Nietzsche comes closest to Aristotle when he discusses what is noble and the behaviour of a bestower with respect to their generosity. Like the megalopsychos, the bestower faces difficulties in having egalitarian friendships: for both figures this struggle is related to their position of power and their shared desire to maintain it. However, the role of the bestower differs: they do not have the same concern for honour nor are they a civic benefactor and, as such, they are more open to the pursuit of knowledge and having relationships that contribute to learning. The bestower recognizes their reliance on others and how their own self-worth is dependent upon being able to give to others and to rule over them. They may struggle with a desire to be self-sufficient, but they are not as mistaken about their independence as is the megalopsychos. The bestower is a more imperfect figure who does not have the same heroic expectations imposed onto them (they impose them on themselves). Their role is to be a benefactor to free spirits and philosophers of the future, to teach them techniques for self-overcoming. Their greatest frustration is finding the right recipients for their gifts: friends who can understand the relevance of what they want to give to them. However, the bestower is unafraid of trying multiple times to achieve their goals (as seen through the character of Zarathustra) because they are not a product of the civic community like the great-souled man who relies on honours. Instead, the bestower is a free spirit. (114)

The bestower, too, seeks to be correctly recognized, not for their deeds, but instead for the ideas they have to offer. Recognition in their case is connected to the ways in which their ideas are received and what their recipients do with them. Like the megalopsychos they look to a select group for affirmation, yet they accept that this recognition may not, and even should not correspond with their expectations. In Daybreak, Nietzsche suggests that it is most admirable to not require recognition as a bestower, ‘It is so unmagnanimous always to play the bestower and giver and to show one’s face when doing so! But to give and bestow and to conceal one’s name and awareness one is bestowing the favour!’ (D 464) Nietzsche values the generosity of a teacher who shares ideas with students and then encourages the students to decide the validity of their own beliefs (ZI ‘On the Bestowing Virtue’ 3). The bestower aims for their recipients to take their gift and utilize it for themselves. They appear to be more comfortable with being sacrificed knowing that their self-worth was gained from the act of bestowal and all the necessary steps they took to be ready for it. (120)