We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.
OvidRead
As long as you are lucky, you will have many friends; if cloudy times appear, you will be alone. -Donec eris felix, multos numerabis amicos; tempora si fuerint nubila, solus eris
Interpretation
True friends are revealed during difficult times, not just during fortunate moments.
This quote by Ovid emphasizes that friendships often flourish in times of luck and prosperity, but real connections are tested in challenging situations. When fortune fades and difficulties arise, those who truly care will stand by you, revealing the genuine nature of your relationships.
In practice
This quote can be used during a speech about the nature of true friendships.
We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.
All things human hang by a slender thread; and that which seemed to stand strong suddenly falls and sinks in ruins.
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.
Fas est ab hoste doceri._x000D_ One should learn even from one's enemies.
Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.
The end doesn't justify the means.
No one knows you like a person with whom you've shared a childhood. No one will ever understand you in quite the same way.
A melancholy lesson of advancing years is the realisation that you can't make old friends.
Winning has always meant much to me, but winning friends has meant the most.
Friendship," said Christopher Robin, "is a very comforting thing to have.
If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot: You will wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind.
A friend, therefore, is a sort of paradox in nature. I who alone am, I who see nothing in nature whose existence I can affirm with equal evidence to my own, behold now the semblance of my being, in all its height, variety, and curiosity, reiterated in a foreign form; so that a friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.
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