A sure friend is known in unsure times.

[Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur.]

Ennius (239-169 BC) Roman poet, writer [Quintus Ennius]

Fragment, Scaenica 210 [Vahlen]

As quoted in Cicero, On Friendship [De Amicitia], ch. 17. sec. 64.

Alt. trans.:

• "In unsure fortune a sure friend is seen." [tr. Peabody (1884)]
• "When things get iffy, you find out who your true friends are." [tr. Ehrlich (1995)]
• "A sure friend is tried in doubtful matters." [Source]
• "A friend is never known until one have need." [Source]
• "A friend is never known 'till a man have need." [Source]
• "A true friend is discerned during an uncertain matter." [Source]
• "A certain friend is discerned in an uncertain time." [Source]