son 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 all
cases should be our measure, he who gives too much acts as wrongly as he
who gives too little. Even granting that fortune has raised you so high,
that, where other men give cups, you give cities (which it would show a
greater mind in you not to take than to take and squander), still there
must be some of your friends who are not strong enough to put a city in
their pockets.

XVII. A certain cynic asked Antigonus for a talent. Antigonus answered
that this was too much for a cynic to ask for. After this rebuff he
asked for a penny. Antigonus answered that this was too little for a
king to give. "This kind of hair-splitting" (you say) "is contemptible:
he found the means of giving neither. In the matter of the penny he
thought of the king, in that of the talent he thought of the cynic,
whereas with respect to the cynic it would have been right to receive
the penny, with respect to the king it would have been right to give the
talent. Though there may be things which are too great for a cynic to
receive, yet nothing is so small, that it does not become a gracious
king to bestow it