--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That friendship may be at once fond and…" description: "\"That friendship may be at once fond and lasting, there must not only be equal virtue on each part, but virtue of the same kind; not only the same end m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/samuel-johnson-50_approved_that-friendship-may-be-at-once-fond-and_3145900.png" --- # That friendship may be at once fond and lasting, there… ![“That friendship may be at once fond and lasting, there must not only be equal virtue on each part, but virtue of the same kind; not only the same end must be proposed, but the same means must be approved by both.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/samuel-johnson-50_approved_that-friendship-may-be-at-once-fond-and_3145900.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/samuel-johnson-50_approved_that-friendship-may-be-at-once-fond-and_3145900.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/samuel-johnson-50_approved_that-friendship-may-be-at-once-fond-and_3145900.png) > “That friendship may be at once fond and lasting, there must not only be equal virtue on each part, but virtue of the same kind; not only the same end must be proposed, but the same means must be approved by both.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Friendship requires shared virtue, common goals, and mutually agreed methods to be lasting and sincere. **In simple terms:** Friendship needs shared values and goals. Key Takeaway Cultivate mutual virtue. Themes friendship ethics collaboration Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - team projects - marriage - long‑term partnerships Key Concepts virtue ethics social contract Questions to Reflect On - What values are essential in your friendships? - How do you resolve conflicting means? A Different Perspective Differences can erode trust over time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Lasting friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasting-friendship/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Religion is for the man in humble life, and to raise his nature, and to put him in mind of a state in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/religion-is-for-the-man-in-humble-life-and-to-raise-his-nature-and-to/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Be to their virtue very kind; be to their faults a little blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-prior/be-to-their-virtue-very-kind-be-to-their-faults-a-little-blind/) [Matthew Prior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-prior/) > [“Plato rightly taught that virtue is one. You cannot be kind unless you have all the other virtues. If, being cowardly, conceited, and slothful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/plato-rightly-taught-that-virtue-is-one-you-cannot-be-kind-unless-you/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [Virtue is a kind of health, beauty and good habit of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/virtue-is-a-kind-of-health-beauty-and-good-habit-of-the-soul/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [I think being tortured as a virtue is a kind of antiquated sense of what it is to be an artist. It comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-think-being-tortured-as-a-virtue-is-a-kind-of-antiquated-sense-of/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Friendship is seldom lasting but between equals, or where the superiority on one side is reduced by some equivalent advantage on the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/friendship-is-seldom-lasting-but-between-equals-or-where-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [There is ... scarcely any species of writing of which we can tell what is its essence, and what are its constituents; every new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/there-is-scarcely-any-species-of-writing-of-which-we-can-tell-what-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [When we see a special reformer we feel like asking him, What right have you, sir, to your own virtue? Is virtue piecemeal?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/when-we-see-a-special-reformer-we-feel-like-asking-him-what-right/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Any of us can achieve virtue, if by virtue we merely mean the avoidance of the vices that do not attract us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-staughton-lynd/any-of-us-can-achieve-virtue-if-by-virtue-we-merely-mean-the/) [Robert Staughton Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-staughton-lynd/) > [O let us still the secret joy partake, To follow virtue even for virtue's sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/o-let-us-still-the-secret-joy-partake-to-follow-virtue-even-for/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [The only reward of virtue is virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-only-reward-of-virtue-is-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Virtue could see to do what virtue would By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/virtue-could-see-to-do-what-virtue-would-by-her-own-radiant-light/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Happiness is not the reward of virtue, but is virtue itself; nor do we delight in happiness because we restrain from our lusts; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-not-the-reward-of-virtue-but-is-virtue-itself-nor-do-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Virtue is virtue only when it is spontaneous; virtue is virtue only when it is natural, unpractised - when it comes out of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/virtue-is-virtue-only-when-it-is-spontaneous-virtue-is-virtue-only/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Which is more misshapen,--religion without virtue, or virtue without religion?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/which-is-more-misshapen-religion-without-virtue-or-virtue-without/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. 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When I brought her home to meet my parents, they approved of her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/i-should-have-known-something-was-wrong-with-my-first-wife-when-i/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [You wouldn't want to live a life in which you are loved or approved by all people on Earth or even within your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/you-wouldn-t-want-to-live-a-life-in-which-you-are-loved-or-approved/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [That which concerns everyone must also be discussed and approved by everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-verhofstadt/that-which-concerns-everyone-must-also-be-discussed-and-approved-by/) [Guy Verhofstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-verhofstadt/) > [ You have not been mistaken in supposing my views and feeling to be in favor of the abolition of war. 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