Can someone explain the meaning of this quotation?
That friendship will not continue to the end which is begun for an end.
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5 Answers
In this case
... for an end
is used to mean "for a purpose". Another example of this use case is "to what end", or "means to an end".
Knowing this, the meaning of the quote is clear:
If you become friends with someone in order to get something (or any purpose other than friendship), that friendship will not last life-long (or as the quote says, "continue to the end").
That friendship will not continue to the end which is begun for an end.
It might be clearer to you if we rearrange this sentence into a more normal order:
That friendship which is begun for an end, will not continue to the end.
As others have said, "for an end" means "for a purpose (other than friendship)".
Quote is easier to follow when broken in parts:
That friendship will not continue to the end
Meaning - The friendship will not last.
which is begun for an end.
Meaning - If the friendship was started for other reasons/ulterior motives..
If a friendship that started out for other(not sincere) reasons then that friendship will not last till the end.
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1Please use block quoting (>) for English text, not
code-style quoting. Apr 18, 2014 at 1:31
A friendship for something(money, power, etc.) will not last long.
Friendship that is started for purpose will not last.
Meaning that friendship should have no purpose.
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1Not all purposes can be described by the term "end". A better explanation, IMO, is that (the purpose of) friendship should be the journey, not the destination. Apr 17, 2014 at 22:32