ADVICE ABOUT FRIENDS

                                         ADVICE ABOUT FRIENDS

We often hear that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics, which means that adversity makes strange bedfellows. I am not going to dwell on this subject in this short write up. However, it is pertinent to quote the words of an American Clergy Minot Judson Savage (1841-1918). He said: “You’ll find the friendship of the world mere outward show! ---‘Tis like the harlot’s tears, the statesman’s promise, or the false patriot’s zeal, full of fair seeming, but delusion all,.”

             I have, however, found the best piece of advice in a poem written by English composer Joseph Parry (1841-1903).  He was educated at Royal Academy of Music, University of Cambridge and is genuinely famous for a number of heart-warming songs and poems which will never become obsolete.  The one given below is full of perennial wisdom on the subject of friends, old and new.

                        MAKE NEW FRINDS, BUT KEEP THE OLD

“Make   new friends, but keep the old;

Those are silver, these are gold.

New-made friendships, like new wine,

Age will mellow and refine.

Friendships that have stood the test---

Time and change --- are surely best;

Brow may winkle, hair grow gray,

Friendship never knows decay.

For ‘mid old friends, tried and true,

Once more we our youth renew.

But old friends, alas! May die,

New friends must their place supply.

Cherish friendship in your breast----

New is good, but old is best;

Make new friends, but keep the old;

Those are silver, these are gold.”

  3^rd December 2019                                      G. R. KANWAL