Amic. 15.1Nōn ergō erunt hominēs dēliciīs diffluentēs audiendī, sī quandō dē amīcitiā, quam nec ūsū nec ratiōne habent cognitam, disputābunt.We shall not, then, listen to men dissolved in luxury if ever they discourse on friendship, which they have come to know neither by experience nor by reason. Amic. 15.1Nam quis est, prō deōrum fidem atque hominum!For who is there (in the name of gods and men!) Amic. 15.1quī velit, ut neque dīligat quemquam nec ipse ab ūllō dīligātur, circumfluere omnibus cōpiīs atque in omnium rērum abundantiā vīvere?who would wish to be surrounded by every kind of wealth and to live in an abundance of all things, on condition that he neither loves anyone nor is himself loved by anyone? Amic. 15.1Haec enim est tyrannōrum vīta, nīmīrum in quā nūlla fidēs, nūlla cāritās, nūlla stabilis benevolentiae potest esse fīdūcia, omnia semper suspecta atque sollicita, nūllus locus amīcitiae.For this is the life of tyrants, in which, of course, there can be no trust, no affection, no confidence in lasting goodwill; everything is always suspect and anxious, and there is no room for friendship. Amic. 15.53Quis enim aut eum dīligat, quem metuat, aut eum, ā quō sē metuī putet?For who could love either the man he fears, or the man by whom he thinks himself feared?
Amic. 15.53Coluntur tamen simulātiōne dumtaxat ad tempus.Yet they are courted, in pretence at least, for a time. Amic. 15.53Quod sī forte, ut fit plērumque, ceciderint, tum intellegitur quam fuerint inopēs amīcōrum.But if by chance, as usually happens, they have fallen, then it is understood how poor they were in friends. Amic. 15.53Quod Tarquinium dīxisse ferunt exulantem, tum sē intellēxisse, quōs fīdōs amīcōs habuisset, quōs īnfīdōs, cum iam neutrīs grātiam referre posset.Which is what Tarquin is said to have remarked in exile: that he had understood which friends he had had who were faithful and which unfaithful only when he could no longer repay either. Amic. 15.54Quamquam mīror, illā superbiā et importūnitāte, sī quemquam amīcum habēre potuit.And yet I wonder that, with such arrogance and insolence, he could have had any friend at all. Amic. 15.54Atque ut huius, quem dīxī, mōrēs vērōs amīcōs parāre nōn potuērunt, sīc multōrum opēs praepotentium exclūdunt amīcitiās fidēlīs.And just as the character of the man I have mentioned could not win him true friends, so the wealth of many very powerful men shuts out faithful friendships.
Amic. 15.54Nōn enim sōlum ipsa fortūna caeca est, sed eōs etiam plērumque efficit caecōs, quōs complexa est;For not only is Fortune herself blind, but she also generally makes blind those whom she has embraced; Amic. 15.54itaque efferuntur ferē fastīdiō et contumāciā, nec quicquam īnsipiente fortūnātō intolerābilius fierī potest.and so they are usually carried away by disdain and obstinacy, and nothing can be more intolerable than a fortunate fool. Amic. 15.54Atque hoc quidem vidēre licet, eōs, quī anteā commodīs fuerint mōribus, imperiō potestāte prosperīs rēbus immūtārī, spernī ab eīs veterēs amīcitiās, indulgērī novīs.And indeed one may see this: that men who before had agreeable manners are changed by command, power and prosperity, and that old friendships are spurned by them and new ones indulged. Amic. 15.55Quid autem stultius quam, cum plūrimum cōpiīs facultātibus opibus possint, cētera parāre, quae parantur pecūniā, equōs famulōs vestem ēgregiam vāsa pretiōsa, amīcōs nōn parāre, optimam et pulcherrimam vītae, ut ita dīcam, supellectilem?And what is more foolish than, when men have the greatest power through their resources, means and wealth, to procure the other things that money procures, horses, servants, splendid clothing, costly vessels, and not to procure friends, the best and fairest furniture of life, so to speak?
Amic. 15.55Etenim cētera cum parant, cui parent nesciunt nec cuius causā labōrent;For when they procure those other things, they do not know for whom they are procuring them, nor for whose sake they are labouring; Amic. 15.55eius enim est istōrum quidque quī vīcit vīribus;for each of those things belongs to whoever has prevailed by force; Amic. 15.55amīcitiārum sua cuique permanet stabilis et certa possessiō, ut etiam sī illa maneant, quae sunt quasi dōna fortūnae, tamen vīta inculta et dēserta ab amīcīs nōn possit esse iūcunda.but each man's possession of his friendships remains stable and sure, so that even if those things remain that are, as it were, the gifts of fortune, still a life untended and deserted by friends cannot be pleasant. Amic. 15.55Sed haec hāctenus.But enough of this.