And now we must consider what are the principal causes of ingratitude. The cause will be either a too high opinion of oneself and the weakness implanted in mortals of admiring oneself and one’s deeds, or greed, or jealousy.
Let us begin with the first. Every man is a generous judge of himself. The result is that he thinks he has deserved all that he gets, and receives it as given in payment, yet considers that he has not been appraised at nearly his own value. “He has given me this,” he says, “but how late, and after how much trouble! How much more I might have accomplished if I had chosen to court So- and-so or So-and-so — or myself! I had not expected this — I have been classed with the herd. Was I worth so little in his eyes? It would have been more complimentary if he had passed me by!”