Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Author & topic collection

Marcus Aurelius Quotes About Friendship

Browse 6 quotations connecting Marcus Aurelius with Friendship, with meanings, source notes and related themes.

All Marcus Aurelius quotesAll Friendship quotesSourcesMatching quotes
Sources

Where these friendship quotations appear

Sources represented here include Correspondence of M. Aurelius Antoninus and M. Cornelius Fronto, Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

Correspondence of M. Aurelius Antoninus and M. Cornelius Fronto2nd century CE · 3 matching quotationsThoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninusc. 170 · 3 matching quotations
6 shown
Quotations

6 matching quotations with meanings and source context

Source identified1
At least I prefer to write unwisely rather than to be silent unkindly.
Read & copy

“At least I prefer to write unwisely rather than to be silent unkindly.”

Correspondence of M. Aurelius Antoninus and M. Cornelius Fronto · 2nd century CE
Meaning & context

Marcus explains why he risks offering awkward advice to Fronto: preserving kindness and speaking when concern matters can be preferable to staying silent simply to avoid possible embarrassment.

Source details

Project Gutenberg #2680, correspondence appendix, Ad M. Caes. ii. 2. Marcus closes a letter about Fronto’s role in the Herodes Atticus dispute with this sentence. It is personal epistolary reasoning inside a specific conflict, not a universal rule to intervene in every disagreement.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified2
I cannot ever endure to write anything to you unless with mind at ease and untroubled and free.
Read & copy

“I cannot ever endure to write anything to you unless with mind at ease and untroubled and free.”

Correspondence of M. Aurelius Antoninus and M. Cornelius Fronto · 2nd century CE
Meaning & context

Marcus links intimate correspondence with mental composure: he wants to write to Fronto from an unhurried and settled state rather than forcing a personal letter while distracted or troubled.

Source details

Project Gutenberg #2680, correspondence appendix, reference iii. 21. Marcus explains why he had not written earlier while discussing Fronto’s health. This is a personal letter-writing preference in context, not a general productivity prescription.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified3
How happy I am, that my friend Marcus Cornelius, so distinguished as an orator and so noble as a man, thinks me worth praising and blaming.
Read & copy

“How happy I am, that my friend Marcus Cornelius, so distinguished as an orator and so noble as a man, thinks me worth praising and blaming.”

Correspondence of M. Aurelius Antoninus and M. Cornelius Fronto · 2nd century CE
Meaning & context

Marcus values a relationship in which admiration does not exclude correction: Fronto’s willingness to praise and blame him is presented as a mark of trusted friendship rather than mere approval.

Source details

Project Gutenberg #2680, Appendix “Correspondence of M. Aurelius Antoninus and M. Cornelius Fronto,” identifies this line as Ad M. Caes. iii. 17. The wording is preserved as correspondence context, not treated as a maxim from the Meditations.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified6
Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.
Read & copy

“Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.”

Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus · c. 170
Meaning & context

Human interdependence creates two practical choices when others fall short: help them learn when possible, or practice patient endurance when change is unavailable.

Source details

Meditations, Book VIII; George Long translation in Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

↓ Download image (JPG)

More from this author

Other topic collections for Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Quotes About Strength18 matching quotes · 2 sourcesMarcus Aurelius Quotes About Courage10 matching quotes · 2 sourcesMarcus Aurelius Quotes About Life10 matching quotes · 2 sourcesPositive Quotes by Marcus Aurelius9 matching quotes · 2 sourcesMarcus Aurelius Quotes About Mind8 matching quotes · 2 sourcesMarcus Aurelius Quotes About Happiness6 matching quotes · 2 sources