for. I ought not to make a small benefit appear a great one, nor
allow great benefits to be regarded as small; for although it
destroys all feeling of gratitude to treat what you give like a
creditor, yet you do not reproach a man, but merely set off your
gift to the best advantage by letting him know what it is worth.
Every man must consider what his resources and powers are, so that
we may not give either more or less than we are able. We must also
consider the character and position of the person to whom we give,
for some men are too great to give small gifts, while others are
too small to receive great ones. Compare, therefore, the character
both of the giver and the receiver, and weigh that which you give
between the two, taking care that what is given be neither too
burdensome nor too trivial for the one to give, nor yet such as the
receiver will either treat with disdain as too small, or think too
great for him to deal with.

XVI. Alexander, who was of unsound mind, and always full of
magnificent ideas, presented somebody with a city. When the man to
whom he gave it had reflected upon the scope of his own powers, he
wished to avoid the jealousy which so great a present would excite,
saying that the gift did not suit a man of his position. "I do not
ask," replied Alexander, "what is becoming for you to receive, but
what is becoming for me to give." This seems a spirited and kingly
speech, yet really it is a most foolish one. Nothing is by itself a
becoming gift for any one: all depends upon who gives it, to whom
he gives it, when, for what reason, where, and so forth, without
which details it is impossible to argue about it. Inflated
creature! if it did not become him to receive this gift, it could
not become thee to give it. There should be a proportion between
men's characters and the offices which they fill; and as virtue in