Commentary

This saying, which appears in later anthologies of the sages, defines friendship in terms of likeness of character and mutual goodwill, a view widely shared in Greek ethical writing. The definition anticipates the Aristotelian classification of friendships by virtue, and its attribution to Thales places it within the early tradition of moral reflection. A. A. Long observes that the sages' sayings on friendship served as elementary lessons in ethics, and that this one follows that pattern. G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield note that the saying is not attested in the early sources and should be treated as a traditional attribution. Charles Kahn suggests that the Milesian communities, with their commercial and civic ties, may have fostered such reflections. Jonathan Barnes cautions that the Aristotelian vocabulary may have been projected back onto earlier sages. The English is approximate, and the attribution should be labelled as traditional.