Marcus Aurelius · a new plain-English translation from the original language
One person, when he has done something good for someone, is quick to also reckon up the favor owed him for it. Another is not quick to do that, yet still, within himself, thinks of the other as a debtor and knows what he has done. But another, in a way, does not even know what he has done, but is like a vine that has borne its cluster of grapes and looks for nothing further once it has once borne its own fruit. A horse that has run, a dog that has tracked, a bee that has made honey, and a man who has done a good deed does not shout about it, but moves on to another act, just as the vine moves on to bear its cluster again in season. So one must be among those who, in a way, do this without dwelling on it.— Yes, but that very thing must be attended to, someone says: for it is proper to the social being to perceive that it acts socially, and, by Zeus, to want the fellow member of society to perceive it too.— What you say is true, but you misunderstand what is now being said; because of this you will become one of those I mentioned before, for they too are led astray by a certain plausible line of reasoning. But if you are willing to grasp what is actually meant, do not fear that on this account you will leave some act of social usefulness undone.