On Benefits Chapter 23

Quotiens parum fiduciae est in iis, quibus imperes, amplius exigendum est, quam sat est, ut praestetur, quantum sat est. In hoc omnis hyperbole extenditur, ut ad verum mendacio veniat. Itaque ille, cum dixit : Qui candore nives anteirent, cursibus auras, quod non poterat fieri, dixit, ut crederetur, quantum plurimum posset. Et qui dixit : His inmobilior scopulis, violentior amne, ne hoc quidem se persuasurum putavit aliquem tam immobilem esse quam scopulum. Numquam tantum sperat hyperbole, quantum audet, sed incredibilia adfirmat, ut ad credibilia perveniat. Cum dicimus : " Qui beneficium dedit, obliviscatur," hoc dicimus : " Similis sit oblito ; memoria eius non appareat nec incurrat." Cum dicimus beneficium repeti non oportere, non ex toto repetitionem tollimus ; saepe enim opus est malis exactore, etiam bonis admonitione. Quid ergo ? Occasionem ignoranti non ostendam ? Necessitates illi meas non detegam ? Quare nescisse se aut mentiatur aut doleat ? Interveniat aliquando admonitio, sed verecunda, quae non poscat nec in ius vocet.

When you distrust those whom you order to do anything, you ought to command them to do more than enough in order that they may do what is enough. The purpose of all exaggeration is to arrive at the truth by falsehood. Consequently, he who spoke of horses as being: "Whiter than snows and swifter than the winds," said what could not possibly be in order that they might be thought to be as much so as possible. And he who said: "More firm than crags, more headlong than the stream," did not suppose that he should make any one believe that a man could ever be as firm as a crag. Exaggeration never hopes all its daring flights to be believed, but affirms what is incredible, that thereby it may convey what is credible. When we say, "let the man who has bestowed a benefit, forget it," what we mean is, "let him be as though he had forgotten it; let not his remembrance of it appear or be seen." When we say that repayment of a benefit ought not to be demanded, we do not utterly forbid its being demanded; for repayment must often be extorted from bad men, and even good men require to be reminded of it. Am I not to point out a means of repayment to one who does not perceive it? Am I not to explain my wants to one does not know them? Why should he (if a bad man) have the excuse, or (if a good man) have the sorrow of not knowing them? Men ought sometimes to be reminded of their debts, though with modesty, not in the tone of one demanding a legal right.

Chaque fois qu’on se défie d’un homme à qui l’on impose une tâche, on doit lui demander plus qu’il ne faut pour en obtenir tout ce qu’il faut, Une hyperbole n’exagère qu’afin d’atteindre à la réalité par le mensonge. Le poëte qui parle de coursiers Plus légers que les vents et plus blancs que la neige, parle d’une chose impossible pour faire admettre le mieux possible. Et celui qui a dit d’un homme : Plus ferme que ces rocs, plus fougueux qu’un torrent, ne comptait persuader à personne qu’un homme fût aussi ferme qu’un rocher. Jamais l’hyperbole n’espère en proportion de ce qu’elle ose ; mais elle affirme l’incroyable de peur d’être au-dessous du croyable. Quand nous disons : « Que l’auteur du bienfait l’oublie, » nous voulons dire : « Qu’il paraisse l’oublier ; que ses souvenirs ne se laissent pas voir, ne nous assiègent pas. » En avançant que le bienfait ne doit pas se redemander, nous ne proscrivons point toute réclamation ; souvent, en effet, les méohants ont besoin qu’on les presse, et les bons même qu’on les avertisse. Eh quoi ! ne montrerai-je pas l’occasion à qui ne la voit point ? Ne lui révélerai-je pas mes besoins, que plus tard il feindrait ou gémirait d’avoir ignorés ? Faisons intervenir parfois l’avertissement, mais avec réserve : point de requête ni d’appel au droit.