Nihil est tam populare quam bonitas, nulla de virtutibus tuis plurimis nec admirabilior nec gratior misericordia est. homines enim ad deos nulla re propius accedunt quam salutem hominibus dando; nihil habet nec fortuna tua maius quam ut possis, nec natura melius quam ut velis servare quam plurimos.
(Cicero, Pro Ligario 37-38)
Nothing is so dear to the people as kindness, and none of your many high qualities arouses such admiration and such pleasure as your compassion. For in nothing do men more nearly approach divinity than in doing good to their fellow-men; your situation has nothing prouder in it than the power, your character nothing in it more noble than the wish, to preserve all whom you can. (tr. Nevile Hunter Watts)
Crambe Repetita 