Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1848 edition. Excerpt: ... to appeal to you as a connoisseur. Answer me this. As soon as one man loves another, which of the two becomes the friend? the lover of the loved, or the loved of the lover? Or does it make no difference? None in the world, that I can see, he replied. How? said I; are both friends, if only one loves? I think so, he answered. Indeed! is it not possible for one who loves, not to be loved in return by the object of his love? It is. Nay, is it not possible for him even to be hated? treatment, if I mistake not, which lovers frequently fancy they receive at the hands of their favourites. Though they love their darlings as dearly as possible, they often imagine that they are not loved in return, often that they are even hated. Don't you believe this to be true? Quite true, he replied. Well, in such a case as this, the one loves, the other is loved. Just so. "Which of the two, then, is the friend of the other? the lover of the loved, whether or no he be loved in return, and even if he be hated, or the loved of the lover? or is neither the friend of the other, unless both love each other? The latter certainly seems to be the case, Socrates. If so, I continued, we think differently now from what we did before. Then it appeared that if one loved, both were friends; but now, that unless both love, neither are friends. Yes, I'm afraid we have contradicted ourselves. This being the case then, the lover is not a friend to anything that does not love him in return. Apparently not. People, then, are not friends to horses, unless their horses love them in return, nor friends to quails or to dogs, nor again, to wine or to gymnastics, unless their love be returned; nor friends to wisdom, unless wisdom loves them in return. But in each of these cases, the...