On Friendship

And a youth said, Speak to us of

Friendship.

And he answered, saying:

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.