Some Thoughts on Friendship

"What is a friend?
A single soul in two bodies."
Aristotle

Friends are the family you choose for yourself, and in my friends I have been very lucky. I have some very good friends, both in real life and in cyber-space. A friend is the person that you think of when your happy, and you think of when you are sad. They are always with you. I began to think about what friendship meant when a good friend sent me a book with a passage describing friendship. With a little research I have found so many other wonderful words that together come part way to explaining what friendship means to me. During the search I found a varied site that I think deserves a link of it's own - Friendship Poems - I make no apologies for some of the emotions there, they are what friends are all about.

This rather surreal picture is a good illustration of the true
meaning of friendship - two people as one.

I was introduced to this piece by a friend - Steve in Florida - we may have now passed on like ships in the night, but I thank you my friend for the pleasure these words have given me.

Kahlil Gibran
The Prophet, 1923

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

I found these words on the Internet and thought that they describe what a friend is all about. I was surprised by the ending, but on reflection (no pun intended) I realised that the words are still apt because a good friend can be the mirror of your own soul.

The Perfect Friend
Shannen Wrass

Today I found a friend
who knew everything I felt
she knew my weakness
and the problems I've been dealt.
She understood my wonders
and listened to my dreams,
she listened to how I felt about life and love
and knew what it all means.
Not once did she interrupt me
or tell me I was wrong
she understood what I was going through
and promised she'd stay long.
I reached out to this friend,
to show her that I care
to pull her close and let her know
how much I need her there.
I went to hold her hand
to pull her a bit nearer
and I realized this perfect friend I found
was nothing but a mirror

This one from the Internet is anonymous, but I feel that it does ably sum up friendship

In a friendship
We're free to expose,
Parts of ourselves
Nobody else knows.
But the thing that sustains it
And sets it apart,
Is not something spoken
It's a bond of the heart.
True friends are rare
In a lifetime two or three,
I'm so glad it happened
Between you and me!

Kate Tierney

"Friends. A simple word isn't it? It's uttered everyday to almost every person imaginable. Who are your friends? I used to think that friends were the people that you could laugh and talk to. Now I know that friends aren't that, they're the people that touch ur heart. You could spend hours with them doing nothing at all and it can be the best time of your life, just because it was with them. They're the people you can share your secrets with, cry with, laugh with, and just have fun with. They don't judge you or make you change. They accept you exactly as you are. They look at you and they see a great person, one they love spending time with. You all share something in common and are tied together by memories, tears, laughs and smiles. You're tied together by love for the other. Friendship is the strangest but greatest thing in the world. I find my time with my friends, the best times of my life. My friends are my heart, my soul, my fun, my laughter, tears, love and my life."

Here are a few short quotations, also taken from the net:

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."
G. Randolf

"True friends are the people that are there for you unconditionally. They are the people that never question you and support you no matter what the circumstances are. They are the people worth living for."

"Never explain yourself. Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it."
Belgicia Howell

“A real friend is someone who you can sit in complete silence with and still walk away feeling like you just had the best conversation of your life.”

“True friendship is when two friends can walk in opposite directions, yet remain side by side.”

“Side by side or miles apart, dear friends are always close to the heart.”

"We will be friends until forever, just you wait see."
Pooh Bear

"My friend, if I could give you one thing, I would wish for you the ability to see yourself as others see you. Then you would realize what a truly special person you are."

"A friend is someone who can see the truth and pain in you even when you are fooling everyone else."

"A friend is one who knows all about you and likes you anyway."
Christi Mary Warner

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."
Walter Winchell

"A true friend is someone who is there for you when they would rather be someplace else."
Len Wein

"The road to a friend's house is never long."
Danish proverb

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."
Muhammad Ali