M. Tullius Cicero, De Amicitia, William Armistead Falconer (Translator), 17

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[17] 5

LAELIUS.

I certainly should raise no objection if I felt confidence in myself, for the subject is a noble one, and we are, as Fannius said, free from public business. But who am I? or what skill¹have I? What you suggest is a task for philosophers and, what is more, for Greeks—that of discoursing on any subject however suddenly it may be proposed to them. This is a difficult thing to do and requires no little practice. Therefore, for a discussion of everything possible to be said on the subject of friendship, I advise you to apply to those who profess that art; all that I can do is to urge you to put friendship before all things human; for nothing is so conformable to nature and nothing so adaptable to our fortunes whether they be favourable or adverse.

De Amicitia. M. Tullius Cicero. William Armistead Falconer (Translator). Cambridge. 1923.

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Current edition Perseus

Laelius on Friendship (English) (Cicero. De Senectute, De Amicitia, De Divinatione. Falconer, William Armistead, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1923 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Laelius De Amicitia Perseus (Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De senectute; De amicitia; De divinatione. Falconer, W. A., editor. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1923.) — 17 focus

[17] 5

LAELIUS.

Ego vero non gravarer, si mihi ipse confiderem, nam et praeclara res est et sumus, ut dixit Fannius, otiosi. sed quis ego sum aut quae est in me facultas? doctorum est ista consuetudo eaque Graecorum, ut eis ponatur de quo disputent quamvis subito. magnum opus est egetque exercitatione non parva. quam ob rem quae disputari de amicitia possunt, ab eis censeo petatis, qui ista profitentur; ego vos hortari tantum possum, ut amicitiam omnibus rebus humanis anteponatis; nihil est enim tam naturae aptum, tam conveniens ad res vel secundas vel adversas.

Notes on the current edition

Laelius on Friendship

1. i.e. readiness acquired by practice in extemporaneous discussion—an art practised by sophists and rhetoricians and by the philosophers of the New Academy; cf. Cic. De fin. ii. 1; De or. i. 102.

M. Tullius Cicero De Amicitia 17

William Armistead Falconer (Translator)

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LAELIUS.

Current edition Perseus

LAELIUS.

Notes on the current edition

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