what comes out of your hands never returns. Moreover, it is worth noting that there is nobody<hr>
in your history who has refused what you have given them because you gave too much, and<hr>
nobody who is dissatisfied because you didn't give enough. Your generosity is all the more remarkable<hr>
because it is not blind. You do good for everyone, but you do not do it without discernment. It is not every day that you distribute gifts to the people,<hr>
and indiscriminately throw treasures amidst the crowd for only the lucky ones to benefit. Aristotle’s student knows how to use wealth and knows how to be generous
in an appropriate manner. Yes, Alexander, you have reconciled wealth with morals. We see philosophers, poets, musicians, painters and sculptors live in plenty and working solely for your glory and their own. We see philosophers practice the politics they teach by governing vast kingdoms. We see poets carry both a golden lyre and a quiver made of ebony wood, sing of your victories and govern provinces. We see musicians whose lutes are made of ivory use their voices solely to thank you and speak of their joy. We see painters as wealthy as the sovereign princes who once employed them. We observe sculptors not only work with marble, porphyry and alabaster for their statues, but also own palaces where all these masterpieces are displayed. Lastly, all the beautiful sciences and all the beautiful arts flourish under your reign. It even seems that, as the gods have performed a miracle in you, nature has also created masterpieces for the love of you. You have Aristotles, Philoxenus, Xenophanes, Apelles and Lysippus who, by surpassing you in happiness and glory, will also work for your cause. All future ages, upon seeing the portraits these celebrated artists will leave of you, be it through their writings, paintings or statues, will inevitably envy the great Alexander. All the deserving individuals from later times will wish to have lived in your era. You will be the model of great princes and the shame of mediocrities, and as long as there are men, they will speak of you as a god. I am not surprised that our great Xerxes, with all his power, could not conquer Greece, for since Greece was to give birth to you, the gods were right to reserve the conquest of the world for you. If Xerxes had accomplished what he had undertaken, he may have been called the tyrant and the scourge of the universe, but you are the rightful prince of all the peoples you have conquered. You are heaven-sent for the happiness of the world, and it was with reason that the oracle of Jupiter Ammon told you that you were his son. No, Alexander, one cannot surpass you in war or wisdom and after your decision today to return Darius to the throne by sharing it with his daughter Stateira, there is nothing more left for you to do, and there is nothing more left for me to desire than the perpetuity of your glory. I do not fear that anyone might be able to deprive you of this. No, that sentiment is not present in my heart. But I fear that the injustice of men might make them unworthy to have you as their master, or that the jealousy of the gods might lead them to recall you
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