profitable to him. Consequently, the man who gives to himself is
not generous, nor is he who pardons himself forgiving, nor is he
who is touched by his own misfortunes tender-hearted; it is natural
to do those things to oneself which when done to others become
generosity, clemency, and tenderness of heart. A benefit is a
voluntary act, but to do good to oneself is an instinctive one. The
more benefits a man bestows, the more beneficent he is, yet who
ever was praised for having been of service to himself? or for
having rescued himself from brigands? No one bestows a benefit upon
himself any more than he bestows hospitality upon himself; no one
gives himself anything, any more than he lends himself anything. If
each man bestows benefits upon himself, is always bestowing them,
and bestows them without any cessation, then it is impossible for
him to make any calculation of the number of his benefits; when
then can he show his gratitude, seeing that by the very act of
doing so he would bestow a benefit? for what distinction can you
draw between giving himself a benefit or receiving a benefit for
himself, when the whole transaction takes place in the mind of the
same man? Suppose that I have freed myself from danger, then I have
bestowed a benefit upon myself; suppose I free myself a second
time, by so doing do I bestow or repay a benefit? In the next
place, even if I grant the primary axiom, that we can bestow
benefits upon ourselves, I do not admit that which follows; for
even if we can do so, we ought not to do so. Wherefore? Because we
receive a return for them at once. It is right for me to receive a
benefit, then to lie under an obligation, then to repay it; now
here there is no time for remaining under an obligation, because we
receive the return without any delay. No one really gives except to
another, no one owes except to another, no one repays except to
another. An act which always requires two persons cannot take place