Seneca · c. 4 BCE – 65 CE
On Benefits 3.13 — Seneca
Translation by Aubrey Stewart (1887)
Seneca, On Benefits 3.13
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.
Cite this passage
Seneca, On Benefits 3.13, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-benefits/3.13
Seneca, Dialogues, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887–1889). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesMaking gratitude legally enforceable would make people less willing to receive favours, and less willing to give them, because a kindness loses its credit if the giver is protected from loss. Real generosity comes from good nature and the beauty of giving, and flows more freely to those who owe nothing unless they choose.
Older wording
- “repudiate”
- — reject or refuse to acknowledge
- “impairs”
- — weakens
Themes and situations
- Gratitude
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Justice and fairness
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