Latin reading: Cicero on Friendship
October 24, 2012
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Latin text and translation–mostly because I have not been keeping up with my Latin. Now that things have settled down for me, I am beginning to review through some grammars and read a little every day, in order to brush up. Ultimately, however, my inspiration for this post comes from my friend Jacob, who often provides Latin texts on his blog, and who, through regular practice, has become very proficient with Latin.
In this text, which comes from Cicero’s De Amicitia, the value of friendship is praised above money:
Pauci viri veros amicos habent, et pauci sunt digni. Amicitia vera est praeclara, et omnia preclara sunt rara. Multi viri stulti de pecunia semper cogitant, pauci de amicis; sed errant: possumus valere sine multa pecunia, sed sine amicitia non valemus et vita est nihil.
My translation:
Few men have true friends, and few are worthy of it. True friendship is a remarkable thing, and anything remarkable is always rare. Many ignorant men are always thinking about money; few about friendships. They are mistaken. We are able to get by quite nicely without money, but without friendship we do poorly and life is nothing.
While I am more than flattered by this, “proficient” is a word I might have used a year and a half ago. But I, like you, have let my Latin go unused for far too long.
Thank you for the reminder that I must use my Latin or lose it. On a different note, I enjoyed the selection. I feel like I’ve read it before. Did you get the selection from wheelock or nun?
Good memory; this Latin quote came from Wheelock, but the translation is mine (no translations are provided in my version of Wheelock).
For a non-Latin reader like yours truly, having the Latin and English right by each other helps me figure out the Latin. Good exercise!