The Foundations of Friendship
Ancient Greek philosophers truly revered the concept of friendship, and spent much of their time defining, shaping, and discovering the answer to a phenomenal question: What exactly are the components of true friendship? A highly respected philosopher, Cicero, believed that “friendship is the only thing in this world, the usefulness of which all mankind are in agreement.” In essence, friendship is based on a companionship involving mutual love, self-love, virtue, and hard work. As Cicero talks about in his writing De Amicitia, companionship is a part of human nature. According to Cicero, “nature has no love for solitude, and always leans, as it were, on so support; and the sweetest support is found in the most intimate friendship.” He believed that true friendship could only exist among good people. Since true friendship is extremely hard to find and maintain, only people who are good and virtuous are able to handle actual friendships. He posed the question, “how can there be a ‘life worth living’…unless it rest[s] upon the mutual love of friends?” As said by Cicero, “a friend is, as it were, a second self.” He believed that within friendship comes about the idea that those with similar interests attract each other. Fo
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Approximate Word count = 1196
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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