Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Friendship is nothing else than entire fellow feeling as to all things human and divine with mutual good-will and affection; and I doubt whether anything better than this, wisdom alone excepted, has been given to man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Friendship is the deep connection of shared emotions and goodwill towards each other.
This quote by Cicero emphasizes that true friendship encompasses a profound understanding and mutual affection between individuals, transcending both human experiences and spiritual connections. It suggests that the essence of friendship is rooted in a shared empathy and the goodwill we offer one another, making it one of the highest gifts, second only to wisdom.
Themes
FriendshipGoodwillAffectionEmpathyConnection
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the value of relationships, one could quote Cicero to emphasize the importance of empathy among friends.
More from Marcus Tullius Cicero
All quotes →Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defence can actually be just.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Nothing contributes to the entertainment of the reader more, than the change of times and the vicissitudes of fortune.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
No one has the right to be sorry for himself for a misfortune that strikes everyone.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Advice in old age is foolish; for what can be more absurd than to increase our provisions for the road the nearer we approach to our journey's end.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Similar quotes
There's something about losing friends, particularly young people, where it's not something that you get over. I don't believe there's a healing process.
Chris CornellRead
It is only the great hearted who can be true friends. The mean and cowardly, Can never know what true friendship means.
Charles KingsleyRead
I find friendship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with age, the true old man's milk and restorative cordial.
Thomas JeffersonRead
When I was a footballer, I surrounded myself with footballers. We were all friends. But in Brasilia you don't know who your friends are. It can be a dangerous place.
PeleRead
Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me.
Antoine De Saint-ExuperyRead
A blessed thing it is to have a friend; one human soul whom we can trust utterly; who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults; who will speak the honest truth to us, while the world flatters us to our face, and laughs at us behind our back; who will give us counsel and reproof in a day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again, will comfort and encourage us in days of difficulty and sorrow, when the world leaves us alone to fight our own battle as we can.
Charles KingsleyRead