Cicero believes that if a person truly wants to understand what it means to have a good life, they must study philosophy. He says this because those who study philosophy are searching for the things that they believe produce a good and meaningful life. It is most likely because of this fact that Cicero himself was so enthralled by philosophy, as he wanted to discover what he thought it meant to live a meaningful life, and he did. Cicero’s philosophy depends on two things that intertwine: duty and friendship. If the path to a meaningful like was a meal, duty would be the appetizer that sets the standard for the main dish, friendship. This is because Cicero believes the guide to everyone’s lives and beliefs should be based on is moral goodness,
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Once again, he came to this conclusion by using probability as he looking at those around him and realized that most true friendships he saw were between morally good people. Cicero speaks a lot about friendship, but points out that friendship is one of the most valuable thing on the earth, as you want friendship in good times and in bad times. This is because with a true friendship, you are able to share everything with that other person, the good and the bad. Having another person to share everything with lightens the burden that you must carry. This is one of the many benefits of friendship, however, Cicero warns about basing a friendship off of benefit, as once that benefit is gone, the foundation the friendship was built on is gone so the friendship will deteriorates. Cicero also states that as the friendship gets deeper, the benefit of it will grow, while benefit being the reason behind the friendship will shrink. It is because of this deepening of friendship that Cicero states one should be willing to go far for a friend, but never do anything that would damage their friends or their own character in the process. This leads to the ultimate test of friendship, which Cicero states is the willingness to do what is best for the friend, even if it will cost you the friendship with that
Once again, he came to this conclusion by using probability as he looking at those around him and realized that most true friendships he saw were between morally good people. Cicero speaks a lot about friendship, but points out that friendship is one of the most valuable thing on the earth, as you want friendship in good times and in bad times. This is because with a true friendship, you are able to share everything with that other person, the good and the bad. Having another person to share everything with lightens the burden that you must carry. This is one of the many benefits of friendship, however, Cicero warns about basing a friendship off of benefit, as once that benefit is gone, the foundation the friendship was built on is gone so the friendship will deteriorates. Cicero also states that as the friendship gets deeper, the benefit of it will grow, while benefit being the reason behind the friendship will shrink. It is because of this deepening of friendship that Cicero states one should be willing to go far for a friend, but never do anything that would damage their friends or their own character in the process. This leads to the ultimate test of friendship, which Cicero states is the willingness to do what is best for the friend, even if it will cost you the friendship with that