Amic. 7.1Cumque plūrimās et maximās commoditātēs amīcitia contineat, tum illa nīmīrum praestat omnibus, quod bonam spem praelūcet in posterum, nec dēbilitārī animōs aut cadere patitur.And while friendship contains very many and very great advantages, it surely surpasses all in this, that it shines a good hope ahead into the future and does not allow spirits to be weakened or to fall. Amic. 7.1Vērum etiam amīcum quī intuētur, tamquam exemplar aliquod intuētur suī.Moreover, he who looks upon a true friend looks, as it were, upon a kind of image of himself. Amic. 7.1Quōcircā et absentēs adsunt et egentēs abundant et imbēcillī valent et, quod difficilius dictū est, mortuī vīvunt;Therefore the absent are present, the needy have plenty, the weak are strong, and, what is harder to say, the dead live; Amic. 7.1tantus eōs honōs memoria dēsīderium prōsequitur amīcōrum, ex quō illōrum beāta mors vidētur, hōrum vīta laudābilis.so great is the honour, the remembrance, the longing of their friends that attends them, from which the death of the one seems blessed and the life of the other praiseworthy. Amic. 7.1Quod sī exēmeris ex rērum nātūrā benevolentiae coniūnctiōnem, nec domus ūlla nec urbs stāre poterit, nē agrī quidem cultus permanēbit.But if you were to take the bond of goodwill out of the nature of things, no house or city could stand, and not even the tilling of the fields would continue.
Amic. 7.1Id sī minus intellegitur, quanta vīs amīcitiae concordiaeque sit, ex dissēnsiōnibus atque discordiīs percipī potest.If that is not clearly understood, how great the power of friendship and concord is can be perceived from dissensions and discords. Amic. 7.1Quae enim domus tam stabilis, quae tam firma cīvitās est, quae nōn odiīs et discidiīs funditus possit ēvertī?For what house is so stable, what state so firm, that it could not be utterly overthrown by hatreds and divisions? Amic. 7.1Ex quō, quantum bonī sit in amīcitiā, iūdicārī potest.From this one can judge how much good there is in friendship. Amic. 7.24Agrigentīnum quidem doctum quendam virum carminibus Graecīs vāticinātum ferunt, quae in rērum nātūrā tōtōque mundō cōnstārent quaeque movērentur, ea contrahere amīcitiam, dissipāre discordiam.They say indeed that a certain learned man of Agrigentum prophesied in Greek verses that whatever in the nature of things and in the whole universe stands fast and whatever moves, friendship draws together and discord scatters. Amic. 7.24Atque hoc quidem omnēs mortālēs et intellegunt et rē probant.And this indeed all mortals both understand and confirm in practice. Amic. 7.24Itaque, sī quandō aliquod officium exstitit amīcī in perīculīs aut adeundīs aut commūnicandīs, quis est quī id nōn maximīs efferat laudibus?And so, if ever some service of a friend has come to light, in either undergoing or sharing dangers, who is there that does not extol it with the highest praise?
Amic. 7.24Quī clamōrēs tōtā caveā nūper in hospitis et amīcī meī M. Pacuvī novā fābulā, cum ignōrante rēge uter Orestēs esset, Pyladēs Orestem sē esse dīceret, ut prō illō necārētur, Orestēs autem, ita ut erat, Orestem sē esse persevērāret!What shouts there were through the whole theatre lately at the new play of my host and friend Marcus Pacuvius, when, as the king did not know which of the two was Orestes, Pylades said that he was Orestes, so as to be put to death in his place, while Orestes, as was the truth, persisted that he was Orestes! Amic. 7.24Stantēs plaudēbant in rē fictā;They stood and applauded at a fiction; Amic. 7.24quid arbitrāmur in vērā factūrōs fuisse?what do we think they would have done at the real thing? Amic. 7.24Facile indicābat ipsa nātūra vim suam, cum hominēs, quod facere ipsī nōn possent, id rēctē fierī in alterō iūdicārent.Nature herself easily showed her power, when men judged that rightly done in another which they could not do themselves. Amic. 7.24Hāctenus mihi videor dē amīcitiā quid sentīrem potuisse dīcere;Thus far I seem to have been able to say what I feel about friendship; Amic. 7.24sī quae praetereā sunt—crēdō autem esse multa—ab eīs, sī vidēbitur, quī ista disputant, quaeritōte.if there is anything more (and I believe there is much), seek it, if you see fit, from those who discuss such matters.
Amic. 7.25FANNIUS.FANNIUS. Amic. 7.25Nōs autem ā tē potius.But we would rather seek it from you. Amic. 7.25Quamquam etiam ab istīs saepe quaesīvī et audīvī nōn invītus equidem, sed aliud quoddam fīlum ōrātiōnis tuae.Although I have often asked those men too and listened, not unwillingly indeed; but the thread of your discourse is of a different kind. Amic. 7.25SCAEVOLA.SCAEVOLA. Amic. 7.25Tum magis id dīcerēs, Fannī, sī nūper in hortīs Scīpiōnis, cum est dē rē pūblicā disputātum, affuissēs.You would say that all the more, Fannius, if you had been present lately in Scipio's gardens, when there was a discussion about the state. Amic. 7.25Quālis tum patrōnus iūstitiae fuit contrā accūrātam ōrātiōnem Philī!What a champion of justice he was then against the careful speech of Philus! Amic. 7.25FANNIUS.FANNIUS. Amic. 7.25Facile id quidem fuit iūstitiam iūstissimō virō dēfendere.That was easy, certainly, for the most just of men to defend justice. Amic. 7.25SCAEVOLA.SCAEVOLA. Amic. 7.25Quid?What? Amic. 7.25amīcitiam nōnne facile eī, quī ob eam summā fidē, cōnstantiā iūstitiāque servātam maximam glōriam cēperit?And friendship, is that not easy for one who has won the greatest glory for having kept it with the utmost faithfulness, constancy and justice?