"
Yes, he said, that is true.
Yes, I replied; and yet I am not quite satisfied with this answer.
By heaven, and shall I tell you what I suspect? I will. Assuming
that like, inasmuch as he is like, is the friend of like, and useful
to him-or rather let me try another way of putting the matter: Can
like do any good or harm to like which he could not do to himself,
or suffer anything from his like which he would not suffer from
himself? And if neither can be of any use to the other, how can they
be loved by one another? Can they now?
They cannot.
And can he who is not loved be a friend?
Certainly not.
But say that the like is not the friend of the like in so far as
he is like; still the good may be the friend of the good in so far
as he is good?
True.
But then again, will not the good, in so far as he is good, be
sufficient for himself? Certainly he will. And he who is sufficient
wants nothing-that is implied in the word sufficient.
Of course not.
And he who wants nothing will desire nothing?
He will not.
Neither can he love that which he does not desire?
He cannot.
And he who not is not a lover of friend?
Clearly not.
What place then is there for friendship, if, when absent, good men
have no need of one another (for even when alone they are sufficient
for themselves), and when present have no use of one another? How
can such persons ever be induced to value one another?
They cannot.
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