Neither A Borrower Nor A Lender Be

In a world of courtesy, the principle of lending would be a great one. Giving or allowing someone the temporary use of one's own property or tender would be a nice gesture. Unfortunately there is a problem: the world is not one of courtesy. The majority of people that occupy this planet are parasites. Parasitism is an ugly, but very common, feature of the human species.
The problems of lending money have been discussed in such a vast amount of literary works that I will not elaborate on the topic much further. I will simply say that "lending" money is, in actuality, giving money more often than not. In the words of Polonius "...loan oft loses both itself and friend."
The lending of property has become perhaps more common than lending cash in casual situations. It is not uncommon for a friend or even a mere acquaintance to ask for a book, movie, or album to borrow. Although the chances of having the item returned may be greater than with cash, the condition in which the item is returned often leaves something to be desired. The key factor is respect, or lack thereof, and it is this disregard for others' property that makes lending a bad decision.
I have lent out DVDs that have come back so scratched that they would no longer play. The same is true of many CDs (when they come back at all). Books that I have loaned have come back with pages ripped and torn. The spines of the books have been broken as if the books were folded in half in the opposite direction. I have loaned people brand new text books that have come back filled with scribbles and highlight markings. People simply do not care about or respect the belongings of others.
The truly sad thing is that some will read this and dub me the bad guy. My curmudgeon-like attitude may be easy to dismiss. But when you really think about it, it is the borrowers that are the culpable ones. The real bad guys are the ones that use the property of someone else, throw it somewhere, alter it, break it, lose it, or do one of the many other things that result in the owner not having the same item returned. And just as borrowing "dulls the edge of husbandry," borrowing the things of others may result in lower maintanence of one's own property.
One final point should be made. In some cases the object that is requested is of small value. If there is any hesitation to lend the item, its value is immediately brought up by the one wishing to borrow it. The usual claim is something along the lines of "Oh, come on! It only costs (---). If anything happens, I'll get you a new one." As a first impression, it may seem like a reasonable argument. But let us analyze the situation in a bit more depth. For starters, the item only costs a small amount as was pointed out by the potential borrower. Yet this supposed trifle of a cost was enough for the person to ask for it from someone else, rather than purchase it. Furthermore, this conflicts with the "If anything happens..." remark. The person has already shown that he or she is not as willing as one might think to go out and purchase a new one. Finally, for one to immediately bring up the scenario of something happening indicates a prophesy that the borrower already feels to be likely.
In conclusion, I will say that I have not completely abstained from lending things to people. Many are given at least one chance to borrow something. However, I remember practically everything. Should the item be damaged or never returned at all, it is something I will always use as an excuse to never lend the same person anything again. So if you borrow something, respect the fact that it isn't yours. And if you are in the habit of lending, all I can say is "Caviat commodor."