[19]
Let
us then proceed “with our own dull wits,” as the
saying is. Those who so act and so live as to give
proof of loyalty and uprightness, of fairness and
generosity; who are free from all passion, caprice,
and insolence, and have great strength of character
—men like those just mentioned—such men let us
consider good, as they were accounted good in life,
and also entitled to be called by that term because,
in as far as that is possible for man, they follow
Nature, who is the best guide to good living.
For it seems clear to me that we were so created
that between us all there exists a certain tie which
strengthens with our proximity to each other.
Therefore, fellow countrymen are preferred to
foreigners and relatives1 to strangers, for with them
Nature herself engenders friendship, but it is one
that is lacking in constancy. For friendship excels
relationship2 in this, that goodwill may be eliminated
from relationship while from friendship it cannot;
since, if you remove goodwill from friendship the
very name of friendship is gone; if you remove it
from relationship, the name of relationship still
remains.
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