“I do then with my friends as I do with my books. I would have them where I can find them, but I seldom use them.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words cited here, reminds me of E. M. Forster who believed that we shall come to care about people less and less because the more people we know, the easier it will become to replace them. Think for a moment about the truth of this. Do we really treasure friendships the way it was, and the way it ought to be, or were Thoreau correct when he said that, to say a man is your friend, simply means that he is not your enemy?
Most people (and I see this on a daily basis) only contemplate that which would be the accidental and trifling advantages of friendships. By this I am implying that many so-called friends are only there as means to ends, there to assist you in times of need (by way of material support, influence and or counselling of some kind). Friendship is an important part of our social make-up, but unfortunately, due to the fact that it is nowadays so easy to make friends, it is no wonder that it is just as easy to dissolved friendships and then make new ones.
Some people even measure their own worth on the number of friends they can accumulate on social media sites. Aristotle said that my best friend is that person who, in wishing me well, wishes me well for my sake. Let us cherish those friendships which we can call “true”, and let us re-evaluate those which fall within Thoreau’s classification.
We accumulate friends like we do possessions,
but when in need we learn who are true friends indeed,
unfortunately, we still haven't learned our lessons
that many friendships spring forth from the wrong seed.
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