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.
Where these words come from
- Lots of sources credit Seneca with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
- https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3794/pg3794-images.html
More from Seneca
See allFor sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.
SenecaAll art is but imitation of nature.SenecaIt is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.SenecaMen learn while they teach.SenecaIt is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.SenecaNo good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.Seneca
SenecaAll art is but imitation of nature.SenecaIt is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.SenecaMen learn while they teach.SenecaIt is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.SenecaNo good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.SenecaMore on kindness
Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.
Chief JosephAmong individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.
Benito JuárezAs to diseases, make a habit of two things — to help, or at least, to do no harm.
HippocratesI have never met a man so ignorant that I could not learn something from him.
Galileo GalileiTo 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.SenecaWe 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.Seneca
Chief JosephAmong individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.Benito JuárezAs to diseases, make a habit of two things — to help, or at least, to do no harm.HippocratesI have never met a man so ignorant that I could not learn something from him.Galileo GalileiTo 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.SenecaWe 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.Seneca