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Of Nyssa. He who has willed only the good, but was hindered from the noble deed by not being able, is in no way inferior in the disposition of his soul to the one who showed his intention through his works.

Philo. Nothing is so conducive to goodwill as the praise of good deeds.

O king, love those who supplicate to receive favors from you more than those who are eager to offer gifts to you. For to the latter one becomes a debtor for a return gift; but the former will make him your debtor who appropriates what is done for them and repays your philanthropic purpose with good returns.

Of the same, another. Plut. A favor, like the moon, appears beautiful when it becomes full.

Democrit. A man has something similar to God, when he does not make a trade of doing good; and of doing favors and of speaking the truth.

The same, seeing someone readily granting favors to all, and serving without examination, 15Ε_088 said, May you perish badly, because you have made the Graces, who are virgins, into prostitutes.

Of Moschion. To spend upon an ungrateful person is a loss; but not to spend upon a grateful person is harmful.

Of Cato. The majority of men are more ready for punishments; but for acts of kindness and friendships, they are sluggish.

Alexandr. Having sent fifty talents to Xenocrates the philosopher, when he did not accept them, saying he had no need, he asked if Xenocrates did not even have a friend; For to me, he said, the wealth of Darius was barely enough for my friends.

And when one of his friends asked him for a dowry for his daughter, he ordered him to take fifty talents; but when he said that ten were sufficient, he said, For you, it is enough to receive, but for me it is not enough to give ten.

The same once filled a platter with bones and sent it to Diogenes the Cynic philosopher; and he, having received it, said, The food is worthy of a Cynic, but the gift is not worthy of a king.

The same said that it is the same mistake to give to those to whom one ought not, and not to give to those to whom one ought.

Diogenes, when asked by someone for what reason men give to beggars, but not at all to philosophers, said, Because they perhaps expect to become lame and blind, but not philosophers.

Philistion. It is better to lend to the earth than to mortals, She who gives interest without being grieved. 776 Lysandr. Lysander, when Dionysius the tyrant sent garments to his

daughters from among the most costly ones, did not accept them, saying that he was afraid lest through these they might appear more shameful.

A favor, like nothing else in life, grows old most quickly for most people. 15Ε_090 Demosth. Those who do not use opportunities [bad ones] rightly, not even if

something good happens to them from God, do they remember. The same used to say, that the one who gives a favor ought immediately to forget; the one

but who receives, always to remember. Of Heraclitus the Physicist. A timely favor, like food fitting for a famine,

heals the poverty of the soul. Of Menander.

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Τοῦ Νύσσης. Ὁ θελήσαας τό ἀγαθόν μόνον, κωλυθείς δέ πρός τό καλόν τῷ μή δύνασθαι, κατ᾿ οὐδέν ἐλαττοῦται τῆς ψυχῆς διαθέσει, τοῦ διά τῶν ἔργων τήν γνώμην δείξαντος.

Φίλων. Οὐδέν οὕτω εὐάγωγον εἰς εὔνοιαν, ὡς ἡ τῶν εὐεργετημάτων εὐφημία.

Πλέον ἀγάπα βασιλεῦ, τούς λαμβάνειν παρά σοῦ χάριτας ἱκετεύοντας, ἤπερ τούς σπουδάζοντας δωρεάς σοι προσφέρειν. Τοῖς μέν γάρ ὀφειλέτης ἀμοιβῆς καθίσταται· οἱ δέ σου τόν ὀφειλέτην ποιήσουσι τόν οἰκειούμενον τά εἰς αὐτούς γινόμενα, και ἀμειβόμενον ἀγαθαῖς ἀντιδόσεσιν τόν φιλάνθρωπόν σου σκοπόν.

Τοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἄλλ. Πλουτ. Ἡ χάρις ὥσπερ ἡ σελήνη, ὅταν τελεία γένηται, τότε καλή φαίνεται.

∆ημοκρίτ. Θεῷ ὅμοιον ἔχει ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὅταν τό εὖ ποιεῖν μή καπηλεύηται· καί τό εὐεργετεῖν καί τό ἀληθεύειν.

Ὁ αὐτός ἰδών τινα προχείρως πᾶσι χαριζόμενον, καί ἀνεξετάστως 15Ε_088 ὑπηρετούμενον, Κακῶς, εἶπεν, ἀπόλοιο, ὅτι τάς Χάριτας παρθένους οὔσας, πόρνας ἐποίησας.

Μοσχίωνος. Τό μέν εἰς ἀχάριστον ἀναλῶσαι, ἐπιζήμιον· τό δέ εἰς εὐχάριστον μή ἀναλῶσαι, βλαβερόν.

Κάτωνος. Οἱ πολλοί τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πρός μέν τάς τιμωρίας ἑτοιμοτέρως ἔχουσι· πρός δέ τάς εὐεργεσίας καί φιλίας, ὑπτίως.

Ἀλέξανδρ. Ξενοκράτει τῷ φιλοσόφῳ πεντήκοντα τάλαντα πέμψας, ὡς οὐκ ἐδέξατο, μή δεῖσθαι φήσας, ἐρώτησεν, εἰ μηδέ φίλον ἔχει Ξενοκράτης· Ἐμοί γάρ, ἔφη, μόλις ὁ ∆αρείου πλοῦτος εἰς τούς φίλους ἤρκεσεν.

Τινός δέ τῶν αὐτοῦ φίλων αἰτήσαντος αὐτόν εἰς προῖκα τῆς θυγατρός, ἐκέλευσε πεντήκοντα τάλαντα λαβεῖν· αὐτοῦ δέ φήσαντος, ἱκανά εἶναι δέκα, Σοί μέν, ἔφη, λαβεῖν, ἐμοί δέ οὐχ ἱκανά εἶναι δέκα δοῦναι.

Ὁ αὐτός πληρώσας ποτέ ὀστέων πίνακα, ἔπεμψε ∆ιογένει τῷ Κυνικῷ φιλοσόφῳ· ὁ δέ λαβών, εἶπεν, Κυνικόν μέν τό βρῶμα, οὐ βασιλικόν δέ τό δῶρον.

Ὁ αὐτός εἶπεν, τῆς αὐτῆς ἁμαρτίας εἶναι, τό διδόναι οἷς μή δεῖ, καί τό μή διδόναι οἷς δεῖ.

∆ιογένης ἐρωτηθείς ὑπό τινος, διά τίνα αἰτίαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, τοῖς μέν προσαιτοῦσι, διδόασι· τοῖς δέ φιλοσοφοῦσιν, οὐδαμῶς, εἶπεν, Ὅτι χωλοί μέν καί τυφλοί ἴσως ἐλπίζουσι γενέσθαι, φιλόσοφοι δέ οὔ.

Φιλιστίων. Τῇ γῇ δανείζειν κρεῖττόν ἐστιν ἤ βροτοῖς, Ἥτις τόκους δίδουσι μή λυπουμένη. 776 Λυσάνδρ. Λύσανδρος, ∆ιονυσίου τοῦ τυράννου πέμψαντος ἱμάτια ταῖς

θυγατράσιν αὐτοῦ τῶν πολυτελῶν, οὐκ ἔλαβεν, εἰπών, δεδιέναι μή διά ταῦτα μᾶλλον αἰσχραί φανῶσιν.

Ἡ χάρις, ὡς οὐδέν ἄλλο ἐν βίῳ, τοῖς πολλοῖς τάχιστα γηράσκει. 15Ε_090 ∆ημοσθ. Οἱ μή χρησάμενοι τοῖς καιροῖς [κακοῖς] ὀρθῶς, οὐδέ εἰ

συνέβη τι αὐτοῖς παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ χρηστόν, μνημονεύουσιν. Ὁ αὐτός ἔλεγεν, Τόν μέν διδόντα χάριν, χρή παραχρῆμα ἐπιλανθάνεσθαι· τόν

δέ λαμβάνοντα, διά παντός μεμνῆσθαι. Ἡρακλείτου Φυσικοῦ. Ἡ εὔκαιρος χάρις, λιμῷ καθάπερ τροφή ἁρμόττουσα,

τήν τῆς ψυχῆς ἔνδειαν ἰᾶται. Μενάνδρου.