Love
‹ 6 · Outline · 8 ›
7.Love between friends and comrades
7a.The nature and worth of friendship
See also: Friendship 1a · Virtue and Vice 6e
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 50Menelaus would have given Odysseus a city and lived in constant friendship with him.read · scan
- p. 113A friend with an understanding heart is no worse than a brother; kinsmen by marriage are near to us.read · scan
- p. 205Telemachus appeals to friendship inherited from their fathers and equal age, expecting the journey to increase their love.read · scan
- p. 284Odysseus and Iphitus exchange gifts as the beginning of a loving friendship, cut short by murder.read · scan
- p. 288–289Eumaeus and the neatherd pray for Odysseus's return, showing loyalty to their master.read · scan
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 32He buries a friend with no home, but does not bow for gifts except sacrificial meat.read · scan
- p. 41A gentleman gathers friends by culture and props love with friendship; advise friends faithfully.read · scan
- p. 55–56Friendship of the straight, sincere and learned does good; flatterers do harm.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 20Gratitude and friendship between man and beast.read · scan
Plato, PhaedoVol. 2
- p. 81–82Socrates' affectionate gesture of playing with Phaedo's hair and his gentle manner toward the young men.read · scan
Ecclesiastes; or, The PreacherVol. 44
- p. 339–340Two are better than one; companions lift each other, keep warm and withstand attack; solitude is woe.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On FriendshipVol. 9
- p. 14–15Friendship is called the greatest thing in the world, fitting our nature and needed in prosperity and adversity; true friends are rare.read · scan
- p. 17–18A friend is a second self, giving hope and strength and a second life after death through remembrance; loyal friendship earns universal applause.read · scan
- p. 18–19Friendship springs from natural impulse and love, not need or calculation of advantage; virtue inspires affection even for those unseen.read · scan
- p. 20Friendship springs from admiration of virtue and natural impulse, not from need or hope of advantage; its reward lies in the feeling itself.read · scan
- p. 21Love and inclination arise spontaneously on seeing probity; friends rival in service rather than seek return.read · scan
- p. 23–25Friendship is the best and most delightful gift of the gods, sought for affection not utility.read · scan
- p. 26Pain on a friend's account is no reason to banish friendship.read · scan
- p. 26–27Virtue attracts like character, beginning friendship; the delight lies in returned affection, not in material advantage.read · scan
- p. 27–28A life without loving or being loved would be joyless, whatever its abundance.read · scan
- p. 28–29Rejects three proposed measures of friendship: equal to self-love, exact reciprocity, or the friend's own self-estimate; true friendship is generous.read · scan
- p. 30–32Friendship requires loyalty, simplicity, sympathy and pleasantness; it is possible only between good men.read · scan
- p. 32Old friends are sweeter like aged wine; friends should meet on equal footing and share advantages with one another.read · scan
- p. 33Superior friends must descend to equality and inferiors must not resent being surpassed; benefits should suit the giver's power and the recipient's capacity.read · scan
- p. 36True friendship is sought for itself, not profit; a friend is a second self, extending self-love to another.read · scan
- p. 36Friendship demands first being good yourself, mutual respect, and judging before loving; it is virtue's handmaid, not partner in guilt.read · scan
- p. 37–38All agree friendship is indispensable; even the misanthrope Timon needs a listener, and life without friends is no life.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Old AgeVol. 9
- p. 61The true worth of a banquet is friends' company and conversation.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 85–86He expresses deep affection for his friend, missing his counsel and conversation in all his work and rest.read · scan
- p. 116Warm friendship and affection for Caesar, his brother and the charming boy, mixed with sorrow over Caesar's bereavement.read · scan
- p. 117Friendly offices and kindnesses exchanged among friends, and urging his brother to admit the young man to his intimacy.read · scan
- p. 118Mutual affection and loyalty between friends, expressed as devotion beyond mere kindness.read · scan
- p. 129–130Warm friendship and gratitude toward the correspondent, whose service and affection Cicero promises eternal witness of.read · scan
- p. 133–135Affectionate farewell and declaration that nothing is dearer to him than his friend.read · scan
- p. 154Affectionate concern for the sick Tiro, urging him not to hurry and providing horse, mule and money.read · scan
- p. 173Friendship and partnership with Tiro and companions, shared joys and sorrows.read · scan
- p. 180Cicero prizes Brutus's affection and wishes to be consistent in loving him.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 178Euryalus, mindful of the bonds of friendship, trips Salius to help his friend Nisus win.read · scan
- p. 270Evander greets him as friend and embraces him; kinship and hospitality.read · scan
- p. 270Evander recalls his youthful friendship with Anchises and sees him in Aeneas; offers a league of friendship.read · scan
- p. 293The friends share one care and delight; Euryalus will not let Nisus go alone.read · scan
- p. 293–300Nisus urges his friend to live and bury him; friendship and devotion.read · scan
- p. 300Ascanius offers Euryalus lasting friendship and shared fate.read · scan
Luke, The Acts of the ApostlesVol. 44
- p. 469Elders weep, embrace and kiss Paul in farewell; disciples with wives and children accompany him and pray on the beach.read · scan
Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2
- p. 148Friendship is found only where modesty and honest exchange are.read · scan
- p. 179Socrates: true friends do not mind scanty entertainment.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 204Long friendship since youth, shared with families, motivates the generous gift and trust in gratitude.read · scan
- p. 211Pliny admired him as a patriot and loved him as a friend.read · scan
- p. 211Verginius supported Pliny's candidacies and would have trusted him as a son.read · scan
- p. 216–218Pliny recommends his friend Voconius Romanus, describing their shared studies, household and mutual affection.read · scan
- p. 218–219Pliny pleads for his friend, saying friendship is the most valuable gift the patron can give and praising his worth.read · scan
- p. 255–256Pliny's admiration and friendship for Corellius, who kept nothing back and served as guide, moves him to defend his daughter.read · scan
- p. 261Pliny shares his joys and sorrows with a tender friend as with himself.read · scan
- p. 281Pliny's deep friendship with Attilius since youth; he treats injuries to him as his own and pleads for him.read · scan
- p. 303Pliny sacrifices financial interest to friendship, selling land cheaply to Corellia out of affection for her family.read · scan
- p. 307–309He loved mother and daughter equally, comforted them in exile and avenged them, and feels a debt to repay.read · scan
- p. 314–315Pliny glories in overflowing benevolence and generous praise of friends, denying one can err by excess in friendship.read · scan
- p. 325–326Weeping on a friend's bosom gives comfort; friend approves or pardons tears, and Pliny anxiously asks after his friend.read · scan
- p. 331A friend's willingness to hear the whole work shows love; friendship implies honest correction.read · scan
- p. 332–334One cannot love too well; affection prompts the reminder.read · scan
- p. 354–355Friendship is steadfast and free from mere ceremonial observance; Pliny sends warm congratulations.read · scan
- p. 367Pliny recommends his former quaestor out of private friendship and affection, hoping to rejoice in his friend's advancement.read · scan
- p. 370–371Friendship formed in military service with Nymphidius Lupus leads Pliny to favor his son.read · scan
- p. 403–404Pliny's affection for Suetonius, invited as constant guest and domestic friend.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 195Friendship: correcting friends, believing oneself loved.read · scan
- p. 237He was firm and uniform in his friendships.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 26–27Human friendship is endeared as a unity formed of many souls.read · scan
- p. 51Friendship's pleasures (conversation, shared reading, kindness) fuse souls into one; but loving a mortal as if immortal was the error.read · scan
- p. 52–53Friends are loved for returned love; blessed is he who loves friend and enemy in God, and so loses none.read · scan
- p. 86–87Friends bemoan life's vanities together; Alypius loved Augustine as kind and learned, and Augustine loved him for his inclination to virtue.read · scan
- p. 97He loved his friends for themselves alone and was loved by them likewise; friendship necessary to happiness.read · scan
- p. 122–123The purest friendship and the recovery of the lost illustrate the law of joy.read · scan
- p. 125–126Friendship of Alypius, Nebridius and Verecundus shown as kindly and disinterested aid.read · scan
- p. 140–141Friendship with Nebridius and Verecundus; Augustine comforts the sorrowing Verecundus as friendship permits.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 53–55Bonds of friendship and love between Beowulf and Hrothgar, sealed by gifts, a kiss and tears.read · scan
- p. 55–57Hrothgar's secret longing for Beowulf burns in his blood; he hopes to meet him again.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 187–188The host, amused by the guest's wit, pardons him and makes him a true companion and friend.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 150–151Roland says this day seals their love; comrades vow to stay together till death.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 314–315Sigurd beholds Gudrun's beauty; the men swear brotherhood as sworn kin.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 175Dante rejoices at meeting his friend Nino, saved among the good.read · scan
- p. 189–190Provenzano humbly begged in the square to redeem his imprisoned friend.read · scan
- p. 233Statius embraces Virgil's feet out of love and reverence, forgetting that both are mere shades.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 112–114Arthur grieves that the vow will end his fellowship of knights whom he loved as his life.read · scan
- p. 114Arthur's great love for his knights and the ladies' love for their lovers make the parting sorrowful.read · scan
- p. 213–214Launcelot and Bors pledge never to part while they live.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 135Peter Giles praised as a faithful, kind, loving friend beyond compare.read · scan
- p. 142–157More's affection for Raphael increases because Raphael favors the Cardinal, More's early guardian.read · scan
William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36
- p. 125Friend Kingston bids farewell in tears.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 23–24Close friendship with Francesco, so that they never stayed apart day or night.read · scan
- p. 24Cellini pities his comrade Tasso and waits for him, showing friendship.read · scan
- p. 167Felice embraces Cellini, wanting nothing but to have him alive.read · scan
- p. 175Cellini praises Felice for gaining him his life, a friendship of mutual service.read · scan
- p. 298Cellini praises his friendship with Guido Guidi, the most affectionate and companionable man he knew, his comfort in trials.read · scan
- p. 298–299Mutual friendship with Guido, with whom he exults in advancing in art and knowledge.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of FriendshipVol. 32
- p. 72He introduces his rare, inviolable friendship with La Boétie, begun through the latter's writing.read · scan
- p. 72True friendship is distinguished from natural, social and profit-based ties, including kinship between parents, children and brothers.read · scan
- p. 75Ideal friendship fuses two souls inexplicably: 'Because it was he, because it was myself.'read · scan
- p. 75Friends merge wills completely, holding nothing of their own; Blosius' 'All things' shows this perfect trust.read · scan
- p. 75Montaigne contrasts perfect, fused friendship with ordinary friendships that need wary precaution, as in Chilon's maxim.read · scan
- p. 80Perfect friendship holds all things in common, one soul in two bodies, so benefits and thanks vanish; Eudamidas's will exemplifies it.read · scan
- p. 80Perfect friendship is indivisible and cannot be shared among many; it dissolves other duties and obligations.read · scan
- p. 80–83Few are worthy of true friendship, which is given from the heart's centre, unlike superficial acquaintance.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 268–269Fidelity and generous friendship as Cardenio offers Dorothea his protection.read · scan
- p. 307Anselmo and Lothario are famed as the Two Friends; Anselmo also falls in love with Camilla, and Lothario negotiates the match.read · scan
- p. 336Anselmo praises Lothario's entire amity and resolves to follow his advice in all things.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 65–66Friendship is essential; without true friends the world is a wilderness, and a friend alone can relieve the heart of passions.read · scan
- p. 66–67Great princes prize friendship so highly they raise favorites as companions, since their high station otherwise denies them its fruit; Roman examples of intimate friendships.read · scan
- p. 67–68Friendship completes even the greatest felicity; communicating joys and griefs to a friend doubles joy and halves grief.read · scan
- p. 69Second fruit of friendship is clarifying the understanding through discourse and counsel with a friend.read · scan
- p. 69A friend's faithful admonition is the best remedy for faults and flattery of oneself, and for good counsel in business.read · scan
- p. 69–71A friend bears part in all actions, speaks what a man cannot say himself, and continues his cares after death.read · scan
- p. 119–120Little true friendship exists in the world, least between equals; it lies between superior and inferior.read · scan
Francis Bacon, The New AtlantisVol. 3
- p. 168–169No masculine love, yet faithful and inviolate friendships are found there.read · scan
William Shakespeare, Songs and SonnetsVol. 40
- p. 270–271Thought of the dear friend restores all losses and makes the poet scorn kings.read · scan
- p. 275–276Love keeps the poet from dying and makes him wish not to grieve his friend.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, Edward the SecondVol. 46
- p. 7Gaveston's devotion to the king, comparing himself to Leander, and his longing to return to the king's embrace.read · scan
- p. 9–12Edward embraces Gaveston as friend and other self, comparing Hercules and Hylas, and lavishes gifts to honour him.read · scan
- p. 25–27Old Mortimer defends the king's love for Gaveston by citing famous friendships of Alexander, Hercules, Achilles and Socrates.read · scan
- p. 66Friends' tender farewells in the face of arrest.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 103–104Hamlet greets Horatio as friend, insisting on friend rather than servant.read · scan
- p. 132–134Hamlet conjures his friends by fellowship and love to speak honestly about being sent for.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. John DonneVol. 15
- p. 329–330Morton's proposal is called the effect of true love, a debt repaid for Donne's friendship.read · scan
- p. 330–331Morton's offer springs from love begotten by long friendship and Donne's merits.read · scan
- p. 345–346The benchers show love and gratitude by lodging and courtesies for his preaching.read · scan
- p. 353Memorial seals sent to dear friends as tokens of his affection.read · scan
- p. 357–358Legacies chosen to express affection for friends rather than enrich them.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 376–377Her friendship with Donne and other learned men.read · scan
- p. 377–378The chaste friendship of Donne and Magdalen Herbert is compared to Chrysostom's for Olympias and Jerome's for Paula.read · scan
- p. 378Friendship of Donne and Lady Magdalen; Herbert contrasts profane love-poems with those looking towards God.read · scan
- p. 382Friendships begin between Herbert and Bacon and Andrews.read · scan
- p. 411–412Farrer and Herbert keep a holy friendship by letters, and Herbert annotates Valdesso's book for him.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 18Clotaldo was nursed like a brother by the sword's giver; gratitude and friendship.read · scan
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio MediciVol. 3
- p. 316–317Charity and friendship: he would engross a friend's sorrows and die for him, ranking friend and country beside God, above kin.read · scan
- p. 317–318Friendship is a mystical union of two souls in one, whose desires are infinite and unsatisfiable; it leads to charity and love of God.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 249Man's imperfection requires collateral love and dearest amity.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 61–62A true friend is a great advantage even to great lords, but must be chosen well.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 69–70Christian and Faithful go on lovingly as companions, with sweet discourse and mutual help.read · scan
- p. 115–116Hopeful forgives Christian and each offers to take the danger first, out of brotherly concern.read · scan
- p. 188Christiana warmly offers Mercy companionship, and Mercy is drawn along.read · scan
- p. 189–190Sisterly companionship and mourning for friends; Christiana pays and welcomes Mercy.read · scan
- p. 192–193Christiana intercedes tenderly for her friend.read · scan
- p. 223–224The pilgrims plead for his company as friend and defender, grateful for his faithful, loving service.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 17–19Friendship allows a man to christen a friend's imperfection with the name of a neighbouring virtue, as Horace teaches.read · scan
- p. 29Ventidius stays out of plain love for Antony, calling him next to heaven.read · scan
- p. 54–55Antony and Ventidius love each other as friend and general; Antony recalls Dolabella as a friend so joined 'he was I, I he'.read · scan
- p. 55–57Antony embraces Dolabella as his 'better half'; friendship and rivalry over Cleopatra, whose love Dolabella once stifled.read · scan
- p. 90–93Ventidius proves his love for Antony by choosing to die alongside him.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 6–7Locke prizes long friendship with an honest, useful man and lover of his country as life's greatest pleasure.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 333Friendship is a union of spirits and marriage of hearts, bonded by virtue.read · scan
- p. 333–334True friends are twins in soul, share pain, pleasure and goods, and are constant; friendship requires freedom.read · scan
- p. 334Choose a friend with care, as a wife; vice-ridden people make ill friends; kin preferred in affection.read · scan
Jonathan Swift, On the Death of Esther Johnson [Stella]Vol. 27
- p. 122Mourns her as the truest, most valuable friend he ever had and recalls bringing her to Ireland.read · scan
- p. 122–124Friends prized her company and her servants loved and almost adored her.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 97–98Rival became a lifelong friend after the borrowed-book kindness.read · scan
- p. 102–103Franklin and Whitefield keep a sincere civil friendship despite religious difference; Franklin insists his hospitality is for the man's sake, not Christ's.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Preface to the English DictionaryVol. 39
- p. 195–196He admits living authors only when the tenderness of friendship solicits a favorite name.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 399Friendship is called the chief joy of human life.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 189Benevolence and friendship are constant pity fixed on a particular object.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34
- p. 269Friendship and humanity console us in affliction; pleasures need companions.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 199He writes with a love superior to expression, encouraging holy emulation among friends.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 526–527Love's and friendship's darts fall blunted from hardened hearts.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and BeautifulVol. 24
- p. 39Good company, conversation and friendship fill the mind with great pleasure.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24
- p. 416Burke recalls his devoted friendship with Lord Keppel, whose portrait he keeps, a friendship without coldness or jealousy.read · scan
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, or The Soldier's FortuneVol. 26
- p. 304–305Friendship of Tellheim and his dead captain; Major pities the widow and offers help.read · scan
- p. 305–306Tellheim honours a friend who shared good and ill luck, honour and danger for six years.read · scan
- p. 308–309Just's gruff devotion to his master, and the dog's devotion to him, show attachment hidden beneath hatred.read · scan
- p. 332–333Werner is described as a friend who would give his life for the Major.read · scan
- p. 336–337Werner's loyal affection for his Major shows as friendship in his eagerness to lend.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 280–281The old Count Oliva loves him like a father, and Egmont acknowledges his affectionate solicitude.read · scan
- p. 281–282Egmont sees the old friend's warnings as grasping his hand more warmly before parting.read · scan
- p. 327–328Ferdinand's admiration and affection for Egmont, a stranger, move him to pity.read · scan
- p. 328–329Ferdinand reveals boyhood hero-worship of Egmont and hope of friendship; Egmont says his heart was drawn to him too.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 378–379Friendship and parent-child love venture impossibilities in the crisis.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 42–44Friendship between man and sheep, a friend more faithful than any.read · scan
- p. 80–82He admits liking the lasses and offers friendship to Lapraik.read · scan
- p. 85–87Hopes for friendship's ties to grow closer with each year; lassies stir his heart.read · scan
- p. 87–89Offers fraternal love and steadfast friendship to a fellow rhymer.read · scan
- p. 102–104Friendship offered with drink; hopes for lasting bond between friends.read · scan
- p. 166–168Friendship praised in epigraph and address to Smith, whose charm wins all hearts.read · scan
- p. 187–189Offers friendship to any who hates the flinty heart that cannot feel, refusing it to those who sneer at poverty.read · scan
- p. 213–215Friendship and brotherhood among Masons; heart-warm farewell to companionsread · scan
- p. 267–269Friendship and loyalty: the poet vows never to forget Willie Creech, though far away.read · scan
- p. 334–335Warm regard for old comrades and cousins; warning girls to be cautious with men.read · scan
- p. 388–389Tam loves his crony Souter Johnie like a brother.read · scan
William Wordsworth, Preface to Poems (1815)Vol. 39
- p. 309–310The ode toasts friends and supplies failing friendships with charity, helping the remote and afflicted.read · scan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 731–732Poet keeps vigil and blesses his devout friend with sleep and joy.read · scan
William Hazlitt, Of Persons One Would Wish to Have SeenVol. 27
- p. 273–274Lamb, moved to tears, longs for friendship with Pope and his friends.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 184–186Ironic reflection on friendship's pleasure of sharing secrets, which passes along a chain of confidants until it reaches those it was meant to avoid.read · scan
- p. 552–553Renzo and his friend discover they are greater friends than before; kindly feeling is a cordial to the heart.read · scan
- p. 553Renzo's affection for Agnese and his anxiety to learn of Lucia; the value of sharing sorrows with a friend.read · scan
- p. 583–584Cristoforo's kindness feeding Renzo, and their shared concern for Lucia.read · scan
- p. 610–611Renzo and the friar part with deep affection; Renzo looks with compassion on the suffering around him.read · scan
- p. 637–638Tender farewells show lasting attachment between the couple and their curate.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 49Faithful Henry's grief for his master is shown by iron bands round his heart.read · scan
- p. 140–141Lina and Fundevogel vow never to leave each other and are sad when apart.read · scan
- p. 141The children repeat their vow never to leave each other as they escape.read · scan
John Henry Newman, The Idea of a UniversityVol. 28
- p. 60Student friendships: Basil draws friends by fascination, companions hold him in esteem and love and try to keep him from leaving.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, FriendshipVol. 5
- p. 105Unspoken kindness pervades humanity; affection, from good will to passion, gives life its sweetness and quickens our powers.read · scan
- p. 106Affection for friends transforms the world; the soul is content if assured of rejoining its friend.read · scan
- p. 107–109Friendship sought with grasping passion fails; the laws of friendship are austere and eternal, ripening slowly.read · scan
- p. 109–110Love is the essence of God and requires the austerest worth; friendship is a sacred, divine relation.read · scan
- p. 110Friendship is the solidest thing we know, a covenant for the noble, valued above all nature and thought.read · scan
- p. 110A friend is a sane man who requires no mask, the masterpiece of nature and semblance of my own being.read · scan
- p. 112Tenderness is the second element of friendship; it is a strict, homely commerce of aid through all life's passages and hardships.read · scan
- p. 112–113Perfect friendship needs rare, well-paired natures and is fully realized between two; conversation is its practice.read · scan
- p. 114High friendship demands ability to do without it; two large formidable natures joined in mutual respect.read · scan
- p. 114–115Friendship demands reverence and distance; friend honored as a spirit and superior, not treated as property or convenience.read · scan
- p. 116True friendship requires self-possession and equal nature; love is the reflection of one's own worthiness; the only way to have a friend is to be one.read · scan
- p. 117High friendship is rare; solitude and self-dependence prepare for meeting true friends on a higher platform; a friend is harbinger of a greater one.read · scan
- p. 117Emerson values friends for what they are, not what they have, keeping intercourse subtle and rare lest they distract his own visions.read · scan
- p. 118True love cannot be unrequited; it transcends the unworthy object; friendship's essence is entire magnanimity and trust, treating the friend as a god.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, CirclesVol. 5
- p. 152Friendship and love torment us with our imperfections; growth is seen in successive friends; we lose friends for truth.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, CharacterVol. 5
- p. 195–196A friend is the hope of the heart; noble relations are allowed not made, and the moment is all.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, WorshipVol. 5
- p. 291–292He will not woo friends or ask favors; true friendship comes unsought when each comes to his own.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 472Habit of friendship and loyal homage of man to man contrasts with superficial attachments of other races.read · scan
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, What Is a Classic?Vol. 32
- p. 132–133Old friends and old books are clung to as proven by long intercourse.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 360–361The prince and poor boy, by different paths, run to each other and stand hand in hand.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 97Mill's deep friendship with Sterling, loveable, frank and affectionate, with whom he met as brothers.read · scan
- p. 116Mill describes the friendship of twenty years with Mrs. Taylor, later his wife, as the honour and chief blessing of his life.read · scan
- p. 141–143Friendship needs agreement on cardinal opinions; Mill's affection and intimacy with Mrs. Taylor, conducted honorably.read · scan
William Makepeace Thackeray, Jonathan SwiftVol. 28
- p. 8–9Thackeray would gladly befriend Shakespeare or Fielding, but asks whether one could have liked Swift as a friend.read · scan
- p. 25–26Swift's verses praise Stella's devoted friendship in nursing him; Vanessa's rivalry and Swift's neglect of Stella follow.read · scan
Robert Browning, A Blot in the 'ScutcheonVol. 18
- p. 392Mertoun's boyhood love and admiration for Tresham led to his ruin.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 145Hope's loyal friendship, the ai\ane bond, and gratitude for care in illness; Dana returns the friendship.read · scan
- p. 267Affectionate parting from watchmate Harris and friend S; cheers and waves between departing crews show comradeship.read · scan
- p. 269–271Dana feels affection for the simple Kanaka friends, comparable to kinship, and they part warmly.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 95–96The sincere wish for true friends and wise companions shapes happiness; friendship is unavoidably limited by chance, whereas books offer a great society always open.read · scan
7b.Friendship tested: loyalty, faithlessness and fair-weather friends
See also: Friendship 6b
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 63–64Friendship: Tzu-chang says bear with the many and pity weakness rather than push the unworthy away.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 39The hare's many professed friends all decline to help in danger; friendship is shown as hollow.read · scan
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 37–38True loyalty of friendship is contrasted with hollow shows; Odysseus alone was faithful.read · scan
Aeschylus, Prometheus BoundVol. 8
- p. 177Okeanos offers kinship and friendship, promising aid.read · scan
- p. 178–179Prometheus refuses Okeanos's help lest others share his woes.read · scan
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 79–80Friends should show kindness to the faint; instead they prove deceitful like dried brooks.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 193–194Betrayal by a familiar friend who ate his bread.read · scan
- p. 208Betrayal by an equal, a familiar friend with whom he took sweet counsel, is more grievous than an enemy's hatred.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On FriendshipVol. 9
- p. 21–22Scipio held it hard for friendship to last a lifetime; conflicting interests, changing characters and immoral requests endanger it.read · scan
- p. 29–30Condemns the maxim to love a friend as one who may become an enemy; choose friends one could never hate.read · scan
- p. 30Cicero advises testing friends before committing affection; true friendship is rare and needs constancy, failing under prosperity, distress or ambition.read · scan
- p. 34Lasting friendship requires mature characters; shared youthful tastes do not suffice, and excessive affection must not hinder a friend's highest interests.read · scan
- p. 35Friendships that must end should be unstitched gradually, avoiding hostility; be slow to bestow affection and never on unworthy objects.read · scan
- p. 38–39Friends need frank reproof given without bitterness and taken in good part; base compliance destroys friends.read · scan
- p. 39–40Flattery and base compliance are most subversive of friendship, which needs frankness and two minds becoming one.read · scan
- p. 41Friendship rests on truthfulness and open breasts; where one refuses truth and the other lies, it is no friendship.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 99Cicero shows kindness and gratitude to Sestius despite reasons for anger, keeping his friendship.read · scan
- p. 155Genuine love is hard to distinguish from feigned, tested only by crisis like gold in fire.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 305Nisus, thoughtless of his own safety, goes back for Euryalus.read · scan
- p. 305Nisus confesses to save his friend, whose only crime is too much love; they die together.read · scan
Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 155Marcius's loyalty to a hospitable friend among the enemy.read · scan
Plutarch, AntonyVol. 12
- p. 375–376Lucilius remains faithful to Antony to the last because Antony spared his life.read · scan
- p. 380Antony believes Cleopatra dead and wishes to join her; Eros's loyalty moves him to suicide before his master.read · scan
Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2
- p. 148Apparent friendship of brothers is not to be trusted; real friends place their interest in the Will, not outward things.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 284Even associates cared for and prayed for wish one gone.read · scan
- p. 288False friendship is condemned as most disgraceful.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 29–30Friendship turned unfriendly: companionship in mischief drew him, a perverted bond.read · scan
The Destruction of Dá Derga's HostelVol. 49
- p. 206–207Conaire counts on a friend's loyalty, bound by past generous gifts.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 68–69The verses lament brothers taken as armour who proved arrows against him, showing betrayal by friends.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 165–166Roland halts to stand by Turpin, refusing to leave his comrade.read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 308–309A friend faithful in every distress is rare; only God is altogether faithful.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 122–123Christy refuses to fight a friend who is 'faith and troth' to him.read · scan
- p. 123–125Bewick warmly welcomes Grahame as the friend he loves best in Christendom, unable to think of fighting him.read · scan
- p. 125–127Bewick refuses to fight a friend, proposing reconciling the fathers; Grahame weeps on admiring his courage.read · scan
- p. 135–137Fair-weather friends flee the knight in poverty; only God and Our Lady stand surety, and Robin accepts Our Lady as the best security.read · scan
- p. 142–144The knight says it is good to test a friend before need arises.read · scan
- p. 144–146Grateful for Robin's kindness, the knight helps a stranger yeoman at Wentbridge for love of Robin.read · scan
- p. 148–150After combat the cook and John become fellows and pledge loyalty to Robin.read · scan
- p. 166–168Loyalty among companions and the knight's declared love for Robin above all men.read · scan
- p. 170–172Loyalty of Robin to those he helped; the wife appeals for the love of Robin and Our Lady.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 24–26Cellini reproaches Giannotto for denying their old comradeship.read · scan
- p. 53A devoted friend, Giovanni Rigogli, promises to stay by the sick Cellini through plague and disease, knowing his duty to a friend.read · scan
- p. 55–56Pantasilea loves Cellini but he yields her to a friend who loves her; her lover's anger and desire for revenge follow.read · scan
- p. 87–88Cellini praises Piero Landi as his most loyal, wise and affectionate friend, who helps him flee without question.read · scan
- p. 142Albertaccio del Bene, his dearest friend, offers to share his risk.read · scan
- p. 143–144Albertaccio and young men embrace Cellini and offer their lives to save him.read · scan
- p. 165Felice weeps and fights the old man, defending his friend with devoted affection.read · scan
- p. 171Friends such as Pier Landi and Niccolo show loyal friendship and concern.read · scan
- p. 172Loyal friends such as Luca Martini spend their days with him, in contrast to the ungrateful Giorgio.read · scan
- p. 228–229Friendship and loyalty: Cellini calls the Greek brother and the friend acts, against his will, for Cellini's good.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 307–308Friendship tested: Anselmo asks Lothario to return and act as a friend who warns him of faults.read · scan
- p. 310Lothario says Anselmo wrongs their friendship by approaching his secret thoughts so indirectly.read · scan
- p. 310–312Limits of friendship: Anselmo relies on Lothario's loyalty, while Lothario denies that friendship licenses wrongdoing.read · scan
- p. 312–313Friendship's love keeps Lothario from abandoning Anselmo to his unreasonable desire.read · scan
- p. 317Friendship forbids robbing a friend of his honour.read · scan
- p. 319He claims friendship obliges Lothario to grant the request.read · scan
- p. 320Friendship and trust lead Anselmo to leave his wife alone with Lothario.read · scan
- p. 323Anselmo reproaches Lothario for answering ill the affection and confidence owed.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discovery of GuianaVol. 33
- p. 301He acknowledges the loyal friendship of Howard and Cecil, who sought him out in adversity.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 152Debate on the constancy of love; love changes with fortune, and friends follow prosperity.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 310–314Kent's loyal devotion to his king; Edmund notes he was beloved by both sisters.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 779–780Delio's maxim: old friends, like old swords, are trusted best.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 7Rosaura and Fife affirm mutual loyal affection; Fife weeps at being sent home and refuses to leave her.read · scan
John Milton, Samson AgonistesVol. 4
- p. 415Samson finds friends counterfeit coin: many in prosperity, absent in adversity.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 45Few friendships would endure if each knew what the friend said in his absence.read · scan
- p. 45If men knew what each said of the other, there would not be four friends in the world.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 69–71Cleopatra's true love cannot feign; Dolabella's love for her tempts him against friendship; jealousy tested as proof of love.read · scan
- p. 71Cleopatra says love is expelled by other love as poison by poison; Dolabella slips toward declaring his own love.read · scan
- p. 71–76Dolabella confesses forging the lie for love of her; Cleopatra longs to see Antony once more.read · scan
- p. 94Ventidius's loyal friendship: he dies perjured rather than kill his friend; Antony's dying words are for Cleopatra.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27
- p. 156–157Johnson assesses the Addison–Steele friendship: Steele's reverent subjection, Addison's condescension, and the strain when Addison called in a loan.read · scan
Christopher Smart, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 486–488David's constancy to God and his friend Jonathan.read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of MoralsVol. 32
- p. 319Sincerity in friendship is required even if no sincere friend has ever existed.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 259–261Hastings anxiously awaits news of Constance, and Tony aids the lovers as a friend.read · scan
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, or The Soldier's FortuneVol. 26
- p. 338–339Werner's loyalty and trust that Tellheim would share his last penny; friendship strained by refusal.read · scan
John Dunlop, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 581Toasts to young lassies loved and to trusty friends in adversity, kept nearest the heart.read · scan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 721–722Friendship of Roland and Leoline broken by slander and anger; the scars of estranged friends remain, and the Baron's heart swells for his friend's child.read · scan
- p. 722–723Leoline repents his disdain and says he never found a friend like Roland; he tenderly cares for his daughter.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 69–70Renzo contrasts fair-weather friends who draw back in adversity with the friar's steadfast loyalty.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 351Fair-weather friends desert him once his money is gone; he also gives generously to the poor.read · scan
Robert Browning, A Blot in the 'ScutcheonVol. 18
- p. 386–388Guendolen stands by Mildred out of friendship and loyalty in her disgrace, questioning Austin's love.read · scan
Arthur Hugh Clough, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1119–1121Souls once close are astonished to find themselves estranged.read · scan
7c.Friendship and love compared
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On FriendshipVol. 9
- p. 41–42Friendship and love share a root; love is cleaving to another without need or view to advantage, as Cicero cherished Scipio.read · scan
Richard Edwardes, Amantium IraeVol. 40
- p. 201–202Refrain that quarrels among faithful friends renew love; even beasts cannot live in love without discord.read · scan
- p. 202Refrain repeats that falling out of friends renews love; men are never true friends until they quarrel.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of FriendshipVol. 32
- p. 72–75Friendship is a constant, tempered heat unlike the feverish, wavering fire of passion for women.read · scan
- p. 75Friendship, spiritual and increased by enjoyment, is contrasted with bodily love that dies with satiety.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 57Dolabella excuses youthful love as a debt to nature while chiding Antony as a true friend.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 293–295Sylvander's passion for Clarinda, tension between love and friendship, parting pangs.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, FriendshipVol. 5
- p. 107Friendship, like a lover's worship, idealizes the friend, followed by doubt and the ebb and flow of affection.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, CharacterVol. 5
- p. 193–195Friendship between two virtuous men is life's most satisfying good; love between the sexes is its first symbol.read · scan
7d.Friendship beyond death and in grief
See also: Friendship 9c · Life and Death 9a · Emotion 6c
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On FriendshipVol. 9
- p. 11–12Grieving for the dead friend's sake is really self-love; true friendship recognizes no evil has befallen him.read · scan
- p. 42–44Cicero recalls his shared life, counsel and learning with Scipio; friendship's memory consoles his loss.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 325Cycnus's love for Phaeton and his song of grief; transformed into a swan by heaven's pity.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 282–283Pliny's sorrowful remembrance of Verginius; faithful friends are rare.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 45Summary mentions grief for a lost friend, real and unreal friendship and love of fame.read · scan
- p. 47–48Friendship with a boyhood companion, true only when cemented in God's love; his death soon takes him.read · scan
- p. 48–49Depth of friendship shown by inability to bear places without the friend.read · scan
- p. 49–50Friendship of a 'half of my soul': one soul in two bodies; loving perishable things brings wretchedness.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 160–161Roland and Olivier part in forgiveness and affection; Roland mourns the friend without equal.read · scan
- p. 161–162Roland laments Olivier, a lifelong companion who never wronged him, and says life is pain now.read · scan
- p. 166–168Roland gathers his dead companions and laments Olivier, clasping his lifeless body.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 149–151Casella loves Dante still after death as in mortal life; Dante's fond attempt to embrace the shade.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 127–129Grahame keeps his vow to die with his friend, and Bewick asks that they be buried together.read · scan
Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38
- p. 12–13Paré refuses a better post from grief at the death of the master who loved him.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of FriendshipVol. 32
- p. 83–84Montaigne's friendship exceeds the philosophers' precepts; his lost friend makes the rest of his life a vapour.read · scan
- p. 84–85Bereaved friendship: half of his soul is gone; the friend surpassed him in the duties of friendship.read · scan
William Shakespeare, Songs and SonnetsVol. 40
- p. 271–273Love of the young friend, whose loss is accepted without disdain; verse records his truth.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, Edward the SecondVol. 46
- p. 17–19Edward writes the banishment with tears, grieving for the friend he loves.read · scan
- p. 47–48Edward grieves for his dearest Gaveston and rewards Spencer's loyalty with love and favour.read · scan
- p. 50Edward's grief for his friend Gaveston.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. John DonneVol. 15
- p. 368–369Friends and unknown admirers show loving devotion by flowers, epitaph and gift for the monument.read · scan
Abraham Cowley, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 366–368Elegy for a dear friend, recalling their shared nights and walks and the love between them.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 383Friends who love in the divine principle cannot be separated by death or absence.read · scan
- p. 384Friendship of the pure continues beyond death.read · scan
William Collins, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 475–477Maids and lads mourn Fidele with tender affection and pity.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24
- p. 417In old age the consolation of friendship lies in the lost dead; Burke feels the loss of Keppel keenly.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 287–288Orange weeps at parting from his friend; weeping for a lost friend is not unmanly.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 215–217Masonic brotherhood remembered with affection; a bard mourned by friends and lassesread · scan
- p. 384–386Friendship and brotherly affection for Henderson, whom no other can replace.read · scan
- p. 386–388Friendship's sacred call and sympathetic tears for the departed friend.read · scan
Charles Lamb, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 735–736Lost love, abandoned friend and lost companions; Hester's spirit remembered.read · scan
Thomas Moore, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 818–820The last rose and lost friends: who would live alone when friendship decays and true hearts wither; parting from those we love.read · scan
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, MontaigneVol. 32
- p. 108Put passion only into friendship; immortalised his love for La Boetie, lost after four years of intimacy.read · scan
- p. 110–111Montaigne excepts his friend La Boetie as a great man who died before fulfilling his promise.read · scan
- p. 114Solid, vigorous friendship needed to fall into is very rare; La Boetie's death felt.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 241–242Dana feels strong affection for his dying friend Hope, who would have done anything for him.read · scan
Walt Whitman, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1403–1404Tender comradely love for the dead boy, with hope of meeting again.read · scan
- p. 1414–1416Devotion to the dead comrade he loved drives the memorial offerings.read · scan
William Johnson Cory, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1113–1114Clings to human friendship and love, remembering the friend's voice rather than ideal realms.read · scan
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