Such Friendships are of course very liable to dissolution if the parties do not continue alike： I mean， that the others cease to have any Friendship for them when they are no longer pleasurable or useful. Now it is the nature of utility not to be permanent but constantly varying： so， of course， when the motive which made them friends is vanished， the Friendship likewise dissolves； since it existed only relatively to those circumstances.
That then is perfect Friendship which subsists between those who are good and whose similarity consists in their goodness： for these men wish one another' s good in similar ways； insofar as they are good (and good they are in themselves)； and those are specially friends who wish good to their friends for their sakes， because they feel thus toward them on their own account and not as a mere matter of result； so the Friendship between these men continues to subsist so long as they are good； and goodness， we know， has in it a principle of permanence.
Rare it is probable Friendships of this kind will be， because men of this kind are rare. Besides， all requisite qualifications being presupposed， there is further required time and intimacy： for， as the proverb says， men cannot know one another "till they have eaten the requisite quantity of salt together"； nor can they in fact admit one another to intimacy， much less be friends， till each has appeared to the other and been proved to be a fit object of Friendship. They who speedily commence an interchange of friendly actions may be said to wish to be friends， but they are not so unless they are also proper objects of Friendship and mutually known to be such： that is to say， a desire for Friendship may arise quickly but not Friendship itself.
古人將友誼視為最好的美德。友誼是幸福或生命旺盛的基本要素。亞裏士多德說：“因為沒有朋友，人不會選擇生存，即使他擁有其他所有的好東西。”在當今道德敗壞的世界，這些話值得我們去牢記。