On Benefits Chapter 2

Quis tam ingratus est, quam qui, quod in prima parte animi positum esse debuit et semper occurrere, ita seposuit et abiecit, ut in ignorantiam verteret ? Apparet illum non saepe de reddendo cogitasse, cui obrepsit oblivio. Denique ad reddendam gratiam et virtute opus est et tempore et facultate et adspirante fortuna ; qui meminit, sat sine impendio gratus est. Hoc, quod non operam exigit, non opes, non felicitatem, qui non praestat, nullum habet, quo lateat, patrocinium ; numquam enim voluit gratus esse, qui beneficium tam longe proiecit, ut extra conspectum suum poneret. Quemadmodum, quae in usu sunt et manum cotidie tactumque patiuntur, numquam periculum situs adeunt, illa, quae ad oculos non revocantur, sed extra conversationem ut supervacua iacuerunt, sordes ipsa colligunt vetustate, ita, quidquid frequens cogitatio exercet ac renovat, memoriae numquam subducitur, quae nihil perdit, nisi ad quod non saepe respexit.

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.

D’ailleurs, pour rendre le bien qu’on a reçu, il faut, outre la vertu, les circonstances, les moyens ; il faut que le sort nous seconde. Un cœur qui se souvient n’a pas de frais à faire pour être reconnaissant. Se refuser à ce qui n’exige ni peine, ni richesse, ni bonheur, c’est n’avoir plus pour se couvrir l’ombre d’un prétexte. Non, il n’a jamais voulu s’acquitter celui qui a éloigné de soi le bienfait jusqu’à le perdre de vue. Comme les ustensiles habituels, qui souffrent journellement le contact de la main, ne risquent jamais de se rouiller ; comme au contraire ceux qu’on ne ramène plus sous nos yeux, mais qu’on laisse à l’écart où ils gisent comme inutiles, contractent par le temps même toutes sortes de souillures ; ainsi tout souvenir que l’esprit remanie et rafraîchit sans cesse ne lui échappe jamais : il ne perd que ceux auxquels il se reporte trop rarement .