Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
The man who backbites an absent friend, nay, who does not stand up for him when another blames him, the man who angles for bursts of laughter and for the repute of a wit, who can invent what he never saw, who cannot keep a secret -- that man is black at heart: mark and avoid him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns against trusting those who gossip, betray, or do not defend their friends.
Cicero emphasizes the importance of loyalty and integrity in friendships, highlighting that individuals who engage in gossip or fail to support their friends when criticized are untrustworthy and should be avoided. The character of a person is measured by their actions toward others, especially when those individuals are not present to defend themselves, and true friends stand firm against disparagement.
Themes
LoyaltyFriendshipGossipBetrayalIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a speech about the qualities of true friendship.
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
No great work can be achieved by humbug. It is through love, a passion for truth, and tremendous energy, that all undertakings are accomplished.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Nothing has been purchased more dearly than the little bit of reason and sense of freedom which now constitutes our pride.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The value of three things is justly appreciated by all classes of men: youth, by the old; health, by the diseased; and wealth, by the needy.
Omar KhayyamRead
I have always tried to be true to myself, to pick those battles I felt were important. My ultimate responsibility is to myself. I could never be anything else.
Arthur AsheRead
The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Of my fifty-seven years I have applied at least thirty to forgetting most of what I have learned or read. Since then, I have acquired a certain ease and cheer which I should never again like to be without. (...) I have stored little in my memory, but I can apply that little, and it is of use in many and varied emergencies. I keep it in order, but resist every attempt to increase its dead weight.
Emanuel LaskerRead