Laelius On Friendship Analysis

A friendship relies on the goodness of both people; if goodness is not present the friendship will cease to exist. Cicero uses many different instances in his book Laelius: On Friendship to explain how a friendship relies on the goodness of both people to survive. First he starts by talking about the types of friendships that come to an end when goodness ceases to exist. He explains that some friendships rely on advantages, but these friendships never last. He states that “if advantages were what kept friendships together, the removal of that advantage would mean that the friendship itself would cease to exist” (194). A friendship should rely on the qualities of both people, and not on the advantages you get from them. Cicero explains that “when a man shows kindness and generosity, his motive in doing so is not just too exact repayment” (193). Next he talks about friendships that fail due to one person asking too much of the other. He brings in the example of Tiberius Gracchus, “As for Tiberius Gracchus, when he was disrupting the government, we saw how Quintus

Here he explains that a friendship relies on love, saying “for goodwill is established by love, quite independently of calculation of profit: and it is from love, amor, that the word for friendship, amicitia, is derived” (191). Love brings together friends, and keeps the friendship strong. Also Friendship must be genuine in that no falsity can be present. Cicero states “it cannot under any circumstance be derived from any calculation of potential profit” (191). This means that a friendship must not be derived from the profit of one person or the other. That the friendship must derive instead from the genuine affection (or love) that both people feel for one another. Friendship will forever rely on the goodness of the people in it. As Cicero says “friendship owes its entire origin and character. Without goodness, it cannot even exist”