he does not attack my +country, but is the scourge of his own; if he has nothing to do +with my nation, but torments and cuts to pieces his own, then in +the same manner such depravity, though it does not render him my +personal enemy, yet renders him hateful to me, and the duty which I +owe to the human race is anterior to and more important than that +which I owe to him as an individual. + +XX. However, although this be so, and although I am freed from all +obligation towards him, from the moment when, by outraging all +laws, he rendered it impossible for any man to do him a wrong, +nevertheless, I think I ought to make the following distinction in +dealing with him. If my repayment of his benefit will neither +increase nor maintain his powers of doing mischief to mankind, and +is of such a character that I can return it to him without +disadvantage to the public, I would return it: for instance, I +would save the life of his infant child; for what harm can this +benefit do to any of those who suffer from his cruelty? But I would +not furnish him with money to pay his bodyguard. If he wishes for +marbles, or fine clothes, the trappings of his luxury will harm no +one; but with soldiers and arms I would not furnish him. If he +demands, as a great boon, actors and courtesans and such things as +will soften his savage nature, I would willingly bestow them upon +him. I would not furnish him with triremes and brass-beaked ships +of war, but I would send him fast sailing and luxuriously-fitted +vessels, and all the toys of kings who take their pleasure on the +sea. If his health was altogether despaired of, I would by the same +act bestow a benefit on all men and return one to him; seeing that +for such characters death is the only remedy, and that he who never +will return to himself, had best leave himself. However, such +wickedness as this is uncommon, and is always regarded as a +portent, as when the earth opens, or when fires break forth from +caves under the sea; so let us leave it, and speak of those vices +which we can hate without shuddering at them. As for the ordinary +bad man, whom I can find in the marketplace of any town, who is +feared only by individuals, I would return to him a benefit which I +had received from him. It is not right that I should profit by his +wickedness; let me return what is not mine to its owner. Whether he +be good or bad makes no difference; but I would consider the matter +most carefully, if I were not returning but bestowing it. + +XXI. This point requires to be illustrated by a story. A certain +Pythagoraean bought a fine pair of shoes from a shoemaker; and as +they were an expensive piece of work, he did not pay ready money +for them. Some time afterwards he came to the shop to pay for them, +and after he had long been knocking at the closed door, some one +said to him, "Why do you waste your time? The shoemaker whom you +seek has been carried out of his house and buried; this is a grief +to us who lose our friends for ever, but by no means so to you, who +know that he will be born again," jeering at the Pythagoraean. Upon +this our philosopher not unwillingly carried his three or four +denarii home again, shaking them every now and then; afterwards, +blaming himself for the pleasure which he had secretly felt at not +paying his debt, and perceiving that he enjoyed having made this +trifling gain, he returned to the shop, and saying, "the man lives +for you, pay him what you owe," he passed four denarii into the +shop through the crack of the closed door, and let them fall +inside, punishing himself for his unconscionable greediness that he +might not form the habit of appropriating that which is not his +own. + +XXII. If you owe anything, seek for some one to whom you may repay +it, and if no one demands it, dun your own self; whether the man be +good or bad is no concern of yours; repay him, and then blame him. +You have forgotten, how your several duties are divided: it is +right for him to forget it, but we have bidden you bear it in mind. +When, however, we say that he who bestows a benefit ought to forget +it, it is a mistake to suppose that we rob him of all recollection +of the business, though it is most creditable to him; some of our +precepts are stated over strictly in order to reduce them to their +true proportions. When we say that he ought not to remember it, we +mean he ought not to speak publicly, or boast of it offensively. +There are some, who, when they have bestowed a benefit, tell it in +all societies, talk of it when sober, cannot be silent about it +when drunk, force it upon strangers, and communicate it to friends; +it is to quell this excessive and reproachful consciousness that we +bid him who gave it forget it, and by commanding him to do this, +which is more than he is able, encourage him to keep silence. + +XXIII. When you distrust those whom you order to do anything, you +ought to command them to do more than enough in order that they may +do what is enough. The purpose of all exaggeration is to arrive at +the truth by falsehood. Consequently, he who spoke of horses as +being: + + "Whiter than snows and swifter than the winds," + +said what could not possibly be in order that they might be thought +to be as much so as possible. And he who said: + + "More firm than crags, more headlong than the stream," + +did not suppose that he should make any one believe that a man +could ever be as firm as a crag. Exaggeration never hopes all its +daring flights to be believed, but affirms what is incredible, that +thereby it may convey what is credible. When we say, "let the man +who has bestowed a benefit, forget it," what we mean is, "let him +be as though he had forgotten it; let not his remembrance of it +appear or be seen." When we say that repayment of a benefit ought +not to be demanded, we do not utterly forbid its being demanded; +for repayment must often be extorted from bad men, and even good +men require to be reminded of it. Am I not to point out a means of +repayment to one who does not perceive it? Am I not to explain my +wants to one does not know them? Why should he (if a bad man) have +the excuse, or (if a good man) have the sorrow of not knowing them? +Men ought sometimes to be reminded of their debts, though with +modesty, not in the tone of one demanding a legal right. + +XXIV. Socrates once said in the hearing of his friends: "I would +have bought a cloak, if I had had the money for it." He asked no +one for money, but he reminded them all to give it. There was a +rivalry between them, as to who should give it; and how should +there not be? Was it not a small thing which Socrates received? +Yes, but it was a great thing to be the man from whom Socrates +received it. Could he blame them more gently? "I would," said he, +"have bought a cloak if I had had the money for it." After this, +however eager any one was to give, he gave too late; for he had +already been wanting in his duty to Socrates. Because some men +harshly demand repayment of debts, we forbid it, not in order that +it may never be done, but that it may be done sparingly. + +XXV. Aristippus once, when enjoying a perfume, said: "Bad luck to +those effeminate persons who have brought so nice a thing into +disrepute." We also may say, "Bad luck to those base extortioners +who pester us for a fourfold return of their benefits, and have +brought into disrepute so nice a thing as reminding our friends of +their duty." I shall nevertheless make use of this right of +friendship, and I shall demand the return of a benefit from any man +from whom I would not have scrupled to ask for one, such a man as +would regard the power of returning a benefit as equivalent to +receiving a second one. Never, not even when complaining of him, +would I say, + + "A wretch forlorn upon the shore he lay, + His ship, his comrades, all were swept away; + Fool that I was, I pitied his despair, + And even gave him of my realm a share." + +This is not to remind, but to reproach; this is to make one's +benefits odious to enable him, or even to make him wish to be +ungrateful. It is enough, and more than enough, to remind him of it +gently and familiarly: + + "If aught of mine hath e'er deserved thy thanks." + +To this his answer would be, "Of course you have deserved my +thanks; you took me up, 'a wretch forlorn upon the shore.'" + +XXVI. "But," says our adversary, "suppose that we gain nothing by +this; suppose that he pretends that he has forgotten it, what ought +I to do?" You now ask a very necessary question, and one which +fitly concludes this branch of the subject, how, namely, one ought +to bear with the ungrateful. I answer, calmly, gently, +magnanimously. Never let any one's discourtesy, forgetfulness, or +ingratitude, enrage you so much that you do not feel any pleasure +at having bestowed a benefit upon him; never let your wrongs drive +you into saying, "I wish I had not done it." You ought to take +pleasure even in the ill-success of your benefit; he will always be +sorry for it, even though you are not even now sorry for it. You +ought not to be indignant, as if something strange had happened; +you ought rather to be surprised if it had not happened. Some are +prevented by difficulties, some by expense, and some by danger from +returning your bounty; some are hindered by a false shame, because +by returning it, they would confess that they had received it; with +others ignorance of their duty, indolence, or excess of business, +stands in the way. Reflect upon the insatiability of men's desires. +You need not be surprised if no one repays you in a world in which +no one ever gains enough. What man is there of so firm and +trustworthy a mind that you can safely invest your benefits in him? +One man is crazed with lust, another is the slave of his belly, +another gives his whole soul to gain, caring nothing for the means +by which he amasses it; some men's minds are disturbed by envy, +some blinded by ambition till they are ready to fling themselves on +the sword's point. In addition to this, one must reckon +sluggishness of mind and old age; and also the opposites of these, +restlessness and disturbance of mind, also excessive self-esteem +and pride in the very things for which a man ought to be despised. +I need not mention obstinate persistence in wrong-doing, or +frivolity which cannot remain constant to one point; besides all +this, there is headlong rashness, there is timidity which never +gives us trustworthy counsel, and the numberless errors with which +we struggle, the rashness of the most cowardly, the quarrels of our +best friends, and that most common evil of trusting in what is most +uncertain, and of undervaluing, when we have obtained it, that +which we once never hoped to possess. Amidst all these restless +passions, how can you hope to find a thing so full of rest as good +faith? + +XXVII. If a true picture of our life were to rise before your +mental vision, you would, I think, behold a scene like that of a +town just taken by storm, where decency and righteousness were no +longer regarded, and no advice is heard but that of force, as if +universal confusion were the word of command. Neither fire nor +sword are spared; crime is unpunished by the laws; even religion, +which saves the lives of suppliants in the very midst of armed +enemies, does not check those who are rushing to secure plunder. +Some men rob private houses, some public buildings; all places, +sacred or profane, are alike stripped; some burst their way in, +others climb over; some open a wider path for themselves by +overthrowing the walls that keep them out, and make their way to +their booty over ruins; some ravage without murdering, others +brandish spoils dripping with their owner's blood; everyone carries +off his neighbours' goods. In this greedy struggle of the human +race surely you forget the common lot of all mankind, if you seek +among these robbers for one who will return what he has got. If you +are indignant at men being ungrateful, you ought also to be +indignant at their being luxurious, avaricious and lustful; you +might as well be indignant with sick men for being ugly, or with +old men for being pale. It is, indeed, a serious vice, it is not to +be borne, and sets men at variance with one another; nay, it rends +and destroys that union by which alone our human weakness can be +supported; yet it is so absolutely universal, that even those who +complain of it most are not themselves free from it. + +XXVIII. Consider within yourself, whether you have always shown +gratitude to those to whom you owe it, whether no one's kindness +has ever been wasted upon you, whether you constantly bear in mind +all the benefits which you have received. You will find that those +which you received as a boy were forgotten before you became a man; +that those bestowed upon you as a young man slipped from your +memory when you became an old one. Some we have lost, some we have +thrown away, some have by degrees passed out of our sight, to some +we have wilfully shut our eyes. If I am to make excuses for your +weakness, I must say in the first place that human memory is a +frail vessel, and is not large enough to contain the mass of things +placed in it; the more it receives, the more it must necessarily +lose; the oldest things in it give way to the newest. Thus it comes +to pass that your nurse has hardly any influence with you, because +the lapse of time has set the kindness which you received from her +at so great a distance; thus it is that you no longer look upon +your teacher with respect; and that now when you are busy about +your candidature for the consulate or the priesthood, you forget +those who supported you in your election to the quaestorship. If +you carefully examine yourself, perhaps you will find the vice of +which you complain in your own bosom; you are wrong in being angry +with a universal failing, and foolish also, for it is your own as +well; you must pardon others, that you may yourself be acquitted. +You will make your friend a better man by bearing with him, you +will in all cases make him a worse one by reproaching him. You can +have no reason for rendering him shameless; let him preserve any +remnants of modesty which he may have. Too loud reproaches have +often dispelled a modesty which might have borne good fruit. No man +fears to be that which all men see that he is; when his fault is +made public, he loses his sense of shame. + +XXIX. You say, "I have lost the benefit which I bestowed." Yet do +we say that we have lost what we consecrate to heaven, and a +benefit well bestowed, even though we get an ill return for it, is +to be reckoned among things consecrated. Our friend is not such a +man as we hoped he was; still, let us, unlike him, remain the same +as we were. The loss did not take place when he proved himself so; +his ingratitude cannot be made public without reflecting some shame +upon us, since to complain of the loss of a benefit is a sign that +it was not well bestowed. As far as we are able we ought to plead +with ourselves on his behalf: "Perhaps he was not able to return +it, perhaps he did not know of it, perhaps he will still do so." A +wise and forbearing creditor prevents the loss of some debts by +encouraging his debtor and giving him time. We ought to do the +same, we ought to deal tenderly with a weakly sense of honour. + +XXX. "I have lost," say you, "the benefit which I bestowed." You +are a fool, and do not understand when your loss took place; you +have indeed lost it, but you did so when you gave it, the fact has +only now come to light. Even in the case of those benefits which +appear to be lost, gentleness will do much good; the wounds of the +mind ought to be handled as tenderly as those of the body. The +string, which might be disentangled by patience, is often broken by +a rough pull. What is the use of abuse, or of complaints? why do +you overwhelm him with reproaches? why do you set him free from his +obligation? even if he be ungrateful he owes you nothing after +this. What sense is there in exasperating a man on whom you have +conferred great favours, so as out of a doubtful friend to make a +certain enemy, and one, too, who will seek to support his own cause +by defaming you, or to make men say, "I do not know what the reason +is that he cannot endure a man to whom he owes so much; there must +be something in the background?" Any man can asperse, even if he +does not permanently stain the reputation of his betters by +complaining of them; nor will any one be satisfied with imputing +small crimes to them, when it is only by the enormity of his +falsehood that he can hope to be believed. + +XXXI. What a much better way is that by which the semblance of +friendship, and, indeed, if the other regains to his right mind, +friendship itself is preserved! Bad men are overcome by unwearying +goodness, nor does any one receive kindness in so harsh and hostile +a spirit as not to love good men even while he does them wrong, +when they lay him under the additional obligation of requiring no +return for their kindness. Reflect, then, upon this: you say, "My +kindness has met with no return, what am I to do? I ought to +imitate the gods, those noblest disposers of all events, who begin +to bestow their benefits on those who know them not, and persist in +bestowing them on those who are ungrateful for them. Some reproach +them with neglect of us, some with injustice towards us; others +place them outside of their own world, in sloth and indifference, +without light, and without any functions; others declare that the +sun itself, to whom we owe the division of our times of labour and +of rest, by whose means we are saved from being plunged in the +darkness of eternal night; who, by his circuit, orders the seasons +of the year, gives strength to our bodies, brings forth our crops +and ripens our fruits, is merely a mass of stone, or a fortuitous +collection of fiery particles, or anything rather than a god. Yet, +nevertheless, like the kindest of parents, who only smile at the +spiteful words of their children, the gods do not cease to heap +benefits upon those who doubt from what source their benefits are +derived, but continue impartially distributing their bounty among +all the peoples and nations of the earth. Possessing only the power +of doing good, they moisten the land with seasonable showers, they +put the seas in movement by the winds, they mark time by the course +of the constellations, they temper the extremes of heat and cold, +of summer and winter, by breathing a milder air upon us; and they +graciously and serenely bear with the faults of our erring spirits. +Let us follow their example; let us give, even if much be given to +no purpose, let us, in spite of this, give to others; nay, even to +those upon whom our bounty has been wasted. No one is prevented by +the fall of a house from building another; when one home has been +destroyed by fire, we lay the foundations of another before the +site has had time to cool; we rebuild ruined cities more than once +upon the same spots, so untiring are our hopes of success. Men +would undertake no works either on land or sea if they were not +willing to try again what they have failed in once. + +XXXII. Suppose a man is ungrateful, he does not injure me, but +himself; I had the enjoyment of my benefit when I bestowed it upon +him. Because he is ungrateful, I shall not be slower to give but +more careful; what I have lost with him, I shall receive back from +others. But I will bestow a second benefit upon this man himself, +and will overcome him even as a good husbandman overcomes the +sterility of the soil by care and culture; if I do not do so my +benefit is lost to me, and he is lost to mankind. It is no proof of +a great mind to give and to throw away one's bounty; the true test +of a great mind is to throw away one's bounty and still to give." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's L. Annaeus Seneca On Benefits, by Aubrey Stewart + |