- In life, friendship is one of the most sacred things without which our life will become meaningless. In order to have a long friendship, we must be necessarily, respectful to each other. However, not any friendship is beneficial. It is clear that our success or failure in life depends partly on the kind of people we make friends with. Therefore, we should be very careful in choosing friends. What makes a good friend? To me, there are three basic qualities which lay the firm foundation of friendship: helpfulness, trust, and loyalty.
- Good friends are those who know how to help each other when they get into trouble. A friend in need is a friend indeed, so runs an English saying. A person who places his own material interests, values his own comforts above everything else, and is indifferent to other’s pains or difficulties can never make a good friend. We must be ready to offer help when our friends need it. Also, we do not care what kind of help we offer no matter how it is money or time. Mutual help is, therefore, a special feature among people who are friends, without which never can our friendship exist or last.
- Talking about true friendship, we cannot fail to mention the faithfulness among friends. It is really to see that when two friends understand and trust each other, they can share each other’s joys, sorrows, and secrets that they keep from others. In life, there are some cases in which friend can become closer to each other than their brothers or sisters. It is what has been above-mentioned that cement one’s friendship. Those who lie or cheat for personal gain will never have a lasting friendship. Being friends, we had better be sincere and righteous, and seldom does there exist cowardness in friendship. It is essential that a man have at least a congenial companion in his life. Let’s imagine how sad he can feel if he has no confidant in this world.
- An equally important factor is loyalty, which cannot lack to remain a good friendship. Loyalty can be found in those standing by their friends to share difficulties they have. A person who deserts his friend when he gets into trouble is an example of a bad or disloyal one.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
- What do you want most in a friend?
- Some who is intelligent
- Someone who has a sense of humor
- Someone who is reliable
- Which one of these characteristics is most important to you?
- Which of the following do you expect from a friend?
- Help
- Emotional shelter
- Companion
- Advice
- Financial support
- Mutual understanding
- What is the condition of true friendship?
- Unselfish love
- Constancy
- Mutual sympathy
- Loyalty
- Mutual confidence
- Sacrifice
- No friendship can last long if all give on one side and all take on the other side. Your comment.
- Do you think that changeable and uncertain people may find it hard to make friend with others?
- “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you what you are. What’s your opinion? Or how far do you understand the saying, “A man is known by the company he keeps”?
- Birds of a feather flock together, that is, we naturally seek the company of those whose tastes are the same as our own. Is it right?
- Why is it said that we are rich thanks to our friends, and we are noble owing to our wives? Your point of view?
- Classmates are more important influence than parents on a child’s success in school. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. And, have you ever thought who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl? (Or, he that lives down with dogs must rise up with fleas.)