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And what if I also add, as I may fairly do, that
nothing so allures and attracts anything to itself as
likeness does to friendship? Then it surely will be
granted as a fact that good men love and join to
themselves other good men, in a union which is almost
that of relationship and nature. For there is nothing
more eager or more greedy than nature for what is
like itself. Wherefore, because of this very fact,
I think it should be evident, Fannius and Scaevola,
that the good have for the good, as if from necessity,
a kindly feeling which nature has made the fountain
of friendship. But this same goodness belongs also
to the generality of men. For virtue is not unfeeling,
unwilling to serve, or proudly exclusive, but it is her
wont to protect even whole nations and to plan
the best measures for their welfare, which she
[p. 163]
certainly would not do if she disdained the affection
of the common mass.