“ There can be no friendship where there is cruelty, where there is disloyalty, where there is injustice. ”
Étienne de La Boétie, Discourse on Voluntary Servitude (1576). copy citation
| Author | Étienne de La Boétie |
|---|---|
| Source | Discourse on Voluntary Servitude |
| Topic | friendship cruelty |
| Date | 1576 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Harry Kurz |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Discourse_on_Voluntary_Servitude |
Context
“it flourishes not so much by kindnesses as by sincerity. What makes one friend sure of another is the knowledge of his integrity: as guarantees he has his friend's fine nature, his honor, and his constancy. There can be no friendship where there is cruelty, where there is disloyalty, where there is injustice. And in places where the wicked gather there is conspiracy only, not companionship: these have no affection for one another; fear alone holds them together; they are not friends, they are merely accomplices.”
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