Seneca · c. 4 BCE – 65 CE
On Benefits 6.18 — Seneca
Translation by Aubrey Stewart (1887)
Seneca, On Benefits 6.18
Plato once crossed a river, and as the ferryman did not ask him for anything, he supposed that he had let him pass free out of respect, and said that the ferryman had laid Plato under an obligation. Shortly afterwards, seeing the ferryman take one person after another across the river with the same pains, and without charging anything, Plato declared that the ferryman had not laid him under an obligation. If you wish me to be grateful for what you give, you must not merely give it to me, but show that you mean it specially for me; you cannot make any claim upon one for having given him what you fling away broadcast among the crowd. What then? shall I owe you nothing for it? Nothing, as an individual; I will pay, when the rest of mankind do, what I owe no more than they.
Cite this passage
Seneca, On Benefits 6.18, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-benefits/6.18
Seneca, Dialogues, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887–1889). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA favour handed out to everyone alike is not a personal kindness. Plato felt obliged to the ferryman until he saw him carry everyone free, and gratitude is owed when a giver shows that the gift is meant specially for you.
Themes and situations
- Gratitude
- Kindness and forgiveness
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.