Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other… — Aristotle · Smartyfair

Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.

Aristotle384–322 BC · philosopher · Ancient GreeceAristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher who studied nearly everything — biology, physics, poetry, and politics — and organized knowledge in ways that shaped science for centuries.6 quotes

Source foundFriendshipAncient

In plain words

Nobody would want a life with everything in it except friends.

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Where these words come from

How sure this is: 88% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII.1 (Bekker 1155a5), W.D. Ross translation, 1908 (public domain, MIT Classics Archive).
Work: Nicomachean Ethics
Occasion: c. 340 BCE · Athens · lecture notes on friendship, delivered at the Lyceum
Sources checked: classics.mit.eduChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 21 August 2026MIT Classics Archive, confirms wording (leading 'For' dropped)

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More on friendship

It takes a village to raise a child.African proverb The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, 'What? You too? I thought I was the only one.'

C.S. Lewis My friends are my 'estate.' Forgive me then the avarice to hoard them.

Emily Dickinson The only way to have a friend is to be one.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?

Confucius The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.

Abraham Lincoln