Amic. 11.1Quam ob rem id prīmum videāmus, sī placet, quātenus amor in amīcitiā prōgredī dēbeat.Let us therefore first consider, if you please, how far love ought to go in friendship. Amic. 11.1Numnē, sī Coriolānus habuit amīcōs, ferre contrā patriam arma illī cum Coriolānō dēbuērunt?If Coriolanus had friends, ought they to have borne arms against their country together with Coriolanus? Amic. 11.1Num Vecellīnum amīcī regnum appetentem, num Maelium dēbuērunt iuvāre?Ought his friends to have helped Vecellinus when he aimed at kingship, or Maelius? Amic. 11.37Tiberium quidem Gracchum rem pūblicam vexantem ā Q. Tuberōne aequālibusque amīcīs dērelictum vidēbāmus.Tiberius Gracchus, indeed, when he was harassing the state, we saw abandoned by Quintus Tubero and by the friends of his own age. Amic. 11.37At C. Blossius Cūmānus, hospes familiae vestrae, Scaevola, cum ad mē, quod aderam Laenātī et Rupiliō cōnsulibus in cōnsiliō, dēprecātum vēnisset, hanc ut sibi ignōscerem causam afferēbat, quod tantī Tib.But Gaius Blossius of Cumae, a guest-friend of your family, Scaevola, when he had come to me to plead for himself, since I was present as an adviser to the consuls Laenas and Rupilius, offered this reason why I should pardon him: that so highly had he esteemed Tiberius Amic. 11.37Gracchum fēcisset, ut quidquid ille vellet sibi faciendum putāret.Gracchus that he thought he must do whatever Gracchus wished.
Amic. 11.37Tum ego, "etiamnē," inquam, "sī tē in Capitōlium facēs ferre vellet?"Then I said, 'Even if he wanted you to carry torches to the Capitol?' Amic. 11.37"Numquam voluisset id quidem, sed, sī voluisset, pāruissem."'He would never have wanted that, of course; but if he had wanted it, I would have obeyed.' Amic. 11.37Vidētis, quam nefāria vōx.You see what a wicked utterance it is. Amic. 11.37Et herculē ita fēcit, vel plūs etiam quam dīxit;And, by Hercules, he did just that, or even more than he said; Amic. 11.37nōn enim pāruit ille Tib.for he did not obey Tiberius Amic. 11.37Gracchī temeritātī, sed praefuit, nec sē comitem illīus furōris, sed ducem praebuit.Gracchus's recklessness, but took the lead in it, and showed himself not the companion of his madness but its leader. Amic. 11.37Itaque hāc āmentiā, quaestiōne novā perterritus, in Asiam profūgit, ad hostīs sē contulit, poenās reī pūblicae gravīs iūstāsque persolvit.And so, through this frenzy, terrified by the new court of inquiry, he fled to Asia, betook himself to the enemy, and paid the state a heavy and just penalty. Amic. 11.37Nūlla est igitur excūsātiō peccātī, sī amīcī causā peccāverīs;There is, then, no excuse for wrongdoing if you have done wrong for a friend's sake; Amic. 11.37nam, cum conciliātrīx amīcitiae virtūtis opīniō fuerit, difficile est amīcitiam manēre, sī ā virtūte dēfēcerīs.for since it was belief in a man's virtue that brought the friendship about, it is hard for the friendship to remain if you have deserted virtue.
Amic. 11.38Quod sī rēctum statuerimus vel concēdere amīcīs quidquid velint vel impetrāre ab eīs quidquid velīmus, perfectā quidem sapientiā sī sīmus, nihil habeat rēs vitī;But if we were to lay it down as right either to grant our friends whatever they wish or to obtain from them whatever we wish, then, if we were indeed of perfect wisdom, the thing would have no fault in it; Amic. 11.38sed loquimur dē eīs amīcīs quī ante oculōs sunt, quōs vidēmus aut dē quibus memoriam accēpimus, quōs nōvit vīta commūnis.but we are speaking of the friends who are before our eyes, whom we see or of whom we have received a record, the friends whom everyday life knows. Amic. 11.38Ex hōc numerō nōbīs exempla sūmenda sunt, et eōrum quidem maximē, quī ad sapientiam proximē accēdunt.From this number we must take our examples, and above all from those who come closest to wisdom. Amic. 11.39Vidēmus Papum Aemilium C. Luscinō familiārem fuisse (sīc ā patribus accēpimus) bis ūnā cōnsulēs, collēgās in cēnsūrā;We see that Papus Aemilius was an intimate friend of Gaius Luscinus (so we have heard from our fathers), and that they were twice consuls together and colleagues in the censorship; Amic. 11.39tum et cum eīs et inter sē coniūnctissimōs fuisse M'. Curium, Tib.and further, that very closely joined both with them and with each other were Manius Curius and Tiberius Amic. 11.39Coruncānium memoriae prōditum est.Coruncanius: so it has been handed down to memory.
Amic. 11.39Igitur nē suspicārī quidem possumus quemquam hōrum ab amīcō quidpiam contendisse, quod contrā fidem.Therefore we cannot even suspect that any of these men pressed a friend for anything that was against good faith, Amic. 11.39contrā iūs iūrandum, contrā rem pūblicam esset.against an oath, or against the state. Amic. 11.39Nam hoc quidem in tālibus virīs quid attinet dīcere, sī contendisset impetrātūrum nōn fuisse, cum illī sānctissimī virī fuerint, aequē autem nefās sit tāle aliquid et facere rogātum et rogāre?For in the case of such men, what is the point of saying that if one had pressed for it he would not have obtained it, since they were most upright men, and it is equally wicked to do such a thing when asked and to ask it? Amic. 11.39At vērō Tib.But Tiberius Amic. 11.39Gracchum sequēbantur C. Carbō, C. Catō, et minimē tum quidem Gāius frāter, nunc īdem ācerrimus.Gracchus was followed by Gaius Carbo and Gaius Cato, and, least of all at that time, by his brother Gaius, who is now the fiercest of them.