Amic. 25.1Ut igitur et monēre et monērī proprium est vērae amīcitiae, et alterum līberē facere, nōn asperē, alterum patienter accipere, nōn repugnanter, sīc habendum est nūllam in amīcitiīs pestem esse maiōrem quam adūlātiōnem blanditiam assentātiōnem: quamvīs enim multīs nōminibus est hoc vitium notandum levium hominum atque fallācium, ad voluptātem loquentium omnia, nihil ad vēritātem.As, then, to admonish and be admonished is the mark of true friendship, and to do the one freely, not harshly, and to receive the other patiently, not resentfully, so we must hold that there is no greater plague in friendship than fawning, flattery and obsequiousness: for by however many names it is called, this vice must be branded as belonging to fickle and deceitful men, who say everything to please and nothing for the truth. Amic. 25.92Cum autem omnium rērum simulātiō vitiōsa est, tollit enim iūdicium vērī idque adulterat, tum amīcitiae repugnat maximē;And while pretence in all things is wrong (for it destroys the judgement of truth and corrupts it), it is most of all opposed to friendship; Amic. 25.92dēlet enim vēritātem, sine quā nōmen amīcitiae valēre nōn potest.for it destroys truth, without which the name of friendship can have no force.
Amic. 25.92Nam cum amīcitiae vīs sit in eō ut ūnus quasi animus fīat ex plūribus, quī id fierī poterit, sī nē in ūnō quidem quōque ūnus animus erit īdemque semper, sed varius commūtābilis multiplex?For since the power of friendship lies in this, that one mind, as it were, is made out of many, how can that happen if not even in a single person is there one mind, always the same, but a mind changeable, fickle and manifold? Amic. 25.93Quid enim potest esse tam flexibile, tam dēvium, quam animus eius, quī ad alterīus nōn modo sēnsum ac voluntātem, sed etiam voltum atque nūtum convertitur?For what can be so pliable, so wayward, as the mind of a man who turns not only with another's feeling and wish, but even with his look and nod? Amic. 25.93"negat quis, negō;'Someone says no, I say no; Amic. 25.93ait, āiō;he says yes, I say yes; Amic. 25.93postrēmō imperāvī egomet mihi omnia assentārī," ut ait īdem Terentius, sed ille in Gnathōnis persōnā, quod amīcī genus adhibēre omnīnō levitātis est.in short, I have ordered myself to agree with everything,' as the same Terence says, but he says it in the character of Gnatho, and to take up a friend of that kind at all is a mark of fickleness.
Amic. 25.94Multī autem Gnathōnum similēs, cum sint locō fortūnā fāmā superiōrēs, quōrum est assentātiō molesta, cum ad vānitātem accessit auctōritās.But there are many like Gnatho, though superior in rank, fortune and reputation, whose flattery is harmful, since authority has been added to emptiness. Amic. 25.95Sēcernī autem blandus amīcus ā vērō et internōscī tam potest adhibitā dīligentiā, quam omnia fūcāta et simulāta ā sincērīs atque vērīs.A flattering friend can be distinguished and told apart from a true one, if care is used, just as everything painted and pretended can be from what is genuine and true. Amic. 25.95Cōntiō, quae ex imperītissimīs cōnstat, tamen iūdicāre solet, quid intersit inter populārem, id est assentātōrem et levem cīvem, et inter cōnstantem et vērum et gravem.A public assembly, though it consists of the most ignorant people, nevertheless usually judges what difference there is between a demagogue, that is, a flattering and shallow citizen, and one who is steadfast, true and serious. Amic. 25.96Quibus blanditiīs C. Papīrius nūper īnfluēbat in aurīs contiōnis, cum ferret lēgem dē tribūnīs plēbis reficiendīs!With what flatteries Gaius Papirius lately flowed into the ears of the assembly, when he was proposing a law for the re-election of tribunes of the plebs!
Amic. 25.96Dissuāsimus nōs, sed nihil dē mē, dē Scīpiōne dīcam libentius.I spoke against it, but I shall say nothing of myself; of Scipio I shall speak more gladly. Amic. 25.96Quanta illī, dī immortālēs, fuit gravitās, quanta in ōrātiōne maiestās!What dignity he had, immortal gods, what majesty in his speech! Amic. 25.96ut facile ducem populī Rōmānī, nōn comitem dīcerēs.so that you would readily have called him the leader of the Roman people, not their companion. Amic. 25.96Sed affuistis, et est in manibus ōrātiō.But you were there, and the speech is in everyone's hands. Amic. 25.96Itaque lēx populāris suffrāgiīs populī repudiāta est.And so the popular law was rejected by the votes of the people. Amic. 25.96Atque, ut ad mē redeam, meministis Q. Maximō frātre Scīpiōnis et L. Mancīnō cōnsulibus, quam populāris lēx dē sacerdōtiīs C. Licinī Crassī vidēbātur;And, to return to myself, you remember, in the consulship of Quintus Maximus, Scipio's brother, and Lucius Mancinus, how popular the law of Gaius Licinius Crassus about the priesthoods seemed; Amic. 25.96cooptātiō enim collēgiōrum ad populī beneficium trānsferēbātur.for the co-optation of the colleges was being transferred to the gift of the people.
Amic. 25.96(Atque is prīmus īnstituit in forum versus agere cum populō.) Tamen illīus vēndibilem ōrātiōnem religiō deōrum immortālium nōbīs dēfendentibus facile vincēbat.(And he was the first to begin the practice of facing towards the Forum when addressing the people.) Yet reverence for the immortal gods, with me defending it, easily overcame his saleable speech. Amic. 25.96Atque id āctum est praetōre mē, quīnquenniō ante quam cōnsul sum factus.And this took place when I was praetor, five years before I was made consul. Amic. 25.96Ita rē magis quam summā auctōritāte causa illa dēfēnsa est.Thus that cause was defended by its own merits more than by the highest authority.