6 quotations linked to De Amicitia by or associated with Cicero, with source notes, explanations and related topics.
Friendship, mutual goodwill, trust, constancy, prosperity, adversity, moral character and the obligations of close companions.
Use these links when you want to inspect the wording in its wider work or edition.
“A true friend is, as it were, another self.”
The phrase captures the intimacy of friendship: another person becomes close enough that concern for them resembles concern for oneself.
Source note: Cicero’s De Amicitia describes true friendship as transferring natural self-love into a bond with another person.
“Friendship springs from nature rather than from need.”
Friendship is not reduced to usefulness; Cicero argues that it arises from natural affection before calculations of advantage.
Source note: De Amicitia argues that the best friendship is sought for its own sake rather than for revenue or convenience.
“Friendship has more advantages than I can easily name.”
The value of friendship is intentionally left larger than a checklist, because companionship affects many parts of life at once.
Source note: Cicero develops the many practical and moral benefits of friendship throughout De Amicitia.
“Firm, steadfast, self-consistent men are to be chosen as friends.”
Reliable friendship depends on reliable character; steadiness matters because trust cannot grow when conduct constantly changes with advantage.
Source note: De Amicitia advises choosing friends whose character is firm and consistent.
“Such friendship at once enhances the lustre of prosperity, and by dividing and sharing adversity lessens its burden.”
A good friend does not matter only in crisis: companionship can enlarge good fortune while also making hardship easier to carry because difficulty is no longer borne alone.
Source note: De Amicitia, section 6–7 transition, Project Gutenberg #7491. Cicero contrasts true and perfect friendship with merely moderate association and emphasizes its usefulness in both prosperity and adversity.
“Friendship is nothing else than entire fellow feeling as to all things human and divine with mutual good-will and affection.”
Cicero defines the strongest friendship as a broad sharing of concern, judgment and goodwill rather than a narrow exchange of favors or useful contacts.
Source note: De Amicitia, section 6, Project Gutenberg #7491. Laelius is the dialogue speaker in Cicero’s philosophical treatment of friendship; the sentence defines friendship through mutual goodwill and affection.