Laelius on Friendship |
Translator: William Armistead Falconer
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| 111 |
nam quid ego de studiis dicam cognoscendi semper aliquid atque discendi , in quibus remoti ab oculis populi omne otiosum tempus contrivimus ? quarum rerum recordatio et memoria si una cum illo occidisset , desiderium coniunctissimi atque amantissimi viri ferre nullo modo possem . sed nec illa exstincta sunt alunturque potius et augentur cogitatione et memoria mea , et , si illis plane orbatus essem , magnum tamen affert mihi aetas ipsa solacium ; diutius enim iam in hoc desiderio esse non possum ; omnia autem brevia tolerabilia esse debent , etiam si magna sunt . haec habui de amicitia quae dicerem ; vos autem hortor ut ita virtutem locetis (sine qua amicitia esse non potest ) ut ea excepta nihil amicitia praestabilius putetis .
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Why need I speak of our constant devotion to investigation and to learning in which, remote from the gaze of men, we spent all our leisure time? If my recollection and memory of these things had died with him, I could not now by any means endure the loss of a man so very near and dear to me. But those experiences with him are not dead; rather they are nourished and made more vivid by my reflection and memory; and even if I were utterly deprived of the power to recall them, yet my age would of itself afford me great relief; for I cannot have much longer time to bear this bereavement; besides, every trial, which is of brief duration, ought to be endurable, even if it be severe. This is all that I had to say about friendship; but I exhort you both so to esteem virtue (without which friendship cannot exist), that, excepting virtue, you will think nothing more excellent than friendship. |