destroyed by fire, we lay the foundations of another before the
site has had time to cool; we rebuild ruined cities more than once
upon the same spots, so untiring are our hopes of success.  Men
would undertake no works either on land or sea if they were not
willing to try again what they have failed in once. 

XXXII.  Suppose a man is ungrateful, he does not injure me, but
himself; I had the enjoyment of my benefit when I bestowed it upon
him.  Because he is ungrateful, I shall not be slower to give but
more careful; what I have lost with him, I shall receive back from
others.  But I will bestow a second benefit upon this man himself,
and will overcome him even as a good husbandman overcomes the
sterility of the soil by care and culture; if I do not do so my
benefit is lost to me, and he is lost to mankind.  It is no proof of
a great mind to give and to throw away one's bounty; the true test
of a great mind is to throw away one's bounty and still to give." 

End of Project Gutenberg's L.  Annaeus Seneca On Benefits, by Aubrey Stewart