FRIENDSHIP

 

FRIENDSHIP

Friendship is a necessity. Its absence means intolerable loneliness. It is mostly defined as companionship , close relationship, mutual love, affection, attachment, harmony, understanding, fellowship, alliance, comradeship and cordial relationships.

You don’t hesitate to share with friends all your weaknesses and strengths. You rely on them more than any other person in your personal and social circle.

A friend is your second self. He doubles your strength and all other assets that you have. In illness, he is your private physician who accelerates your recovery.

Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) said: “In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge.---The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds. “

According to Joseph Addison, the English essayist and poet (1672-1719) : Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joy, and dividing our grief.

Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667) who was a cleric in the Church of England and received fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell had this to say: By friendship you mean the greatest love, the greatest usefulness, the most open communication, the noblest sufferings, the severest truth, the heartiest counsel, and the greatest union of minds of which brave men and women are capable.

There is also one warning about choosing friends: “Purchase not friends by gifts; when thou ceasest to give, such will cease to love.----Thomas Fuller , English divine (1608-61).

Finally, this short but most relevant quote: A fiend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.

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G.R.Kanwal

!2th October 2024