To give and receive well may be the most human thing you can do - but it is also the closest you can come to divinity. So argues the great Roman Stoic thinker Seneca (c. 4 BCE65 CE) in his longest and most searching moral treatise, "On Benefits" ( De Beneficiis

To give and receive well may be the most human thing you can do--but it is also the closest you can come to divinity. So argues the great Roman Stoic thinker Seneca (c. 4 BCE-65 CE) in his longest and most searching moral treatise, "On Benefits" (De Beneficiis). James Romm's splendid new translation of essential selections from this work conveys the heart of Seneca's argument that generosity and gratitude are among the most important of all virtues.

"This new translation of Seneca the Younger's De Beneficiis has insights for both givers and receivers, confirming that the questions surrounding philanthropy-and how to receive as well as to give graciously-are of enduring importance."---Austin Detwiler, Philanthropy Daily