How to Be a Friend: An Ancient Guide to True Friendship
Written by Marcus Tullius Cicero and Philip Freeman
Narrated by Shaun Grindell
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Filled with timeless advice and insights, Cicero's heartfelt and moving classic-written in 44 BC and originally titled De Amicitia-has inspired readers for more than two thousand years, from St. Augustine and Dante to Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Presented here in a lively new translation and an inviting introduction, How to Be a Friend explores how to choose the right friends, how to avoid the pitfalls of friendship, and how to live with friends in good times and bad. Cicero also praises what he sees as the deepest kind of friendship-one in which two people find in each other "another self" or a kindred soul.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero wird 106 v. Chr. geboren. Seine Ausbildung in Rom umfaßt Recht, Literatur, Philosophie und Rhetorik, was ihm den Weg zu einer politischen Karriere ebnet. Nach kurzem Militärdienst geht er nach Griechenland und Kleinasien, um seine Studien fortzusetzen. Er kehrt 77 v. Chr. nach Rom zurück und beginnt eine politische Laufbahn. Der Durchbruch als Anwalt und Politiker in Rom gelingt ihm 70 v. Chr. im Prozeß gegen Verres. Während seiner Amtszeit als Konsul verhindert er 63 v. Chr. die Verschwörung des Catilina, muß jedoch auf Grund der herrschenden Machtverhältnisse 58 v. Chr. für kurze Zeit ins Exil gehen. Phasen politischer Abwesenheit nutzt Cicero zur Vertiefung seiner Studien und zur literarischen Produktion. In den folgenden Jahren entstehen die rechtsphilosophischen Hauptwerke wie Vom Gemeinwesen und Von den Gesetzen. Im Jahr 50 v. Chr. kehrt er nach Rom zurück und schließt sich nach Beendigung des Bürgerkrieges Caesar an. Die Akademischen Abhandlungen entstehen etwa vier Jahre später. Cicero kommt hier das Verdienst zu, die Übertragung großer Teile des griechischen philosophischen Vokabulars ins Lateinische geleistet und damit die Rezeption der griechischen Philosophie in Rom befördert zu haben. Die Frage nach der Gewißheit der Erkenntnis und der Unterschied zwischen der dogmatischen und der skeptischen Akademie auf dem Gebiet der Erkenntnistheorie steht im Mittelpunkt des Dialoges Lucullus. Cicero wird Opfer der in den politischen Unruhen des zweiten Triumvirats beschlossenen Proskritptionen. Er wird im Dezember 43 v. Chr. auf der Flucht ermordet.
More audiobooks from Marcus Tullius Cicero
How to Grow Old: Ancient Wisdom for the Second Half of Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selections from the Writings of Cicero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Think About God: An Ancient Guide for Believers and Nonbelievers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Grieve: An Ancient Guide to the Lost Art of Consolation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related authors
Related to How to Be a Friend
Related audiobooks
How to Have a Life: An Ancient Guide to Using Our Time Wisely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plato's Republic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Republic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Moral Letters, Vol. I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tusculan Disputations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Be Content: An Ancient Poet's Guide for an Age of Excess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Keep an Open Mind: An Ancient Guide to Thinking Like a Skeptic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Give: An Ancient Guide to Giving and Receiving Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be a Leader: An Ancient Guide to Wise Leadership Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Tell a Joke: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Humor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Keep Your Cool: An Ancient Guide to Anger Management Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Enchiridion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Happy Life - The Complete Dialogues Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life of Cato the Younger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On the Shortness of Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essays 10: On the Shortness of Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Meditations Of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essays 7: Of a Happy Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Encheiridion and Discourses Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Essays 2: On the Firmness of the Wise Man Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lectures & Fragments Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essays Book 9: Of Tranquillity of Mind Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Life Handbook: Epictetus' Stoic Classic Enchiridion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Consolation of Philosophy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essays 1: Of Providence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essays 8: Of Leisure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Essays 6: Of Consolation to Marcia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
General Fiction For You
A Court of Thorns and Roses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Court of Mist and Fury Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Court of Frost and Starlight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Ends with Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Court of Wings and Ruin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hunger Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Gods [TV Tie-In]: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens: A Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/511/22/63: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Their Eyes Were Watching God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Return of the King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for How to Be a Friend
77 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5livro incrível! me fez pensar nas minhas amizades, principalmente para me tornar alguém melhor!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great instructions for good friendship. Very nice learn more about.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely absolutely absolutely beautiful fkn book. Whoever gives this less than 5 stars, I pity that fool.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cicero's dialogue on friendship demonstrates his approach to philosophy, drawing on the work of the Greeks that preceded him, especially Plato and Aristotle. While set in the Rome of his day, he harkens back to those thinkers who defined such concepts as virtue and the Good. A notable example being Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.Cicero states that "the very essence of friendship" is "a common set of beliefs, aspirations, and opinions." (p 31). He further states that friendship is only possible between those who "act and live so that their lives give proof of faithfulness, integrity, fairness, and generosity; and who are free from any low passion, greed, or violence; and are of great strength of character," (p 37). Most important for true friendship, however, is virtue and "virtue, too, loves itself," (p 165); in conclusion he states, "I say it is virtue that creates and preserves friendships. Virtue is the source of compatibility, stability, and permanence." (p 169)Cicero's stance would seem to be one that in most respects is consistent with some modern views as it prominently does not depend on "service above self", but is consistent with integrity and treating others with respect while acting virtuously. This translation by Philip Freeman is felicitous in making Cicero's beautiful Latin prose read as fluently in contemporary English. The result is a demonstration that we can still learn from the classical thinkers of Rome and Greece.