"Unless a man prefer truth to his friends"

"IT seems to be better, meaning more honorable and in agreement with good morals, and indeed obligatory, that a man should not hesitate to oppose his friends for the sake of truth. It is so necessary for good morals that without it virtue cannot be preserved. Unless a man prefer truth to his friends, it follows that he will make false judgment and bear false witness in their defense. This is contrary to virtue. While reason prescribes that all men should prefer truth to their friends, this holds in a special way for the philosophers whose calling is to study wisdom, which is knowledge of the truth."

~St. Thomas Aquinas: Commentary on Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, "I Ethics, lect. 6."

Aristotle: Works, by Girolamo Da Cremona. Manuscript, 1483 AD;
Manuscript (PML 21194, 2 volumes), The Morgan Library and Museum, New York.