Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Cases
- Table of Legislation
- Introduction
- I Method
- II Unjust enrichment
- 7 The impact of legal culture on the law of unjustified enrichment: the role of reasons
- 8 Natural obligations and unjust enrichment
- 9 Causality and abstraction in the common law
- 10 Trust and theft
- III Equity and trusts
- IV Remedies
- Index
- References
8 - Natural obligations and unjust enrichment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Cases
- Table of Legislation
- Introduction
- I Method
- II Unjust enrichment
- 7 The impact of legal culture on the law of unjustified enrichment: the role of reasons
- 8 Natural obligations and unjust enrichment
- 9 Causality and abstraction in the common law
- 10 Trust and theft
- III Equity and trusts
- IV Remedies
- Index
- References
Summary
Though the term has largely fallen out of use and the underlying concept may strike some as anachronistic, it is natural to think of Michael Bryan as a gentleman. Cardinal Newman famously spoke of one ‘mainly occupied in … removing the obstacles which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him’.
He has his eyes on all his company … he can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against unseasonable allusions, or topics which may irritate; he is seldom prominent in conversation, and never wearisome … He makes light of favours while he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He never speaks of himself except when compelled … he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in imputing motives to those who interfere with him, and interprets every thing for the best. [H]e observes the maxim of the ancient sage, that we should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend.
Those words very much find their mark. I first gained an impression of Michael, as a true gentleman, shortly after my wife and I arrived in Australia in the mid 1990s. Although Michael was at a different university – indeed, in a different city – he very graciously welcomed us to our new home, while helping me adjust to the peculiarities of Antipodean private law. His kindness was as genuine and understated as it was unexpected.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Exploring Private Law , pp. 175 - 199Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010