Pagina 471 di 734

Further; just as in respect of the different virtues some men are

termed good in respect of a certain inward state, others in

respect of acts of working, so is it in respect of Friendship: I

mean, they who live together take pleasure in, and impart good

to, one another: but they who are asleep or are locally separated

do not perform acts, but only are in such a state as to act in a

friendly way if they acted at all: distance has in itself no

direct effect upon Friendship, but only prevents the acting it

out: yet, if the absence be protracted, it is thought to cause a

forgetfulness even of the Friendship: and hence it has been said,

"many and many a Friendship doth want of intercourse destroy."