The Life of Timon of Athens Friendship Quotes

Timon is generous—make that crazy generous—with his friends. We see in the very first scene how much importance he places on friendship (whatever this means to him). He wants to help his friends, and at this point, he really believes they would do the same for him.

Who needs money when you have real friends? Timon is so certain of his friendships with the men at his banquet that he says they don't need to go through the motions of friendship with one another. It's not going to be long before he finds out how completely and totally wrong he is about everything.

As Timon addresses his friends, it's pretty clear that he values them more than anything else (or at least he values the fact that they allow him to be the big man around town): he's sure the gods themselves have provided them. But what's more interesting to us is the way he defines friendship. Something tells us that by the end of the play, no one's going to "belong to his heart."

Hmm… if Flavius is worried about Timon's extravagant spending, why does he still focus on his master's friendships? Try this on for size: it's clear to Flavius that all of these moochers aren't really Timon's friend; they are just posers.

If only the bank would cash out "friends," as Timon suggests. The thing is, Timon is fooling himself: he's sure he has friends, and he's sure these friends will give him money. As he tries to convince Flavius of the riches he has in life (instead of in the bank), we can't help but feel a little sorry for the guy.

Here, Lucullus sums up what each one of Timon's friends has to say in response to his bid for money. Whereas Timon threw money around like there was no tomorrow just for the sake of friendship, Lucullus says that's unwise to give out money just for the sake of friendship... so he's not going to give it. In a way, he's right: Timon was unwise to give out all that money, but part of the problem is that he gave it to a bunch of nasty people who would never repay him. What would have happened if he had given it to his servants instead? Lucullus says that friendship and money shouldn't mix, and he gives us a little chill in the process. Even if Lucullus is right that they shouldn't mix, we know he's just using this as an excuse. He's only pretending to be principled; he had no trouble being on the receiving end of money.

Timon might start the scene by acting all buddy-buddy with these guys, but by the end of it, he's called them out on their fake friendship. He's super insulted and angry at how much he trusted them. Smoke and lukewarm water is pretty much all they are.

We'll leave it to Flavius to sum up Timon's downfall. It's no surprise that he blames Timon's friends for it all; it's a shame to think back to when Timon seemed to value his friends over his money. Now, he has neither.

One of the only genuine offers of friendship in the play comes from Alcibiades, after Timon has taken up in a cave in the woods. Before, all Timon valued were his friends; now, he is too skeptical and jaded to accept any kind of friend. What gives, Timon? Do you only want friendship on your own terms?

Irony alert. The Poet might be criticizing Timon's old pals for mooching off of him, but he's doing the exact same thing here. This time, Timon sees it coming, and he does not welcome any new friends (real or fake).