Friendship

11:32am Tuesday 3rd June 2008

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Bernard Meltzer once said "A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg though he knows that you are slightly cracked."

Seeing the goodness in other people has long been one of the most appealing and compassionate characteristics of mankind. Friendship has the ability to bind individuals together, whilst simultaneously allowing people to accept their differences. There is no pre-determined stencil, guideline or cut-out for a good friend'- perhaps it is our flaws, our imperfections and our capacity to change that draw us together as people.

Oscar Wilde once said "True friends stab you in the front."

There's little worse than the betrayal of a friend. Perhaps our biggest obstacle or hurdle in our quest to be a good friend is the dilemma of honesty. When is it honesty the best policy? When your best friend is just about to walk down the aisle, is it really appropriate to say anything other than you look beautiful'- even if she's wearing a meringue of a gown? It seems wrong to live by the mantra in all aspects of life. Honesty is the best policy' demands we apply the rule in a rigid fashion in all of life's circumstances. I prefer to live by lying when necessary'- and in friendship, as Blanche Dubois said, I never lie in my heart'.

Tennessee Williams once said "Life is partly what we make it, and partly what is made by the friends we choose."

The people around us have an incomprehensible effect on the quality of our lives. Having moved around quite a bit in my seventeen years of life, I am a strong believer in the saying the people make the place'. There's only so much character, charm and appeal a place can gain without (dare I say it) human intervention. I'd be lost without the people around me, the people who have been there at times of laughter and at times for tears, through hot summers and colder winters and through the times where you just needed someone there. Life's a party with an open invitation. Don't go uninvited.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said "He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either."

We could all closet ourselves away and avoid relationships and communication with each other- a simple hello, some phatic language from time to time and a little non-verbal communication would be enough to get us by. But would it really? There is no doubt in my mind that my friends have enhanced my life and as horrifically corny as it sounds, have helped me discover things about myself that I may not have realised had I not had them there. Friendship, like all aspects of life, is a risk, but the risk that we may get hurt or lose trust is far smaller than the risk of going through life and having nobody.

Orson Welles once said "We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."

Love was once defined as the soul's recognition of its counterpart in another', and I see no reason why friendship should not have a similar definition. Though we all go through life alone, we don't have to be lonely. There are times when you need someone by your side. We may brave the journey alone but there will always be other people there to help us fight the battles as well as share in the good times. Sometimes it's enough to have someone there.

"It's often just enough to be with someone. I don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone."- Marilyn Monroe.