Historical voices

In the case of such men as these there is no point in saying that one of them would not have obtained such a request if he had made it; for they were men of the most scrupulous piety, and the making of such a request would involve a breach…

But if we decide it to be right to grant our friends whatever they wish, and to ask them for whatever we wish, perfect wisdom must be assumed on both sides if no mischief is to happen.

For, seeing that a belief in a man's virtue is the original cause of friendship, friendship can hardly remain if virtue he abandoned.

I conclude, then, that the plea of having acted in the interests of a friend is not a valid excuse for a wrong action.

Now the people who have no scruples as to the requests they make to their friends, thereby allow that they are ready to have no scruples as to what they will do for their friends; and it is the recriminations of such people which commonly…

A refusal, though perfectly right, is attacked by those to whom they refuse compliance as a violation of the laws of friendship.

Again, wide breaches and, for the most part, justifiable ones were caused by an immoral request being made of friends, to pander to a man's unholy desires or to assist him in inflicting a wrong.

For while the most fatal blow to friendship in the majority of cases was the lust of gold, in the case of the best men it was a rivalry for office and reputation, by which it had often happened that the most violent enmity had arisen…

But nature being incapable of change, it follows that genuine friendships are eternal.

For if it were true that its material advantages cemented friendship, it would be equally true that any change in them would dissolve it.

We shall get the most important material advantages from friendship; and its origin from a natural impulse rather than from a sense of need will be at once more dignified and more in accordance with fact.

Their aim is that they may be on the same footing and the same level in regard to affection, and be more inclined to do a good service than to ask a return, and that there should be this noble rivalry between them.

For when a man's confidence in himself is greatest, when he is so fortified by virtue and wisdom as to want nothing and to feel absolutely self-dependent, it is then that he is most conspicuous for seeking out and keeping up friendships.

I do not deny that affection is strengthened by the actual receipt of benefits, as well as by the perception of a wish to render service, combined with a closer intercourse.

Now, if the attraction of probity is so great that we can love it not only in those whom we have never seen, but, what is more, actually in an enemy, we need not be surprised if men's affections are roused when they fancy that they have…

Why, in a certain sense we may be said to feel affection even for men we have never seen, owing to their honesty and virtue.

Therefore I gather that friendship springs from a natural impulse rather than a wish for help: from an inclination of the heart, combined with a certain instinctive feeling of love, rather than from a deliberate calculation of the material…

But friendship by its nature admits of no feigning, no pretence: as far as it goes it is both genuine and spontaneous.

For as to material advantages, it often happens that those are obtained even by men who are courted by a mere show of friendship and treated with respect from interested motives.

The Latin word for friendship--amicitia--is derived from that for love--amor; and love is certainly the prime mover in contracting mutual affection.

For if any marked instance of loyal friendship in confronting or sharing danger comes to light, every one applauds it to the echo.

Was any family ever so well established, any State so firmly settled, as to be beyond the reach of utter destruction from animosities and factions?

If you don't see the virtue of friendship and harmony, you may learn it by observing the effects of quarrels and feuds.

Nay, if you eliminate from nature the tie of affection, there will be an end of house and city, nor will so much as the cultivation of the soil be left.