On Friendship
And when people are friends there is no need of justice, but when they are just there is still need of friendship, and among things that are just, what inclines toward friendship seems to be most just of all. And friendship is not only necessary but also beautiful....But the complete sort of friendship is that between people who are good and are alike in virtue, since they wish for good things for one another in the same way insofar as they are good. And each of them is good simply and good for his friend. And it is reasonable that such friendship is lasting, for all those things that ought to belong to friends are joined together in it.
Nicomachean Ethics, VIII
Aristotle
Aristotle
It was, I think, both an unexpected and long-expected party that assembled in Apt. 3 of 164 Green St. Long expected, of course, for we all knew that it really had been far too long since we were all talking in the same room. But also unexpected, perhaps in a similar kind of wonder that slowly overtook a younger Bilbo Baggins one evening as dish piled onto dish, and cups were filled again and again, and the conversation was its own music. For it was genuinely good to see one another. All together. In one place.
But I do not mean the word good in any idle sense. The word beautiful in the quotation above translates the Greek kalon. This same word occurs in a prominent place in the Septuagint: "And God said it was good." I presume the Seventy made their choice for a reason. The word has history. It has resonance. In English, perhaps the closest thing we have that can encompass such a range of meanings is the word fine. Without much trouble it carries both the moral and visual sense, as in a fine lady who is both noble and beautiful. She is, in essence, good. Both good for herself, and good for her people.
In Aristotelian terms, she is in an active condition which is complete at every moment, but allows and even demands further growth. For Aristotle, a sapling with a few leaves is not strictly a tree. It is a potential tree. It is important to remember that for Aristotle, things are measured at their height. Or, said more carefully, the essence of their being is in their being-at-work while all the time staying-themselves.
It is in this sense that I use the word. For it has been very good to be your friend. And perhaps, by now, that should no longer surprise me. But it does. Your friendship is deeply imprinted on my soul. There is some deep magic in it. And it was good to taste it again.
But I do not mean the word good in any idle sense. The word beautiful in the quotation above translates the Greek kalon. This same word occurs in a prominent place in the Septuagint: "And God said it was good." I presume the Seventy made their choice for a reason. The word has history. It has resonance. In English, perhaps the closest thing we have that can encompass such a range of meanings is the word fine. Without much trouble it carries both the moral and visual sense, as in a fine lady who is both noble and beautiful. She is, in essence, good. Both good for herself, and good for her people.
In Aristotelian terms, she is in an active condition which is complete at every moment, but allows and even demands further growth. For Aristotle, a sapling with a few leaves is not strictly a tree. It is a potential tree. It is important to remember that for Aristotle, things are measured at their height. Or, said more carefully, the essence of their being is in their being-at-work while all the time staying-themselves.
It is in this sense that I use the word. For it has been very good to be your friend. And perhaps, by now, that should no longer surprise me. But it does. Your friendship is deeply imprinted on my soul. There is some deep magic in it. And it was good to taste it again.
