be contented, and by my gratitude encourage him to show me more
favour; he has not done as much as he ought, but he will do so the
more frequently; he certainly preferred that man to me, but he has
preferred me before many others; that man is not my equal either in
virtue or in services, but he has some charm of his own: by
complaining I shall not make myself deserve to receive more, but
shall become unworthy of what I have received. More has been given
to those most villainous men than has been given to me; well, what
is that to the purpose? how seldom does Fortune show judgment in
her choice? We complain every day of the success of bad men; very
often the hail passes over the estates of the greatest villains and
strikes down the crops of the best of men; every man has to take
his chance, in friendship as well as in everything else." There is
no benefit so great that spitefulness can pick no holes in it, none
so paltry that it cannot be made more of by friendly
interpretation. We shall never want a subject for complaint if we
look at benefits on their wrong side.

XXIX. See how unjustly the gifts of heaven are valued even by some
who profess themselves philosophers, who complain that we are not
as big as elephants, as swift as stags, as light as birds, as
strong as bulls; that the skins of seals are stronger, of hinds
prettier, of bears thicker, of beavers softer than ours; that dogs
excel us in delicacy of scent, eagles in keenness of sight, crows
in length of days, and many beasts in ease of swimming. And
although nature itself does not allow some qualities, as for
example strength and swiftness, to be combined in the same person,
yet they call it a monstrous thing that men are not compounded of
different and inconsistent good qualities, and call the gods
neglectful of us because we have not been given health which even