Lend only that which you can afford to lose

Whether we talk about money or some other possessions, the truth is that people dislike lending their assets. You can consider it some kind of devotion to material things which, by the way, should not necessarily have a negative meaning, or you can simply call it common sense. Either way, this only goes to show that you are a serious and responsible person, who appreciates and values his belongings and knows well the old proverb that ‘a fool and his money are soon parted’. Be that as it may, empathy, willingness to help and simple humanity is what makes the difference between us and inferior species. So how can we find the balance?

Shakespeare once wrote, “lend money to a friend and you lose both, money and friend.” Such situations are with no doubt quite delicate and it seems that the only reasonable piece of advice would be to help your friend financially, but never lend more than you can afford to lose. If you loaned people money before and you had a bad experience, then you should probably tell the person who wants to borrow what happened. Because sometimes it’s not a matter of trusting that you will be paid back. It is simply being able to set your priorities. In all affairs of life your family and your personal well-being must always come first. On this background nobody who is a real friend of yours should ever indulge in judging your prudence.

Being asked to lend money or other assets is truly unpleasant. But sometimes, if anything, the whole experience turns out to be at least instructive. In the end, if you did not get back what you loaned, this means you had made a misjudgment about somebody. And this, if you have a positive outlook, is after all useful experience, considering that you will hardly ever do so again. Moreover, each important lesson should come at a certain cost, right?