Seneca, the Roman philosopher, said "It is another's fault if he be ungrateful; but it is mine if I do not give. To find one thankful man, I will oblige a great many that are not so. I had rather never receive a kindness than never bestow one. Not to return a benefit is a great sin; but not to confer one is a greater."
A good person assists others. A decent person is one who is kind to others, without the desire for personal gain. We save ourselves from ourselves by walking side-by-side, removing the stones from the rocky path and by offering a hand to those who stumble.
Although we are born alone and our death is uniquely our own, we live our lives in the midst of others. When we lift a hand, we have to be cautious of our neighbor's nose. When we fulfill our appetite, we must be mindful that we are recipients of another's effort. Not to be cautious is to be a brute; to take from another without giving back is to live an unrequited life.
We are dependent upon another for our drink and bread, we rely upon others to teach us how to speak, we look to others to learn how to live. We are the beneficiaries of others' good works and we will become the benefactors to others who we will never see. For we not only inherit the earth from our forefathers but we also make the earthly garden for our children and our children's children.
Here is a cautionary tale from the Buddhist tradition: There was a woman who was searching for enlightenment. As a result, she made a beautiful statue of the Buddha, full of fine features and great expressiveness. Sparing no expense, she covered the statue from head to toe with gold and carried it with her wherever she went.
Years passed and eventually the woman decided to live in a temple where she could continue to meditate and contemplate upon life and its meanings and mysteries. In this temple were many statues, each with its own shrine.
She wanted to burn incense for her golden Buddha. However, she didn't want the wafting perfume to reach any of the other statues, so much more precious she believed hers to be. So she devised a funnel through which the smoke would reach only her Buddha. Over time this blackened the nose of the golden statue, thereby making it especially ugly.
