“ And so, when men aim to be kind for the sake of winning good-will, the affection they gain from the object of their gifts is not so great as the hatred they incur from those whom they despoil. ”
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Duties (44 BC). copy citation
| Author | Marcus Tullius Cicero |
|---|---|
| Source | On Duties |
| Topic | affection gift |
| Date | 44 BC |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Walter Miller |
| Weblink | http://www.constitution.org/rom/de_officiis.htm |
Context
“But what is worse folly than to do the thing you like in such a way that you can no longer do it at all? Then, too, lavish giving leads to robbery;/b for when through over-giving men begin to be impoverished, they are constrained to lay their hands on the property of others. And so, when men aim to be kind for the sake of winning good-will, the affection they gain from the object of their gifts is not so great as the hatred they incur from those whom they despoil.
{55} One's purse, then, should not be closed so tightly that a generous impulse should be observed and that limit should be determined by our means. We ought, in a word, to remember the phrase, which, through being repeated so very often by our countrymen, has come to be a common proverb:”
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