“ It is one thing to live with a tyrant, another with a friend. But if a man's ears are so closed to plain speaking that he cannot bear to hear the truth from a friend, we may give him up in despair. ”
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Friendship (44 BC). copy citation
| Author | Marcus Tullius Cicero |
|---|---|
| Source | On Friendship |
| Topic | truth despair |
| Date | 44 BC |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by E. S. Shuckburgh |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2808/2808-h/2808-h.htm |
Context
“(for I am glad to adopt Terence's word) , though there should be every courtesy, yet that base kind which assists a man in vice should be far from us, for it is unworthy of a free-born man, to say nothing of a friend. It is one thing to live with a tyrant, another with a friend. But if a man's ears are so closed to plain speaking that he cannot bear to hear the truth from a friend, we may give him up in despair. This remark of Cato's, as so many of his did, shews great acuteness: "There are people who owe more to bitter enemies than to apparently pleasant friends: the former often speak the truth, the latter never."”
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