I know the answer that can be made to this: “Yes, and therefore God does not give benefits, but, free from all care and unconcerned about us, he turns his back on the world, and either does something else, or — that which Epicurus counts supreme happiness — does nothing at all, and benefits no more concern him than injuries.” But he who says this does not hearken to the voices of those who pray and of those who all around him, lifting their hands to heaven, offer vows for blessings public and private. Assuredly this would not be the case, assuredly all mortals would not have agreed upon this madness of addressing divinities that were deaf and gods that were ineffectual, unless we were conscious of their benefits that sometimes are presented unasked, sometimes are granted in answer to prayer — great and timely gifts, which by their coming remove grave menaces. And who is so wretched, so uncared for, who has been born to so cruel a destiny and punishment as never to have experienced the great bounty of the gods? Look at those who bemoan and deplore their lot — you will find that even these are not wholly excluded from heavenly benefits, that there is not one to whom some benefit has not trickled from that most bountiful spring. And the gift that at birth is dispensed equally to all — is this too small a thing? Though the fortunes to which we pass in later life are dispensed in unequal measure, was it too small a thing that Nature gave when she gave to us herself?