For what more dost thou want when thou hast done a man a service? art thou not content that thou hast done something conformable to thy nature, and dost thou seek to be paid for it? just as if the eye demanded a recompense for seeing, or the feet for walking.
Marcus Aurelius questions the desire for recompense after performing a service, likening it to natural bodily functions.
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There was in him nothing harsh, nor implacable, nor violent, nor, as one may say, anything carried to the sweating point; but he examined all things severally, as if he had abundance of time, and without confusion, in an orderly way…
Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the ruling part.
As thou intendest to live when them art gone out, ... so it is in thy power to live here.
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