On Kindness to the Good and the Bad

Do not tie strings to the gift of your kindness, for that turns it into hypocrisy and a con, into trickery and calculation. The learned scholar loses out when he sells his knowledge and refinement just to earn his bread. Where would reason or religious law ever rule that a wise person should trade faith for worldly gain? And yet, go ahead and buy: a person of sense gladly picks up bargains from those who sell too cheap.