general principles of humanity.

It may be asked, "Why are you so careful in inquiring upon whom you
bestow benefits, as though some day you meant to demand repayment
of them? Some say that repayment should never be demanded; and they
give the following reasons. An unworthy man will not repay the
benefit which he has received, even if it be demanded of him, while
a worthy man will do so of his own accord. Consequently, if you
have bestowed it upon a good man, wait; do not outrage him by
asking him for it, as though of his own accord he never would repay
it. If you have bestowed it upon a bad man, suffer for it, but do
not spoil your benefit by turning it into a loan. Moreover the law,
by not authorizing you, forbids you, by implication, to demand the
repayment of a benefit." All this is nonsense. As long as I am in
no pressing need, as long as I am not forced by poverty, I will
lose my benefits rather than ask for repayment; but if the lives of
my children were at stake, if my wife were in danger, if my regard
for the welfare of my country and for my own liberty were to force
me to adopt a course which I disliked, I should overcome my
delicacy, and openly declare that I had done all that I could to
avoid the necessity of receiving help from an ungrateful man; the
necessity of obtaining repayment of one's benefit will in the end
overcome one's delicacy about asking for it. In the next place,
when I bestow a benefit upon a good man, I do so with the intention
of never demanding repayment, except in case of absolute necessity.

XXI. "But," argues he, "by not authorizing you, the law forbids you
to exact repayment." There are many things which are not enforced
by any law or process, but which the conventions of society, which
are stronger than any law, compel us to observe. There is no law