Amic. 14.1Cum autem contrahat amīcitiam, ut suprā dīxī, sī qua significātiō virtūtis ēlūceat, ad quam sē similis animus applicet et adiungat, id cum contigit, amor exoriātur necesse est.Since, however, as I said above, friendship is formed if some sign of virtue shines out, to which a like mind may attach and join itself, when that happens love must necessarily arise. Amic. 14.49Quid enim tam absurdum quam dēlectārī multīs inānibus rēbus, ut honōre, ut glōriā, ut aedificiō, ut vestītū cultūque corporis, animante virtūte praeditō, eō quī vel amāre vel, ut ita dīcam, redamāre possit, nōn admodum dēlectārī?For what is so absurd as to take delight in many empty things, such as office, glory, buildings, clothing and adornment of the body, and not to take great delight in a living being endowed with virtue, one who can love or, so to speak, love in return? Amic. 14.49Nihil est enim remūnerātiōne benevolentiae, nihil vicissitūdine studiōrum officiōrumque iūcundius.For nothing is more delightful than the repayment of goodwill, nothing more so than the exchange of devotion and services. Amic. 14.50Quid?Well then? Amic. 14.50sī illud etiam addimus, quod rēctē addī potest, nihil esse quod ad sē rem ūllam tam illiciat et tam trahat quam ad amīcitiam similitūdō, concēdētur profectō vērum esse, ut bonōs bonī dīligant ascīscantque sibi quasi propinquitāte coniūnctōs atque nātūrā.if we add this too, which can rightly be added, that nothing entices and draws anything to itself so strongly as likeness draws to friendship, it will surely be granted as true that the good love the good and attach them to themselves, as though joined by kinship and nature.
Amic. 14.50Nihil est enim appetentius similium suī nec rapācius quam nātūra.For nothing is more eager for, or more greedy of, what is like itself than nature. Amic. 14.50Quam ob rem hoc quidem, Fannī et Scaevola, cōnstet, ut opīnor, bonīs inter bonōs quasi necessāriam benevolentiam, quī est amīcitiae fōns ā nātūrā cōnstitūtus.Wherefore let this at least be established, Fannius and Scaevola, as I think: that between good men there is, as it were, a necessary goodwill, which is the fountain of friendship established by nature. Amic. 14.50Sed eadem bonitās etiam ad multitūdinem pertinet.But this same goodness extends also to the multitude. Amic. 14.50Nōn enim est inhūmāna virtūs neque immūnis neque superba, quae etiam populōs ūniversōs tuērī eīsque optimē cōnsulere soleat, quod nōn faceret profectō, sī ā cāritāte volgī abhorrēret.For virtue is not inhuman, nor unobliging, nor proud, since it is accustomed to protect even whole peoples and to take the best thought for them, which it would surely not do if it shrank from affection for the common people. Amic. 14.51Atque etiam mihi quidem videntur, quī ūtilitātis causā fingunt amīcitiās, amābilissimum nōdum amīcitiae tollere.And indeed those who invent friendships for the sake of advantage seem to me to remove the loveliest bond of friendship.
Amic. 14.51Nōn enim tam ūtilitās parta per amīcum quam amīcī amor ipse dēlectat, tumque illud fit, quod ab amīcō est profectum, iūcundum, sī cum studiō est profectum.For it is not so much the advantage gained through a friend that delights as the friend's love itself, and what comes from a friend becomes pleasant only when it has come with devotion. Amic. 14.51Tantumque abest ut amīcitiae propter indigentiam colantur, ut eī, quī opibus et cōpiīs maximēque virtūte, in quā plūrimum est praesidī, minimē alterīus indigeant, līberālissimī sint et beneficentissimī.And so far is it from true that friendships are cultivated because of need, that those who, through wealth and resources and above all through virtue, in which there is the greatest protection, need another least, are the most generous and the most beneficent. Amic. 14.51Atque haud sciam an nē opus sit quidem nihil umquam omnīnō dēesse amīcīs.And I am not sure that it is even desirable that friends should never lack anything at all. Amic. 14.51Ubi enim studia nostra viguissent, sī numquam cōnsiliō, numquam operā nostrā nec domī nec mīlitiae Scīpiō eguisset?For where would my devotion have flourished, if Scipio had never needed my advice or my help, either at home or in the field?
Amic. 14.51Nōn igitur ūtilitātem amīcitia, sed ūtilitās amīcitiam secūta est.It is not, then, friendship that has followed advantage, but advantage that has followed friendship.