Once when many gifts were being presented to Socrates by his pupils, each one bringing according to his means, Aeschines, who was poor, said to him: “Nothing that I am able to give to you do I find worthy of you, and only in this way do I discover that am a poor man. And so I give to you the only thing that I possess — myself. This gift, such as it is, I beg you to take in good part, and bear in mind that the others, though they gave to you much, have left more for themselves.” “And how,” said Socrates, “could it have been anything but a great gift — unless maybe you set small value upon yourself? And so I shall make it my care to return you to yourself a better man than when I received you.” By this present Aeschines surpassed Alcibiades, whose heart matched his riches,12 and the wealthy youths with all their splendid gifts.