Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
It is like taking the sun out of the world, to bereave human life of friendship.
Interpretation
Friendship is essential to human existence and happiness.
In this quote, Cicero highlights the profound impact that friendship has on human life, equating its absence to the loss of sunlight, which is vital for sustaining life. The metaphor emphasizes that friendships enrich our lives and contribute significantly to our overall happiness and well-being.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of social bonds, one could use this quote to emphasize the value of friendships.
Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defence can actually be just.
Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak.
Nothing contributes to the entertainment of the reader more, than the change of times and the vicissitudes of fortune.
No one has the right to be sorry for himself for a misfortune that strikes everyone.
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.
A man will speedily sit down and sympathize with a friend's griefs, but if he sees him honored and esteemed, he is apt to regard him as a rival and does not so readily rejoice with him. This ought not to be; without effort, we ought to be happy in our brother's happiness.
They were gone and I missed them but even so I was very happy. For the rest of my life no matter where on this planet earth I went and no matter how scared or confused I got, I could wait until dark and look up into the night sky and see my three friends again and my heart would swell with love of them and make me strong and clearheaded.
Strangers are exciting, their mystery never ends. But, there's nothing like looking at your own history in the faces of your friends.
When true friends meet in adverse hour; 'Tis like a sunbeam through a shower. A watery way an instant seen, The darkly closing clouds between.
You're brave. You are the bravest person I know, and you are my friend. I don't care if you are imaginary.
Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.