Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“Friendship is nothing else than entire fellow feeling as to all things human and divine with mutual good-will and affection.”
- Source
- De Amicitia
- Date
- 44 BCE
- Local voice
- Dialogue speaker · Gaius Laelius
- English wording
- Andrew P. Peabody — Translator · from Latin
Meaning of “Friendship is nothing else than entire fellow feeling…”
Cicero defines the strongest friendship as a broad sharing of concern, judgment and goodwill rather than a narrow exchange of favors or useful contacts.
Where does it come from?
De Amicitia (Laelius de Amicitia), chapter 6 / classical section 20, Andrew P. Peabody translation, Project Gutenberg #7491. Laelius defines friendship as entire fellow feeling in human and divine things joined with mutual goodwill and affection. Cicero remains the work author while Gaius Laelius is the local dialogue speaker; this is ancient ethical-philosophical argument rather than a modern empirical definition of friendship.
Why the local voice matters
De Amicitia. The definition is part of Laelius’ framed discourse on friendship.
