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The Meaning of Friendship

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

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Defining friendship, the significance of friendship, the evolution of friendship, cultivating and nurturing friendships, the role of friendship in society.

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Essay on Friendship

List of essays on friendship, essay on friendship – short essay for kids (essay 1 – 150 words), essay on friendship – 10 lines on friendship written in english (essay 2 – 250 words), essay on friendship – for school students (class 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) (essay 3 – 300 words), essay on friendship – for students (essay 4 – 400 words), essay on friendship (essay 5 – 500 words), essay on friendship – introduction, benefits and qualities (essay 6 – 600 words), essay on friendship – essay on true friendship (essay 7 – 750 words), essay on friendship – importance, types, examples and conclusion (essay 8 – 1000 words).

Friendship is a divine relationship, which is defined by neither blood nor any other similarity. Who is in this world does not have a friend?

A friend, with whom you just love to spend your time, can share your joys and sorrows. Most importantly you need not fake yourself and just be what you are. That is what friendship is all about. It is one of the most beautiful of the relations in the world. Students of today need to understand the values of friendship and therefore we have composed different long essays for students as well as short essays.

Audience: The below given essays are exclusively written for school students (Class 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 Standard).

Introduction:

Friendship is considered as one of the treasures that anyone can possess. God has given us the liberty to choose friends because they are for our lifetime. It is quite normal for our parents and siblings to love us because they are our own blood but a friend is someone who is initially a stranger and then takes his/her place above all the other relations. Friendship is nothing but pure love without any expectations.

Role of a Friend:

True friends share and support each other even during the toughest of times. A true friend is one who feels happy for our success, who feel sad for our failures, fight with us for silly things and hugs us the next second, gets angry on us when we do any mistakes. Friendship is all about having true friends who can understand us without the need for us to speak.

Conclusion:

Friendship is very essential for a happy life. Even a two-minute chat with a friend will make us forget our worries. That is the strength of friendship.

Friendship is a divine relationship, which is defined by neither blood nor any other similarity. Friends are those you can choose for yourself in spite of the difference you both have from each other. A good friend in need will do wonders in your life, whenever you are in need of self-realization, upbringing your confidence and more.

Friendship serves you best not only in your happiest moments but also when you feel low in emotions. A life without a good friend is not at all complete and an emptiness will be felt all the time you think of sharing your emotion that can’t be told to anyone else.

Honesty and Patience in Friendship:

To maintain and keep going with a good deep friendship, honesty is the most important factor. You should choose a person who can be cent percent honest with you in all perspective like emotions, decision making, etc. Trustworthy friendship will help you to take better decisions and choose a better path for your future well-being.

Tolerance and patience with each other are another important characteristics of long-lasting friendship. Accepting the differences, friends should be able to be with each other in all situations. As a friend, the person should lead the other to success by being a motivation and criticize the person if they choose the wrong path.

Friendship will give you sweet and happy memories that can be cherished for a lifetime and if you succeed in maintaining that precious relation, then you are the luckiest person in this world. Love and care for each other will cherish the relationship and helps the person to appreciate each thing done without any fail.

Of all the different relations which we indulge in, friendship is considered to be the purest of them all. Friendship is the true confluence of souls with like minded attitude that aids in seamless conversation and the best of times. It is believed that a person who doesn’t have any friend lives one of the toughest lives.

The Desire to Belong:

Each one of us have been so programmed that we need a companion even if it’s not romantic, someone just to tag along. There are several definitions of friendship and it is upon you as to how you believe your relation to be. Friendship can happen when you are simply sharing a bowl of food with a person day after day. It can be expressed in the way you silently care for someone even when they may not be aware of your existence.

The Little Moments that Matter:

It is giving up the little things you love dearly for the sake of someone you cherish a great deal. Friendship often refers to the little moments of senseless laugh you two share when the rest of the world starts to look bleak. It is to know what your friend needs and being there for them even when the rest of the world has turned their back towards them.

Friendship is the kind of relation which sometimes even exceeds the realms of love because it is all about giving without even once bothering to sense what you shall get back. Every time spent is special because when you are with friends, you don’t feel the blues!

The Bottom-Line:

Of course the definition of friendship is going to vary a great deal from one person to another. But, remember one thing, when you are friends with someone, be prepared to put your heart on the line for their happiness because friendship often manifests into love, even if it is not romantic, it always is true!

Friendship is the most valuable as well as precious gifts of life. Friendship is one of the most valued relationship. People who have good friends enjoy the most in their live. True friendship is based on loyalty & support. A good friend is a person who will stand with you when times are tough. A friend is someone special on whom you can rely on to celebrate a special moment. Friendship is like a life asset and it can lead us to success. It all depends on our choice how we choose our friends.

The quality of friendship is essential for happiness. The benefits of healthy friendship remains long-life. In addition, having a strong friend circle also improves our self-confidence. Due to the strong relationship, we get much emotional support during our bad times. True friendship is a feeling of love & care.

Real friendship cannot be built within limited boundaries like caste or creed. It gives us a feeling that someone really needs us & we are not alone. This is true that man cannot live alone. True friends are needed in every stage of life to survive. A true friend can be an old person or a child. But it is generally believed that we make friend with people who are of the same age as ours. Same age group can give you the freedom to share anything.

The selection of a true friend is also a challenging task. We have to carefully make our friend selection. Friends might come & go. They will make you laugh & cry. Wrong selection can create various problems for you. In the modern world, many youngsters become a social nuisance. The reason behind it is wrong & bad friendships.

But if we successfully choose the right person as a friend then our life becomes easier. It doesn’t matter who you are, what type of clothes you wear. The most important thing is trust because the relation of friendship stands on the pillars of trust.

Friendship is a relation which can make or break us in every stage of life. But in other words, friendship is an asset which is really precious. Obviously, it is also not so easy to maintain friendships. It demands your time as well as efforts. Last but not the least, it is hard to find true friendship but once you succeed in this task you will have a wonderful time. In exchange for that a friend will only need your valuable time and trust.

The idea of friendship is either heartwarming or gives cold feet depending on individuals and the types of friendships. In the current world, friendships have had different definitions based on the morality and civilization of the society. Ideally, friendship is defined as the state of mutual trust between individuals or parties. Trust is an important component of friendship because it determines the reliability and longevity of the friendship. Trust is built through honest communications between the individuals and interested parties.

Once trust has been established, mutual understanding and support being to form the resulting in a friendship. This friendship can be broken through lack of trust. Trust can be breached through deceit and/ or some people, it differs with the frequencies. There are people who will break friendships after only one episode of dishonesty whereas some people give second chances and even more chances. Friendship types determine the longevity and the causes of breakups. The importance of friendship in the lives of individuals is the reason why friendships are formed in the first place.

Types of Friendships:

According to Aristotle’s Nichomachean ethics, there are three types of friendships. The friendships are based on three factors i.e. utility, pleasure and goodness. The first type of friendship is based on utility and has been described as a friendship whereby both parties gain from each other.

This type of friendship is dependent on the benefits and that is what keeps the friendship going. This type of friendships do not last long because it dissolves as soon as the benefits are outsourced or when other sources are found outside the friendship. The friendship was invented for trade purposes because when two people with opposite things that depend on each other re put together, trade is maximized.

The second type of friendship is based on pleasure. This is described as friendship in which two individuals are drawn to each other based on desires of pleasure and is characterized by passionate feelings and feelings of belonging. This type of friendship can ether last long or is short-lived depending on the presence of the attraction between the two parties.

The third type of friendship is based on goodness. In this friendship, the goodness of people draw them to each other and they usually have the same virtues. The friendship involves loving each other and expecting goodness. It takes long to develop this kind of friendship but it usually lasts longest and is actually the best kind of friendship to be in. the importance of such a friendship is the social support and love.

In conclusion, friendships are important in the lives of individuals. Trust builds and sustains friendships. The different types of friendships are important because they provide benefits and social support. Friendships provide a feeling of belonging and dependence. The durability of friendships is dependent on the basis of its formation and the intention during the formation. Friendships that last long are not based on materialistic gain, instead, they are based on pure emotion.

Friendship is an emotion of care, mutual trust, and fondness among two persons. A friend might be a work-mate, buddy, fellow student or any individual with whom we feel an attachment.

In friendship, people have a mutual exchange of sentiments and faith too. Usually, the friendship nurtures more amongst those people who belong to a similar age as they possess the same passions, interests, sentiments, and opinions. During the school days, kids who belong to the similar age group have a common dream about their future and this makes them all of them get closer in friendship.

In the same way, employees working in business organizations also make friends as they are working together for attaining the organizational objectives. It does not matter that to which age group you belong, friendship can happen at any time of your life.

Benefits of Friendship:

Sometimes friendship is essential in our life. Below are a few benefits of friendship.

1. It’s impossible to live your life alone always but friendship fills that gap quickly with the friend’s company.

2. You can easily pass the rigidities of life with the friendship as in your distress period your friends are always there to help you.

3. Friendship teaches you how to remain happy in life.

4. In case of any confusion or problem, your friendship will always benefit you with good opinions.

True and Dishonest Friendship:

True friendship is very rare in today’s times. There are so many persons who support only those people who are in power so that they can fulfil their selfish motives below the name of friendship. They stay with friends till the time their selfish requirements are achieved. Dishonest friends leave people as soon as their power gets vanished. You can find these types of self-seeking friends all around the world who are quite hurtful than enemies.

Finding a true friendship is very difficult. A true friend helps the other friend who is in need. It does not matter to him that his friend is right or wrong but he will always support his friend at the time of his difficulty.

Carefulness in the Selection of Friendship:

You must be very careful while choosing friends. You should nurture your friendship with that person who does not leave you in your bad times easily. Once you get emotionally attached to the wrong person you cannot finish your friendship so soon. True friendship continues till the time of your last breaths and does not change with the passing time.

Friendship with a bad person also affects your own thoughts and habits. Therefore, a bad person should not be chosen in any type of circumstances. We must do friendship with full attention and carefulness.

Best Qualities of Good Friendship:

Good friendship provides people an enormous love to each other.

The below are the important qualities of good friendship:

1. Good friendship is always faithful, honest, and truthful.

2. People pay attention and take note of others thoughts in good friendship.

3. Persons quickly forget and let off the mistakes of the other friend. In fact, they accept their friend in the way they are actually.

4. You are not judged on the basis of your success, money or power in it.

5. Friends do not feel shy to provide us with valuable opinions for our welfare.

6. People always share their joyful times with their good friends and also stay ready to help their friends in the time of need.

7. True friends also support others in their professional as well as personal life. They encourage their friends in the area of their interest.

Friendship is established over the sacrifice, love, faith, and concern of mutual benefit. True Friendship is a support and a blessing for everybody. All those males and females who have true and genuine friends are very lucky really.

Friendship can simply be defined as a form of mutual relationship or understanding between two people or more who interact and are attached to one another in a manner that is friendly. A friendship is a serious relationship of devotion between two or more people where people involved have a true and sincere feeling of affection, care and love towards each other devoid of any misunderstanding and without demands.

Primarily friendship happens between people that have the same sentiments, feelings and tastes. It is believed that there is no limit or criteria for friendship. All of the different creed, religion, caste, position, sex and age do not matter when it comes to friendship even though friendships can sometimes be damaged by economic disparity and other forms of differentiation. From all of these, it can be concluded that real and true friendship is very possible between people that have a uniform status and are like-minded.

A lot of friends we have in the world today only remain together in times of prosperity and absence of problems but only the faithful, sincere and true friends remain all through the troubles, times of hardships and our bad times. We only discover who our bad and good friends are in the times where we don’t have things going our way.

Most people want to be friends with people with money and we can’t really know if our friends are true when we have money and do not need their help, we only discover our true friends when we need their help in terms of money or any other form of support. A lot of friendships have been jeopardised because of money and the absence or presence of it.

Sometimes, we might face difficulty or crises in our friendships because of self-respect and ego. Friendships can be affected by us or others and we need to try to strike a balance in our friendships. For our friendship to prosper and be true, we need satisfaction, proper understanding and a trustworthy nature. As true friends, we should never exploit our friends but instead do our utmost best to motivate and support them in doing and attaining the very best things in life.

The true meaning of friendship is sometimes lost because of encounters with fake friends who have used and exploited us for their own personal benefits. People like this tend to end the friendship once they get what they want or stab their supposed friends in the back just to get what they think is best for them. Friendship is a very good thing that can help meet our need for companionship and other emotional needs.

In the world we live in today, it is extremely difficult to come across good and loyal friends and this daunting task isn’t made any easier by the lie and deceit of a lot of people in this generation. So, when one finds a very good and loyal important, it is like finding gold and one should do everything to keep friends like that.

The pursuit of true friendship Is not limited to humans, we can as well find good friends in animals; for example, it is a popular belief that dogs make the best friends. It is very important to have good friends as they help us in times and situations where we are down and facing difficulties. Our true friends always do their best to save us when we are in danger and also provide us with timely and good advice. True friends are priceless assets in our lives, they share our pains and sorrow, help provide relief to us in terrible situations and do their best to make us happy.

Friends can both be the good or the bad types. Good friends help push us on the right path in life while on the other hand, bad friends don’t care about us but only care about themselves and can lead us into the wrong path; because of this, we have to be absolutely careful when choosing our friends in this life.

Bad friends can ruin our lives completely so we have to be weary of them and do our best to avoid bag friends totally. We need friends in our life that will be there for us at every point in time and will share all of our feeling with us, both the good and bad. We need friends we can talk to anytime we are feeling lonely, friends that will make us laugh and smile anytime we are feeling sad.

What is friendship? It is the purest form of relationship between two individual with no hidden agenda. As per the dictionary, it is the mutual affection between people. But, is it just a mutual affection? Not always, as in the case of best friends, it is far beyond that. Great friends share each other’s feelings or notions which bring a feeling of prosperity and mental fulfillment.

A friend is a person whom one can know deeply, as and trust for eternity. Rather than having some likeness in the idea of two people associated with the friendship, they have some extraordinary qualities yet they want to be with each other without changing their uniqueness. By and large, friends spur each other without censuring, however at times great friends scrutinize do affect you in a positive manner.

Importance of Friendship:

It is very important to have a friend in life. Each friend is vital and their significance in known to us when certain circumstances emerge which must be supported by our friends. One can never feel lonely in this world on the off chance that he or she is embraced by true friends. Then again, depression wins in the lives of the individuals who don’t have friends regardless of billions of individuals present on the planet. Friends are particularly vital amid times of emergency and hardships. On the off chance that you wind up experiencing a hard time, having a friend to help you through can make the change simpler.

Having friends you can depend on can help your confidence. Then again, an absence of friends can make you feel lonely and without help, which makes you powerless for different issues, for example, sadness and drug abuse. Having no less than one individual you can depend on will formulate your confidence.

Choosing Your Friends Wisely:

Not all friends can instill the positivity in your life. There can be negative effects as well. It is very important to choose your friends with utmost wisdom. Picking the right friend is somewhat troublesome task however it is extremely important. In the event that for instance a couple of our dear friends are engaged with negative behaviour patterns, for example, smoking, drinking and taking drugs, at some point or another we will be attracted to their bad habits as well. This is the reason behind why it is appropriate to settle on an appropriate decision with regards to making friends.

Genuine friendship is truly a gift delighted in by a couple. The individuals who have it ought to express gratitude toward God for having genuine pearls in their lives and the individuals who don’t have a couple of good friends ought to always take a stab at better approaches to anchor great friends. No organization is superior to having a friend close by in the midst of need. You will stay cheerful in your one-room flat on the off chance that you are surrounded by your friends; then again, you can’t discover satisfaction even in your estate in the event that you are far away from others.

Types of Friends:

There is variety everywhere, so why not in friends. We can see different types of friends during our journey of life. For instance, your best friend at school is someone with whom you just get along the most. That friend, especially in the case of girls, may just get annoyed even if you talk to another of your friend more than her. Such is the childish nature of such friendships that at times it is difficult for others to identify whether you are best friends or competitors.

Then there is another category of your siblings. No matter how much you deny, but your siblings or your elder brother and sisters are those friends of yours who stay on with you for your entire life. You have a different set of friendship with them as you find yourself fighting with them most of the times. However, in times of need, you shall see that they are first ones standing behind you, supporting you.

There is another category of friends called professional friends. You come across such friends only when you grow up and choose a profession for yourself. These friends are usually from the same organisation and prove to be helpful during your settling years. Some of them tend to stay on with you even when you change companies.

Friendship Examples from History:

History has always taught us a lot. Examples of true friendship are not far behind. We have some famous example from history which makes us realise the true value of friendship. The topmost of them are the Krishna and Sudama friendship. We all must have read or heard as to how after becoming a king when Krishna met Sudama, his childhood friend, he treated him with honour even though Sudama was a poor person. It teaches us the friendship need not be between equals. It has to be between likeminded people. Next example is of Karna and Duryodhana, again from the Mahabharat era.

Despite knowing the fact that the Pandavas were his brothers, Karna went on to fight alongside Duryodhan as he is his best friend and even laid down his life for him. What more example of true friendship can one find? Again from the same era, Krishna and Arjun are also referred to as the best of the friends. Bhagavad Gita is an example of how a true friend can guide you towards positivity in life and make you follow the path of Dharma. Similarly, there are numerous examples from history which teach us the values of true friendship and the need to nourish such for own good.

Whether you accept or deny it, a friend plays an important role in your life. In fact, it is very important to have a friend. However, at the same time, it is extremely important to choose the friends wisely as they are the ones who can build you or destroy you. Nonetheless, a friend’s company is something which one enjoys all through life and friends should be treated as the best treasure a man can have.

Friendship , Relationship

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A friendship essay is precisely what it sounds like: a paper that students write to describe their relationships with their mates. It is among the many assignments that students are given in their college institutions. Writing essays about friendship is a great way to analyze what the connection means to you and reflect on some of your encounters. It can also be used as a tool to improve your closeness and affection. This blog post offers tips you may consider while writing your paper and its outline. It features friendship essay examples that help generate ideas that form the primary focus of your paper. If you are not ready to waste your time on essay writing, StudyCrumb is here to offer affordable prices and professional writers.

What Is a Friendship Essay?

The definition of friendship essay is quite clear and straightforward. A paper about friends can be described as a write-up on a relationship between two or more people. This interpretation makes it easier to obtain the meaning of friendship essay. Writing such thematic essay will help you communicate your feelings as well as your thoughts. It allows you to recollect your memories about different encounters you have had in life. It will also help you evaluate qualities of your connection. While writing, you may have a sequence of events starting from your meet-up, activities you have done together, and how you have sustained the connection. Preparing an essay about friendship can evoke memories from your past that may have been long forgotten.

Purpose of an Essay on Friendship

This kind of essay aims to help you explore its nature and form, its pros and cons, and its role in your life. The importance of friendship essay is that it acts as a reflective tool. It helps you realize the significance of creating and maintaining good relationships with friends. It also explains how these connections contribute to your overall wellness. In addition, an article about friendship may teach you to understand that true friendship is priceless and should stand the test of time.

Ideas to Write a Friendship Essay on

Writing essays about friendship is a more manageable task than drafting a paper about a topic that may require more detailed research. Any excellent essay about true friendship starts with an idea that you can examine. Below are some unique ideas you can explore:

What is friendship?
What does friendship mean to me?
The value of friendship you cherish in your life.
Cross-cultural friendships.
The role of friendship in mental health maintenance.

As you reflect on your relationship with your friend, see if you can write a paper incorporating these themes. Remember to choose an idea that interests you and is relevant to your personal experiences or research. Be sure to support your arguments with evidence and examples from real-life situations, literature, or academic research. Look through our definition essay topics or persuasive essay ideas to find a theme that suits your task best.

Friendship Essay Outline

An essay outline about friendship is a summary of what your write-up will contain but in a less detailed format. You use it to organize and structure your content logically and effectively. It presents the main topics and subtopics hierarchically, allowing writers to see the connection between different parts of the material. The importance of an outline lies in its ability to help writers plan, organize, as well as clarify their ideas. This makes the writing of an essay about friends more efficient, and the final product is more coherent and effective. Here is an example of an outline for a friendship essay.

Briefly introduce the topic of friendship
Provide a thesis statement that summarizes the main points of the essay
Topic sentence
Your main argument
Real-life examples that support your key idea
Supporting evidence
3rd Body Paragraph
Examples or recommendations
Summarize the main points
Provide some food for thought

Note that this is a general outline. The exact structure and content of your essay will depend on the specific requirements of your assignment and your personal interests.

Structure of a Friendship Essay

The structure of an essay on friendship typically includes the following three parts.

Introduction An introduction should grab the reader's attention and provide background information. It should also include a clear thesis statement that sets a path and direction of the friendship essays.
Body The essay's body is where you will provide evidence and details to underpin your thesis statement. It should consist of several paragraphs supporting and developing a statement of purpose. Each paragraph should focus on a specific aspect of your friendliness, such as its importance, benefits, or challenges.
Conclusion Briefly summarize the essay's main points and reinforce your principal argument. The conclusion should leave a lasting impression on readers and emphasize your topic's significance. Overall, the structure should be clear and well-organized, allowing the audience to follow your argument and understand the topic's significance.

Friendship Essay Introduction

A good introduction about friendship essay should grab the reader's attention and encourage them to continue reading. This can be achieved through a " hook ," a quote, an interesting fact, or a thought-provoking question. Background information can then be provided to give context to the discussed topic. The introduction to an essay about friendship should also clearly state your main point or argument of the piece, known as thesis statement. This sets pace for the rest of the paper and gives readers a clear view of what to expect. A friendship essay introduction should be concise, engaging, and provide context for the audience to understand the content fully.

Friendship Essay Introduction Example

Here is an example of a friendship essay introduction that sets the stage for a reflective and thought-provoking exploration of the most precious gift in life.

Friendship Essay Thesis Statement

The friendship thesis statement aims to provide a summary of the essay's main point. It can be one or two sentences which you develop as you research. The statement of purpose should focus on the central argument and be supported by evidence presented in the body. The thesis statement about friendship should guide the essay's structure. Its main objective is to provide your reader with a roadmap to follow. It should be specific, concise, and accurately reflect the content in your paper. Understanding what constitutes a strong thesis is crucial for writers as it is integral to every essay writing process.

Friendship Thesis Statement Example

The thesis statement must be clear to readers so that they may quickly recognize it and comprehend the paper's significance. It should act as a blueprint of what to expect. A friendship thesis statement sample could be:

Friendship Essay Body

The body part should include five or more paragraphs. Students will use body paragraphs to elaborate on the key factors that make their connection special.

Definition and explanation. This friendship body paragraph should start with a definition and a brief explanation of its characteristics and qualities.
Importance of friends. Discuss why it is vital in your life and how it contributes to personal growth and welfare.
Types of friendships. A paragraph about friendship should discuss different types of friend's relationships that exist.
Qualities of a good friend. Discuss standards a great confidant should possess.
Challenges. Discuss the common problems that friends face.
Ways to strengthen friendship. Provide tips on reinforcing and maintaining good relationships.
Conclusion. Sum up the key points made in your essay and reiterate the importance of genuine bonds in life.

Friendship Body Paragraph Example

Below is a friendship body paragraph sample.

Friendship Essay Conclusion

Any conclusion on a friendship essay should sum up the main ideas discussed in your essay and restate the thesis statement. It should leave a lasting impression and provide a closure to your topic. To start writing a conclusion about a friendship essay, commence by rephrasing the thesis statement in different words. Summarize the points discussed in your essay by connecting them back to your statement of purpose. End conclusion with a final thought or call to action that leaves a lasting impression on your reader. It is vital to keep it concise yet impactful. Avoid introducing new information or arguments, as it can confuse readers. Instead, focus on tying up loose ends and emphasizing main ideas discussed in your essay.

Friendship Essay Conclusion Sample

Here is an example of a friendship essay conclusion:

How to Write an Essay on Friendship?

To write an essay about friendship, start by brainstorming ideas about what friends mean to you and the benefits of such kinds of relationships. Knowing how to write a good essay about friendship involves selecting a great topic and arranging your content in a manner that has logical flow.

1. Come Up With a Topic About Friendship

To brainstorm essay topics on friendship, consider the following.

Reflect on your own experiences. Think about your own bonds and encounters you have had with allies. Avoid bad occurrences. This can inspire topics to explore in your essay. To find a subject that interests you, you can also look through internet examples of friend essays.
Ask questions related to friends, such as "What makes a meaningful connection?" or "How does the quality of your bond change over time?"
Talk to others. Ask friends, family, or classmates about their experiences. They may have interesting insights that can inspire new topics for your essay.

Ensure that topic you select is appropriate for your report style. For example:

You can start this topic by how you met, narrate your story, and then pick out some attributes of a good friend and the advantages of the relationship. Remember to choose a topic on friendship essay that you feel passionate about and can explore in depth in your essay.

2. Do Research

To research and collect information for the friend essay, follow these steps.

Start with a general search. Use search engines like Google to find articles, books, and other resources on affection.
Identify keywords. Determine the most relevant keywords for your essay, such as "essay about a friend." Use them in your search to narrow down results to the most pertinent information.
Evaluate sources. When you have a list of potential sources, evaluate each to determine their credibility and relevance. Look for sources that are written by experts in the field and that have been peer-reviewed or published in reputable journals.
Take notes. As you read, take notes on the most important and relevant information.

3. Develop a Friendship Essay Outline

An outline is a useful tool for organizing ideas in an essay and it ensures that your essay has a structure. Before outlining you need to have a clear vision of what your essay will focus on. Then analyze every piece of information that you have and categorize it into headings. An outline of an essay about friendships will comprise a list which consists of each paragraph’s topic sentence . By going through the outline, you are able to examine what purpose each paragraph serves. If you need assistance on how to create an outline for a college essay about friendship use the outline example shown below.

4. Write an Essay on Friendship

Writing an essay about friendship is an exciting task. Below is a sample of how you can write your friendship essay. Friendship is the bond between two or more individuals based on mutual trust, support, and understanding. This connection can develop at any stage of life and even last a lifetime. It is a bond that fills our lives with comfort, laughter, and advice during a hard period. Many different factors can contribute to its formation and success. Having similar needs, mutual interests, and social activities can help sustain the relationship. Another crucial aspect is being ready to support each other through happy and difficult times unconditionally. Trust is also an essential component in the longevity of this connection. In conclusion, friendship is an invaluable treasure that brings joy, comfort, and support to our lives. It provides a safe place in a world that can be harsh and unforgiving. It reminds us that we should always stay true to each other.

5. Proofread Your Friendship Essay

When writing a friendship essay, consider the following for an effective introduction.

Grab your reader's attention. A good introduction makes them want to continue reading your friendship essay.
Provide context. Give an overview of the friendship essay and its purpose. This will make readers interested in your work.
Establish your purpose. Clearly state the main idea or thesis.
Preview the main points. Briefly summarize key points that will be covered.
Be concise. An introduction should be short and on point, generally no more than one or two paragraphs.

Remember, your introduction will set tone for the rest of your piece and should encourage your readers to continue reading.

Friendship Essay Examples

A sample essay about friendship can be critical to students, especially when they are researching and collecting information. Free friendship essays help you get ideas on how to write and structure your essay. Below are essay examples about friendship that you can go through to help with your writing and draw inspiration from. Friendship essay example 1

Friendship essay example 2

Essay about friendship sample 3

Example of essay on friendship 4

Friendship Essay Writing Tips

Here are some extra tips you need to know that will motivate you to write a friendship short essay.

You could start with a quote, an anecdote, or a surprising fact.
Use examples from your own life to illustrate your points in your school college essay about friendship, as this will make your essay more relatable and interesting to read.
Friendship titles for essays should be clear and straightforward. They should also reflect your main points.
Describe the aspect of the bond that, in your opinion, is most crucial. It is possible to personalize something that means an entirely different thing to various individuals.

Bottom Line on Friendship Essay Writing

Your central task is to understand what is a friendship essay even before you start writing. Friendship essays explore the nature of our relationships and their various aspects. They can take various forms, from short reflective essays to longer, more analytical pieces. These papers can discuss qualities that make a good friend, the benefits of your relationship, or challenges of maintaining close relationships. Examples of short essays about friendship could be a personal reflection, exploring the unique bond between the writer and their friend and what they hope to continue gaining from each other when they cross paths in future. If you struggle with other papers, feel free to check out our writing guides. From an essay about bullying to a world peace essay , we’ve got you covered.

FAQ About Friendship Essay

1. may i use friendship quotes for the essay.

Yes, it is always a winning step. You can write an essay on friendship with quotes either as the title of your essay or as an introductory phrase. You can also include it in the body of your work while narrating your story.

2. How to write a hook for an essay of friendship?

An essay should hook your reader's attention and make them want to read your story. When writing essays about friendship, you can describe a unique situation in which your friends helped you. You can also end your introduction with a catchy quote, such as Squad goals! Some other quotes that you can use include:

A road to a friend's house is never long.
Count your age with friends and years.
True friend is seen through the heart, not through the eyes.

3. Explain the importance of friendship essay.

The importance of friendship essay is that it teaches students to express their thoughts and feelings about confidants and benefits they obtain from this connection. It also acts as a reflective tool. Friend essays also help students realize advantages of creating and maintaining good relationships with friends and how these linkages contribute to your overall wellness and welfare.

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

What Is an Essay on Friendship?

First, the definition:

An essay on friendship is a short academic paper students write to express their thoughts and reflections on the topic.

The purpose is to:

explore the phenomenon;
understand what it means to you;
realize the significance of having close people nearby;
reveal the pros and cons of committing to a friendship;
reflect on how friendship can help our wellness.

Friendship essays aren’t about “my friends and I” topics only. You can write about the role of friendship for mental health, craft an expository essay explaining the topic, or build a reflective essay on what friendship means to you.

Friendship Essay Structure

Friendship essays have a standard structure of academic papers. They are short and consist of three parts:

Introduction about friendship
Paragraph about friendship
Friendship essay conclusion

In the intro, you start with an attention grabber. Feel free to use a quote, a surprising fact, or an anecdote. Introduce the topic and finish with thesis statements about friendship.

In a friendship paragraph, you support a thesis with facts, evidence, personal stories, etc. As a rule, essay bodies have three paragraphs minimum. So you can devote each paragraph to one aspect :

Definition of this concept
Why having friends is essential
What a friend can give you
Types of friendship
Challenges mates meet on their way
Characteristics of a good friend
How to strengthen a friendship, etc.

In the essay body, you can use stories and examples from your life to illustrate points. Tell about your friends and share personal thoughts — it will make your paper more compelling to read.

In the concluding paragraph, sum up the points and restate your thesis. Finish on a positive note, leaving readers with the food for thought.

Easier said than done, huh?

Below are three samples of friendship essays for you to see what they look like and how they sound.

3 Samples to Help You Write an Essay About Friendship

While Ralph Waldo Emerson friendship essay (1) is the top example of the paper on this topic, we’ll go further and provide several NEW samples.

Please check:

Short Essay on Friendship

This sample is perfect for high school students. As a rule, teachers ask them to write 150-200-word essays. The task is to describe concepts or things the way they understand them.

Narrative Essay on Friendship

Narrative essays are more about personal stories. Here, you can tell about your friends, include dialogues , and sound less academic.

500 Words Essay Sample on Importance of Friendship

Over to you.

Now, you have three samples and know how to structure this paper. Ready to write yours?

Let’s begin with the “Why is friendship important?” essay — and you’ll see that it’s not super challenging to craft. Be honest, share your thoughts, and don’t hesitate to write personal reflections on the topic.

Still don’t know how to start your essay on friendship? Our writers are here to help.

References:

https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/friendship.html
Essay samples
Essay writing
Writing tips

Friendship: The Meaning and Relevance Essay

Friendship is something that cannot be defined in one singular or particular way. This is because friendships are not built out of convenience or need but rather, over time and familiarity. Although the basic definition of a friendship falls under the category of somebody whom we feel a level of affection and trust for (according to Google definitions) or perhaps a favored companion (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary), the truth of the matter is that friendship is not just about the comfort we feel with these people. Friendship is a relationship that helps us grow by learning from the joy, sadness, anger, disappointment, and forgiveness that is necessary to make friendships flourish and grow into lifelong bonds.

In a way, the best friend any person can have is God. The reason I say this is because God symbolizes the true meaning of friendship in my mind. He is steadfast in his belief and support for us, he listens to our problems and troubles without judgment, and he is always forgiving and forgetful of our sins. He always gives us a second chance to prove our selves and change that which is negative in us without demanding change from us. He allows us to grow in the knowledge and confidence that he is forever by our side and will be the only friend we have to turn to at any time of the day or night, in any situation. When everyone on this material plain has abandoned us, God is the one true friend who, just like in the poem “Footprints in the Sand”, continues to walk beside us and guide us when we think that we have been forsaken by everyone else.

It is easy to call anybody a friend, it does not require much effort to be one anyway. But, to be a true friend, in the very essence of the word is something that most people fail to be because of one reason or another. Be it personal envy, greed, gossip, or simply wanting to one up a person, is enough to destroy a friendship between people who have built their relationship on a shaky foundation such as need or necessity. A true friend needs only to be a good listener and a supporting arm when needed. By being a good listener, you become a good friend because you come to realize your own short comings as mirrored by those around you. In return, you get to help other people solve their dilemma’s and realize that they have helped you become a good or better person in the process.

I am a person who does not easily make friends. But those whom I do gain, I do my best to keep. Of all the friends I have made though, one of them stands out in particular. I think that the reason our friendship works so well and has become a very deep and solid friendship is because we have helped each other mature and deal with serious situations that not most people have to deal with. Ironically, you might say our friendship is a Godsend because it came at the lowest point in my life and came in the most unbelievable form. The internet. Due to the distance between us and the cost involved in a real, flesh and blood meeting, we have sufficed for the past 10 years with phone calls and internet chatting. I think the friendship works best because this way, we have no chance nor reason to judge each other in a way that could be damaging to our friendship. Instead, we have a friendship solely based upon trust, understanding, care, and support. Friendship can truly be found in the most unexpected places. What you do with it and how you nurture it will define the meaning of that friendship to both of you.

Of course we have to realize that friendship’s come to have different meanings and applications depending upon the gender of friendship. Women tend to have a majority of women as friends because of the similarities of life paths and experiences, the same goes for the men. However, when the two genders mix in the friendship pool, what we have is an equation for what hopefully will be the best form of friendship imaginable, a marriage and bonding of souls. But, do not mistake that to mean that being “lovers” is the same as being “friends”. In my opinion, lover’s are friends on a shallow basis. There is nothing that exists to create a friendship that may ultimately stand the test of time. Lucky are those who find “lovers” that can evolve into the deepest and truest meaning of friendship. Having a male friend helps women to understand how men think and how to deal with them. A woman with a male friend comes to understand gender differences and stereotypes that go along with it. The same goes for men. In the end, such a friendship is more of a learning experience than anything else for both genders.

On the other hand, there is nothing in the rulebook that says all our friends have to be bipedal human beings. Like I said before, friendship can be found in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected forms. This includes the most taken for granted companion of man, his pets. A dog or a cat takes the place of the non judgmental best friend that we all seek. Even though pets cannot advise us, simply having them there to listen and cuddle up to when we are troubled has been medically proven to have calming and positive effects on a person. You might say that they are the physical embodiment of the way God is a friend to everyone.

Friendship requires a very delicate balance of loyalty, honesty, and trust worthiness. As friend, we need to know when to break the bonds of the 3 characteristics of a friend if it means the difference between helping a friend survive or allowing them to implode beyond help. Nobody can say what the right mix is, a true friend will know when the right time to risk the friendship for the betterment of the other friend would be. And that will test the friendship and see how well it will survive, or not. It becomes difficult to deal with other people when we refuse to see ourselves in them. by allowing ourselves to view others as mirrors into our inner selves, we end up facing our own demons instead of running away from them.

Indeed, a true friend is someone who knows all our faults and shortcomings but likes us anyway. After all, friendship is all about learning from each other and helping each other become better versions of our individual selves and each other. Author Anne Perry once wrote in her novel No Graves As Yet that:

But isn’t the art of friendship very much the selecting of what is important and allowing some of the mistakes to drift away until we lose sight of them? We don’t forget so much as let the outlines blur, accept that a thing has happened, and be sorry.”

That, in my opinion, is the real meaning of Friendship and how it helps us attain ultimate perfection.

“What is Friendship? How To Make Friends, True Friends”. suite101.com. 2007. Web.

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Essays About Friendships: Top 6 Examples and 8 Prompts

Friendships are one of life’s greatest gifts. To write a friendship essay, make this guide your best friend with its essays about friendships plus prompts.

Every lasting relationship starts with a profound friendship. The foundations that keep meaningful friendships intact are mutual respect, love, laughter, and great conversations. Our most important friendships can support us in our most trying times. They can also influence our life for the better or, the worse, depending on the kind of friends we choose to keep.

As such, at an early age, we are encouraged to choose friends who can promote a healthy, happy and productive life. However, preserving our treasured friendships is a lifelong process that requires investments in time and effort.

6 Informative Essay Examples

1. the limits of friendships by maria konnikova, 2. friendship by ralph waldo emerson, 3. don’t confuse friendships and business relationships by jerry acuff, 4. a 40-year friendship forged by the challenges of busing by thomas maffai, 5. how people with autism forge friendships by lydia denworth, 6. friendships are facing new challenges thanks to the crazy cost of living by habiba katsha , 1. the importance of friendship in early childhood development, 2. what makes a healthy friendship, 3. friendships that turn into romance, 4. long-distance friendship with social media, 5. dealing with a toxic friendship, 6. friendship in the workplace, 7. greatest friendships in literature, 8. friendships according to aristotle .

…”[W]ithout investing the face-to-face time, we lack deeper connections to them, and the time we invest in superficial relationships comes at the expense of more profound ones.”

Social media is challenging the Dunbar number, proving that our number of casual friends runs to an average of 150. But as we expand our social base through social media, experts raise concerns about its effect on our social skills, which effectively develop through physical interaction.

“Friendship requires that rare mean betwixt likeness and unlikeness, that piques each with the presence of power and of consent in the other party.”

The influential American essayist Emerson unravels the mysteries behind the divine affinity that binds a friendship while laying down the rules and requirements needed to preserve the fellowship. To Emerson, friendship should allow a certain balance between agreement and disagreement. You might also be interested in these articles about best friends .

“Being friendly in business is necessary but friendships in business aren’t. That’s an important concept. We can have a valuable business relationship without friendship. Unfortunately, many mistakenly believe that the first step to building a business relationship is to develop a friendship.”

This essay differentiates friends from business partners. Using an anecdote, the essay warns against investing too much emotion and time in building friendships with business partners or customers, as such an approach may be futile in increasing sales.

“As racial tensions mounted around them, Drummer and Linehan developed a close connection—one that bridged their own racial differences and has endured more than four decades of evolving racial dynamics within Boston’s schools. Their friendship also served as a public symbol of racial solidarity at a time when their students desperately needed one.”

At a time when racial discrimination is at its highest, the author highlights a friendship they built and strengthened at the height of tensions during racial desegregation. This friendship proves that powerful interracial friendships can still be forged and separate from the politics of race.

“…15-year-old Massina Commesso worries a lot about friendship and feeling included. For much of her childhood, Massina had a neurotypical best friend… But as they entered high school, the other friend pulled away, apparently out of embarrassment over some of Massina’s behavior.”

Research debunks the myth that people with autism naturally detest interaction — evidence suggests the opposite. Now, research is shedding more light on the unique social skills of people with autism, enabling society to find ways to help them find true friendships.

“The cost of living crisis is affecting nearly everyone, with petrol, food and electricity prices all rising. So understandably, it’s having an impact on our friendships too.”

People are now more reluctant to dine out with friends due to the rapidly rising living costs. Friendships are being tested as friends need to adjust to these new financial realities and be more creative in cultivating friendships through lower-cost get-togethers.

8 Topic Prompts on Essays About Friendships

Essays About Friendships: The importance of friendship in early childhood development

More than giving a sense of belonging, friendships help children learn to share and resolve conflicts. First, find existing research linking the capability to make and keep friends to one’s social, intellectual, and emotional development.

Then, write down what schools and households can do to reinforce children’s people skills. Here, you can also tackle how they can help children with learning, communication, or behavioral difficulties build friendships, given how their conditions interfere with their capabilities and interactions.

As with plants, healthy friendships thrive on fertile soil. In this essay, list the qualities that make “fertile soil” and explain how these can grow the seeds of healthy friendships. Some examples include mutual respect and the setting of boundaries.

Then, write down how you should water and tend to your dearest friendships to ensure that it thrives in your garden of life. You can also discuss your healthy friendships and detail how these have unlocked the best version of yourself.

Marrying your best friend is a romance story that makes everyone fall in love. However, opening up about your feelings for your best friend is risky. For this prompt, collate stories of people who boldly made the first step in taking their friendship to a new level.

Hold interviews to gather data and ask them the biggest lesson they learned and what they can share to help others struggling with their emotions for their best friend. Also, don’t forget to cite relevant data, such as this study that shows several romantic relationships started as friendships.

Essays About Friendships: Long-distance friendship with social media

It’s challenging to sustain a long-distance friendship. But many believe that social media has narrowed that distance through an online connection. In your essay, explain the benefits social media has offered in reinforcing long-distance friendships.

Determine if these virtual connections suffice to keep the depth of friendships. Make sure to use studies to support your argument. You can also cite studies with contrasting findings to give readers a holistic view of the situation.

It could be heartbreaking to feel that your friend is gradually becoming a foe. In this essay, help your readers through this complicated situation with their frenemies by pointing out red flags that signal the need to sever ties with a friend. Help them assess when they should try saving the friendship and when they should walk away. Add a trivial touch to your essay by briefly explaining the origins of the term “frenemies” and what events reinforced its use.

We all know that there is inevitable competition in the workplace. Added to this are the tensions between managers and employees. So can genuine friendships thrive in a workplace? To answer this, turn to the wealth of experience and insights of long-time managers and human resource experts.

First, describe the benefits of fostering friendships in the workplace, such as a deeper connection in working toward shared goals, as well as the impediments, such as inherent competition among colleagues. Then, dig for case studies that prove or disprove the relevance and possibility of having real friends at work.

Whether it be the destructive duo like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, or the hardworking pair of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, focus on a literary friendship that you believe is the ultimate model of friendship goals.

Narrate how the characters met and the progression of their interactions toward becoming a friendship. Then, describe the nature of the friendship and what factors keep it together.

In Book VIII of his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle writes about three kinds of friendships: pleasure, utility, and virtue. Dive deeper into the Greek philosopher’s mind and attempt to differentiate his three types of friendships.

Point out ideas he articulated most accurately about friendship and parts you disagree with. For one, Aristotle refutes the concept that friendships are necessarily built on likeness alone, hence his classification of friendships. Do you share his sentiments?

Read our Grammarly review before you submit your essay to make sure it is error-free! Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

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1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology

Philosophy, One Thousand Words at a Time

Aristotle on Friendship: What Does It Take to Be a Good Friend?

Author: G. M. Trujillo, Jr. Category: Ethics , Historical Philosophy Wordcount: 992

Imagine that you could choose between living two lives. Option 1 promises amazing beauty, wealth, power, fame, and health. But you would have zero friends. Option 2 offers only average beauty, wealth, reputation, and health. But you would have profound friendships.

Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) bet that no one would choose the first option. [1] He argued that we need friends to live a good life. After all, when life is bad, they help us. And when life is good, they celebrate with us. [2]

Aristotle’s claims about friendship began debates that continue today. [3] This essay presents his views on friendship and a contemporary debate he inspired.

An image of Aristotle and Hypatia laughing together, next to the first page of a Latin and Greek version of Nicomachean Ethics. Generated using Midjourney AI and edited by G.M.Trujillo.

1. Friendship, Useful Friends, and Pleasurable Friends

For Aristotle, all friendships are relationships where people mutually like each other, do good for one another, and share goals for the time they spend together. [4] But the friendship changes depending on the reasons that friends value each other and the ways that they do good for each other.

Consequently, Aristotle split friendship into three types. The first two types—useful and pleasurable friendships—are similar to each other.

Useful friendships are those between people whose foremost goal is to work together to accomplish some practical goal. Think coworkers or teammates.

Pleasurable friendships are those between people who routinely enjoy themselves together. Think friends who you invite to meals or nights out, or those you play games with. [5]

Useful and pleasurable friendships have upsides. They are casual and easy to form, as they are defined by their small-scale goals. Useful friends focus on getting things done, and pleasurable friends focus on enjoying each other’s company. The basis for these friendships, and the reason behind the mutual affection and planning, is simple use or pleasure.

But these friendships also have downsides. As soon as the task or fun disappears, so do these friendships. Consider what often happens to friendships with your coworkers when you leave your job, or what usually happens with most of your teammates when you quit playing a sport. Useful and pleasurable friendships are mostly motivated by what people can get out of them. This is why Aristotle deemed them as imperfect compared to the last type.

2. Virtuous Friends, the Best Friends

For Aristotle, the best friendships have a deeper meaning than utility or pleasure: becoming better people together. They are rare and hard to form. But they are the most important for living a good life. [6] Aristotle called these virtuous friendships .

Virtuous friends not only focus on getting things done or having a good time together. Rather, they primarily focus on each other as persons , attending to character and flourishing. They want their friends to be good people and live good lives for their own sake . And they work together to accomplish this. [7]

Virtuous friends become a part of each other’s lives by spending time together and having deep conversations. They share the same core ideas about what it means to be a good person and live a good life. [8] Aristotle argued that this deep bond makes virtuous friends “other selves,” or, “One soul dwelling in two bodies.” [9] Together, virtuous friends live, learn, struggle, and improve.

Living a full life is difficult. Not only do we need to become good as individuals, but also as family members, citizens, and contributors to our communities. And we need to avoid the common dangers of pursuing money above all things, caring too much about what strangers think, and losing ourselves in hobbies or addictions. Virtuous friends help with this. In success, friends celebrate. In failure, friends offer comfort and counsel, and sometimes they speak hard truths that only people who know and love you can. [10]

3. Do Good Friends Have to Be Good People?

When philosophers discuss friendship, they usually have Aristotle’s virtuous friendship in mind. Implicitly, it is taken as the most important type of friendship to scrutinize. Specifically, some philosophers debate whether immoral actions or bad people corrupt the quality of friendships. [11]

Imagine that your phone wakes you up late at night. It’s your best friend. She says it’s an emergency, and she needs your help. So you rush to the address she gave you. Then she reveals that she’s murdered someone. She asks you to help hide the body. But now you wonder: would a good friend help to hide the corpse, or would she encourage her friend to explain the situation to the authorities? [12]

This case raises some related questions: is being a good friend compatible with doing immoral things together? Can bad people really be good friends? And generally, are the good things about friendship also things that we should judge by moral standards?

Aristotle and Aristotelians argue that good friends must be ethically good people. Virtuous friends largely share the same values and help each other become excellent—and they hold each other accountable. Such explicitly ethical goals make immorality incompatible with deep friendship. So, in this scenario, Aristotelians would say that your friend who calls you to ask for help hiding a corpse is no longer a good friend. This request changes the friendship fundamentally for the worse. [13]

Non-Aristotelians disagree. They argue that the qualities that we appreciate in friendship are separate from complying with moral principles. Good friends share interests and are loyal to each other. And this is compatible with sometimes doing immoral things. A moral failure does not mean a failure in friendship. In fact, helping your friend in morally dubious circumstances might indicate that you are a real friend. [14]

4. Conclusion

Philosophers might disagree with Aristotle about how to define friendship or who can be a good friend. However, most agree that we must analyze our own ideas about what it means to be a good friend and whether we live up to them. Friendships reveal important things about who we are and how we love. And if, as Aristotle argued, good friends make us better and bad friends make us worse, our friendships could make or break us. [15]

[1] Aristotle wrote, “For no one would choose to live without friends, even if he had all other good things” (2020, NE 1155a5-6). Aristotle’s greatest work, Nicomachean Ethics , dedicated two of its ten books to friendship, Books VIII and IX. And they have largely set the philosophical agenda for discussing friendship. Often, even philosophers who disagree with Aristotle start by summarizing his views. As far as philosophers and poets who came before Aristotle, none produced a definitive theory of friendship. For example, Plato’s Lysis discusses friendship. But as with many Socratic dialogues, there is no conclusive definition or view. However, for an argument that Greek philosophers before Aristotle had a theory of friendship, see: El Murr 2020.

Throughout, this essay will translate Aristotle’s Greek word philos as “friend” and philia as “friendship.” This is the most accessible way to render the Greek in English, and it captures the idea of being committed to someone in a specific context. The hope is that this broadens the terms outside of excessively specified roles in Greek society but doesn’t make friendship into a contemporary notion of abstract regard for others without context. However, a few things need clarification. First, the Greek philia refers to more types of relationships than the English “friendship.” Philia refers to friendship, but also the relationship between family members, spouses, lovers, members of a political community, or patrons and clients. Second, philia describes relationships with widely varying qualities. Some are deep with knowledge, emotion, and well-wishing; some are shallow and casual. Philia can be long-term and durable or transitory and quick to vanish. Philia encompasses voluntary associations replete with choice, as in choosing your friends or confidants, but it can also include unchosen associations, such as family. Philia can be sexual and desirous, or it can be friendly and cool. Third, philia can be translated as “love.” But in the context of relationships with others, many Greek words might also be translated as “love.” Storgē means love, often within familial contexts or within the context of affection. Eros means love, often with romantic implications. And not as much a concern for ancient Greece, but important to mention because Christian philosophers make use of the term, agapē gets rendered as love, usually within the context of God loving creation, or selfless love. These complex associations lead some philosophers to leave terms untranslated and merely transliterate them into the English alphabet, e.g., change φιλία to philia (see: Nussbaum 2009). This essay, however, opts for translation, hoping that the context of this discussion about friendship removes ambiguities. But serious scholarship about Aristotle’s theory of friendship attends to the details of the original Greek. For more discussion on translation, see: Annas 1993, pp. 223-4; Nussbaum 2009, p. 354; Cooper 1999a, p. 313, no. 5.

[2] Aristotle, NE , 1171b28. Aristotle himself had powerful friends. His teacher was Plato, and his student was Alexander the Great. He also had powerful enemies who drove him into exile, where he died. There is a famous saying regarding Aristotle’s death. Aristotle was living in Athens and running his school, The Lyceum. But politics in Athens shifted against Aristotle’s home city-state of Macedonia and against the rulers who Aristotle associated with, Phillip II and Alexander the Great. Aristotle feared that Athens would try to do the same thing to him that they did to Socrates, hold a mockery of a trial and sentence him to death. Aristotle apocryphally said, “I will not let Athens sin twice against philosophy,” and he took exile in Chalcis, where he died. See: Diogenes Laertius, 2018, V.5-6, 10; Shields 2020, sec. 1, esp. n. 3; Nussbaum 2009, p. 345, n. 8.

[3] For many historical examples of philosophers celebrating and analyzing friendship, see: Pakaluk 1991. For the rare exceptions of historical philosophers who criticize friendship, see: Trujillo 2020.

It is also important to note that this small article cannot go into all the issues Aristotle covered when discussing friendship. For example, there is arguably a fourth type of friendship, civic friendship, that describes people living in a political community together. (See: Cooper 1999b for an overview of Aristotle’s theory of civic friendship. See: Cherry 2021 for a debate between her and Robert Talisse about civic friendship and whether it can solve political polarization in the USA.) Additionally, Aristotle discusses matters of equality in money and power, arguing that good friends must be as equal as possible. Also, because Aristotle usually focuses on the best people possible, his work leaves open questions about what friendships look like for the rest of us, those morally imperfect and without all the wealth and power that Aristotle (or the people he had in mind) had. All these questions have become invaluable in the philosophy of technology, where people now use these distinctions to talk about social media, online friendships, robots, and friendships involving far-future technology. Aristotelians shape many conversations about the past, present, and future of friendship. (See: Elder 2018.)

[4] This essay takes a general stance with respect to the common features of useful, pleasurable, and virtuous friendships, especially as characterized by Aristotle in Rhetoric II.4: “We may describe friendly feeling towards anyone as wishing for him what you believe to be good things, not for your own sake but for his, and being inclined, so far as you can, to bring these things about. A friend is one who feels thus and excites these feelings in return. Those who think they feel thus towards each other think themselves friends.”

It is clear that, for Aristotle, some amount of reciprocity and recognition is necessary from each friend, as far as feelings about one another and what the friendship involves. This is why Aristotle says we cannot be friends with wine, no matter how much we like it. Wine just doesn’t love us back. ( NE 1155b27-31). But beyond these generalities, philosophers disagree.

Julia Annas, for example, offers her own interpretation of qualities Aristotle seems to endorse as belonging to all forms of friendship: (1) friends wish and do good for each other, (2) friends want their friends to stay alive for their own sake, (3) friends spend time with each other, (4) friends make similar choices, and (5) friends find similar things painful and pleasant. 1993, p. 254. Martha Nussbaum proposes that all friendships involve mutual affection, mutual separateness and respect for that independence, mutual well-wishing for the friend and for that friend’s own sake, and mutual awareness of the good feelings and wishes. 2009, p. 355.

In addition to deciding what is common in all forms of friendships, philosophers argue over what distinguishes the different types. For example, philosophers argue over the kind of affection and interest that friends take in each other in useful, pleasurable, and virtuous friendships. There is no doubt that virtuous friends are interested in their friends being good and doing well for their own sake. But philosophers disagree about whether such disinterested or non-self-interested motivation exists in useful or pleasurable friendships. John Cooper (1999a), for example, takes the position that all friendships involve a not-completely-self-interested motivation. But Kenneth Alpern (1983) thinks that useful and pleasurable friendships are not disinterested, even if they exhibit dependence, cooperation, trust, communion, and sharing. Aristotle is borderline incoherent on this point, sometimes writing that useful and pleasurable friends are self-centered, sometimes implying that all friendships share disinterested other-regarding concern. See: Cooper 1999a, p. 317.

[5] Aristotle, NE , VIII.3.

[6] Julia Annas summarizes Aristotle’s arguments for why virtuous friendships are necessary for living a good life. She identifies two reasons that are important to highlight. First, friends help you to learn about yourself. Virtuous friends share values, so their perspectives on each others’ lives are important. And because friends are outside of your life, they have an outside perspective that allows for accurate assessment. (Sometimes your friends know you better than you know yourself.) Second, friends can do more together than separately. When friends work together, they can sustain activities for a longer time, make activities much more pleasant, and make activities much more effective. 1993, p. 251.

[7] Aristotle, NE , 1170b11-14. In this passage, Aristotle emphasizes that friends share conversation and thought while living together. Sharing a human life together means more than “feeding in the same location as with grazing animals.” So, the quality of the shared time and the content of the actions matter, not just the hours logged. On the point of sharing the same values, see also: Rhet . II.4. Thanks go to Alexis Elder for emphasizing this point in her work.

[8] Aristotle, NE , VIII.3, 13; IX.5–6. See also: Diogenes Laertius (2018), V.31.

[9] For the “other selves” claim, see: Aristotle, NE , 1166a31. For the “One soul dwelling in two bodies,” see: Diogenes Laertius (2018), V.20. Aristotle argues that the deepest friendships are those between equals, in almost all respects. This is part of what makes virtuous friends “other selves.” For the most part, virtuous friends have the same values, the same strategies in approaching life, and maybe a lot of other similarities, such as economic class and political status. This means that when virtuous friends see each other living life, they understand what they’re doing and why, and they can counsel each other well. Additionally, because friends would do basically the same things as each other, they get to live somewhat vicariously. Aristotle’s works are rarely beautiful or poetic. But the phrasing of friends being “other selves” has inspired admiration of the phrase, leading to much philosophical reflection.

[10] See: Aristotle, NE , IX.11. On bitter times in friendship, Aristotle wrote, “[F]or as the proverb has it, people cannot have got to know each other before they have savored all that salt together, nor indeed can they have accepted each other to be friends before each party is seen to be lovable, and is trusted, by the other. Those who are quick to behave like friends towards each other wish to be friends, but are not friends unless they are also lovable, and the other party knows it; for what is quick to arise is wish for friendship, not friendship” (2002, NE , 1156b27-33). In other words, friends need to spend a lot of time together to get to know each other, which would include difficult times. This reveals how good a person is (so how loveable they are) and how deep the friendship is. Good people and good friendships endure the bad times; they go beyond mere well wishes.

It is also worth noting that Aristotle thought you could not be good friends with many people at once ( NE , 1158a11-2). Diogenes Laertius took this claim to an extreme when he reported that Aristotle said, “He who has friends has no true friend” (2018, V.21). In other words, having more than one serious friend means you are not serious friends with any one person. Diogenes Laertius, however, reports this hundreds of years after Aristotle died.

[11] For an overview of recent scholarship on friendship, see: Helm 2021 and Jeske 2023.

[12] This case is based on the film Death in Brunswick (1990), which is the primary example for Dean Cocking and Jeanette Kennett in their influential article “Friendship and Moral Danger” (2000).

[13] See: Aristotle, NE , IX.9-10; Elder 2013.

There is an added complication here that many philosophers do not address. Aristotle seems OK with friends being vulnerable around each other and doing things around each other that might not be proper in public. Friends feel comfortable around each other and trust one another, and sometimes they confide their own weaknesses in friends. So, the requirement that virtuous friends be good has small exceptions and doesn’t require moral perfection. See: Rhet . II.4.

Aristotle’s theory of friendship has political implications too. For Aristotle, humans are fundamentally political, in that they live in communities. And he argues that a community of good people who are friends with one another wouldn’t need justice or rules. People would inherently share things with one another and treat each other fairly. Inversely, Aristotle also argues that friendship is impossible under conditions of severe injustice. NE , VIII.1, 9, 11. See also: Cooper 1999b, p. 356. It is important to qualify this claim, however. Aristotle’s work on friendship seems only to extend to actual, day-to-day relationships, and not to people we don’t have relationships with, as in people living in distant communities. See: Annas 1993, p. 253. It is not really until the Cynics and Stoics that philosophers develop a sense of cosmopolitanism. For a discussion of cosmopolitanism, see: Moles 1996.

[14] See: Cocking and Kennett 2000.

[15] Aristotle, NE , IX.12. Thanks go out to Nathan Nobis, Dan Lowe, Chelsea Haramia, Kristin Seemuth Whaley, Spencer Case, and Felipe Pereira for their feedback. They improved the paper significantly.

Annas, Julia. (1993) The Morality of Happiness . New York: Oxford.

Alpern, Kenneth D. (1983) “Aristotle on the Friendships of Utility and Pleasure,” Journal of the History of Philosophy , vol. 21, no. 3: pp. 303-15.

Aristotle. (1991) Rhetoric [ Rhet .]. Trans. W. Rhys. Roberts. In: The Complete Works of Aristotle , Vol. 2, ed. Jonathan Barnes. Princeton: Princeton.

Aristotle. (2002) Nicomachean Ethics [ NE ]. Trans. Christopher Rowe. Oxford: Oxford.

Cherry, Myisha. (2021). “On the Cultivation of Civic Friendship,” Journal of Philosophical Research , vol. 46: pp. 193-207.

Cocking, Dean and Jeanette Kennett. (2000) “Friendship and Moral Danger,” The Journal of Philosophy , vol. 97, no. 5: 278-96.

Cooper, John M. (1999a) “Aristotle on the Forms of Friendship.” In: Reason and Emotion: Essays on Ancient Moral Psychology and Ethical Theory . Princeton: Princeton, ch. 14.

Cooper, John M. (1999b) “Political Animals and Civic Friendship.” In: Reason and Emotion: Essays on Ancient Moral Psychology and Ethical Theory . Princeton: Princeton, ch. 16.

Diogenes Laertius. (2018) Lives of the Eminent Philosophers . Trans. Pamela Mensch. Oxford: Oxford.

Death in Brunswick . (1990) Dir. John Ruane.

El Murr, Dimitri. (2020) “Friendship in Early Greek Ethics.” In: Early Greek Ethics , ed. David Conan Wolfsdorf. Oxford: Oxford. Ch. 24.

Elder, Alexis. (2013) “Why Bad People Can’t Be Good Friends,” Ratio , vol. 27, iss. 1: 84-99.

Elder, Alexis. (2018) Friendship, Robots, and Social Media: False Friends and Second Selves . New York: Routledge.

Helm, Bennett. (2021) “Friendship,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy : plato.stanford.edu.

Jeske, Diane. (2023) The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Friendship . New York: Routledge.

Moles, John L. (1996) “Cynic Cosmopolitanism.” In: The Cynics: The Cynic Movement in Antiquity and Its Legacy , eds. R. Bracht Branham and Marie-Odile Goulet-Cazé. Berkeley: California.

Nussbaum, Martha C. (2009) The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy . Updated Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge.

Pakaluk, Michael. (1991) Other Selves: Philosophers on Friendship . Indianapolis: Hackett.

Shields, Christopher. (2020) “Aristotle,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy : plato.stanford.edu.

Trujillo, G.M. (2020) “Friendship for the Flawed: A Cynical and Pessimistic Theory of Friendship,” Southwest Philosophy Review , vol. 36, iss. 1: 199-209.

For Further Reading

Katz, Emily. (2023) “Three lessons from Aristotle on Friendship,” The Conversation .

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G.M. Trujillo, Jr. is Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso. He specializes in ethics, especially virtue ethics and bioethics. www.Boomert.info

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True Friendship Essay

500 words true friendship essay.

Friendship is an essential part of everyone’s lives. One cannot do without friends, we must have some friends to make life easier. However, lucky are those who get true friendship in life. It is not the same as friendship. True friendship is when the person stays by you through thick and thin. Through true friendship essay, we will look at what it means and its importance.

Importance of True Friendship

Friendship has a significant value in our lives. It is responsible for teaching us a lot of unforgettable lessons. Some are even life-changing so we must cherish friendship. It is not common to find true friendship in life.

But when you do, make sure to hold on tightly to it. True friendship teaches us how to love others who are not our family. Ultimately, our friends also become our family. A true friendship makes life easy and gives us good times.

Thus, when the going gets tough, we depend on our friends for solace. Sometimes, it is not possible to share everything with family , that is where friends come in. We can share everything with them without the fear of being judged.

Moreover, true friendship also results in good memories. You spend time with friends and enjoy it to the fullest, later on, the same moments become beautiful memories. Only a true friendship will cheer on you and help you do better in life.

Through true friendship, we learn about loyalty and reliability. When you have a true friend by your side, nothing can stop you. Your confidence enhances and you become happier in life. Thus, it changes our life for the better and keeps us happy.

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Maintaining True Friendship

While it is lucky to get true friendship in life, it is also important to maintain this friendship so that one does not lose out on it. A time comes when we separate from our true friends, but one shouldn’t let distance act as a barrier.

It is essential to keep in touch with your friends so they know you are there for them. Most importantly, we must give our friends the love and respect they deserve. It is essential to treat them nicely so they never forget their worth.

Further, we must also remain honest with our friends. If you do not offer them all this, your friendship may begin to fade. Thus, make sure to pour equal shares of love, respect and honesty.

Conclusion of True Friendship Essay

Thus, we must never rush to make friends. Remember, true friendship cannot be faked. It will need a good foundation. So, a true friendship accepts the person for who they are instead of changing them. A true friendship will never have an ulterior motive, it will always offer selflessly.

FAQ on True Friendship Essay

Question 1: What are the signs of true friendship?

Answer 1: The signs of a true friendship are that they will accept you for who you are instead of trying to change you. Similarly, they will be there for you in good and bad times. They will celebrate your achievements and push you to do better if you fail. Most importantly, they will tell you the truth even if you don’t like it.

Question 2: Who is a true friend?

Answer 2: A true friend is someone who is always completely honest. Moreover, even if we don’t talk to them every day, we know they will be there for us. Thus, silence never gets awkward with them. We may not talk to them or see them for a long time, but when we meet them, it will be like old times.

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The Importance of Friendship

Friendships are a crucial part of living a fulfilling life..

Posted July 26, 2021 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

Friendship makes life more enjoyable and enriches one's everyday experiences.
Finding friends can be challenging but can be often achieved by approaching others with mutual interests.
The first criteria one should look for in a partner is someone who is ultimately a good friend to them.

As we move through life, we find that there are many things out of our control. We can’t choose our parents, our genetics , or control the things that happen in the world around us. One thing that we can control is who our friends are, and this decision can either make our lives so much richer and beautiful, or more stressful and disappointing. Today we’ll focus on how to choose friends who enrich our lives and make them more beautiful.

Why friends are so important

Having solid friendships is important for two main reasons. First, they make life more enjoyable. We get to share the beautiful aspects of life with people who we love, which can enrich our everyday experiences. Second, our friends help us through the difficult times. Having friends to support us through hard times can make unimaginably difficult situations seem more tolerable.

The most beautiful part about pouring our time and energy into friendships is that not only do friends help enrich our lives, but we enrich theirs too! Friendships get us through the tough times in life, make things more fun and enjoyable, and all-around make our lives better. I urge you to take stock of your friendships and ask yourself if your current friends people build you up and support you, or is the friendship more one-sided?

As we explore friendships today, these are also inclusive of our partners. I believe that the foundation for any healthy relationship is friendship. So it’s important to group our romantic partners into this conversation too.

So, where do we find friends? This might sound silly, but finding friends can be challenging! When I first moved to California for my Ph.D., I didn’t have any friends out here. There were quite a few people in my program that I enjoyed spending time with. But, towards the end of school, they became very busy and were no longer able to dedicate time to hang out anymore. Thankfully, through the help of a very good therapist, I learned that it was important to enjoy life instead of striving for excellence all of the time. As a result, I learned how important it was to carve out time in my life for friends.

Unfortunately, the people I had dedicated time to thus far were achievement-oriented and were pouring their time into work and not our friendships. This forced me to seek out other ways to form connections with people. I ended up finding a local hiking group with the hopes of meeting people with similar interests. During one of these hikes, I met Jim, one of my best friends to this day.

We became instant friends. We have continued to support each other over the years, and even more importantly, we always make time for one another. We both view the friendship as one that makes each other’s lives better, therefore it’s always worth the time and energy. The backbone of any successful friendship is one where both sides put in equal effort and support.

Both Jim and I were forced to put in more effort when he moved across the country to the East Coast. Because we already had such a strong foundation, this didn’t impact our friendship. We talk all of the time and see each other several times a year. We make the relationship a priority no matter what coast each other is on. Like anything in life that is valuable to us, we must work at it and put time and effort into it.

When it's time to move on from a friendship

The second part of the friendship discussion can be a difficult one — reassessing your current friendships and potentially moving on from friends who don’t add value to your life.

Two of my best friends from high school went down different paths from me. We still keep in contact, but I don’t spend too much time with them anymore. The supporting, loving part of our relationship wasn’t there anymore, so it was no longer worth putting energy into maintaining a friendship that had changed so much.

This may be a story you can relate to. What I hope you take away from this post is this — friendships take energy, time, and commitment. And if you’re putting your time and energy into someone who isn’t enriching your life and giving you the support you need, it may be time to reevaluate that friendship.

If you find yourself in the market for friends (who isn’t?) I recommend you find groups or activities that you genuinely enjoy. This way you’ll have the opportunity to connect with people who have similar interests. And once you’re there, take a risk! Talk to people, exchange contact information, and follow up with them. It may feel scary at first, but the reward outweighs the momentary uncomfortable feeling you may have.

Friendship and dating

In many ways, the most important friendship in our lives is the one we have with our romantic partners. The first criteria we should look for in this partner is someone who is ultimately a good friend to us, meaning that they are kind, positive, loving, and supportive. If we’re dating someone and they’re a jerk, it’s probably safe to assume that they’re not a good friend. To avoid this, I recommend seeking out someone who is a good friend first, i.e. before the romance and sexual stuff gets in the way.

When there are bumps in a friendship or a romantic relationship , it’s important to work through those tough times. The tricky part is that it will take two people to fix that issue. We can only control our actions and hold ourselves accountable, but we cannot control our friend or our partner's reaction. In addition to our own actions, we have control over the friends or partners that we choose in the first place. If we prioritize choosing good people who we can trust will work through issues with us, then we can work through anything.

Friendships are a crucial part of living a fulfilling life. It’s so important that we surround ourselves with people who we have fun with, who support us, and people who make us better. You may already have beautiful friendships in your life, but if you’re still in the market for friends, it’s never too late to cultivate new relationships that will make your life even more magnificent.

Robert Puff, Ph.D. , is host and producer of the Happiness Podcast, with over 16 million downloads.

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Essay on Friendship

Friendship is a timeless and cherished bond that transcends age, culture, and circumstance. It is a connection that enriches our lives, provides support in times of need, and offers a profound sense of belonging. In this essay, we will delve into the meaning of friendship, its qualities, the significance it holds in our lives, and the art of nurturing and maintaining these invaluable relationships. Understanding friendship is essential for students aiming to participate in essay writing competitions, as it touches upon the very essence of human connection.

Friendship can be defined as a close and meaningful relationship between two or more individuals characterized by mutual affection, trust, understanding, and support. It is a bond formed through shared experiences, interests, and genuine care for each other’s well-being.

Qualities of Friendship

Trust: Trust is the bedrock of friendship. Friends rely on each other and have confidence in the loyalty and reliability of their companions.
Mutual Respect: True friends respect each other’s values, boundaries, and differences. They celebrate each other’s individuality.
Shared Interests: Common interests and hobbies often form the basis of friendships. Shared activities strengthen the bond between friends.
Empathy: Friends offer a listening ear and understanding shoulder in times of joy and sorrow. Empathy deepens the connection and provides emotional support.
Loyalty: Friendship thrives on loyalty. Friends stand by each other through thick and thin, offering unwavering support.

Significance of Friendship

Emotional Support: Friends provide a vital support system during life’s challenges. They offer comfort, encouragement, and a sense of belonging during difficult times.
Mental Well-being: Strong friendships are linked to improved mental health. They reduce stress, increase happiness, and provide a sense of purpose.
Personal Growth: Friends challenge and inspire us to become better versions of ourselves. They offer constructive feedback and encourage self-improvement.
Social Connection: Friendship combats feelings of loneliness and isolation. It enriches our lives with meaningful social interactions.
Happiness: Genuine friendships contribute to our overall happiness and life satisfaction. They create lasting memories and moments of joy.

5 values of friendship

The values of friendship are essential qualities and principles that contribute to the depth and strength of a genuine and meaningful friendship. Here are five values that underpin the essence of true friendship:

Trust: Trust is the foundation of any lasting friendship. It involves having confidence in your friend’s reliability, honesty, and loyalty. Friends should be able to confide in each other, knowing that their secrets and vulnerabilities will be respected.
Respect: Respect in friendship means acknowledging and valuing each other’s individuality, beliefs, boundaries, and differences. Friends treat each other with courtesy and consideration, even when they have contrasting opinions or lifestyles.
Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand and share in the feelings and experiences of your friend. It involves being a compassionate listener, offering support during challenging times, and celebrating each other’s joys and successes.
Loyalty: Loyalty is a core value in friendship. True friends stand by each other through thick and thin, offering unwavering support and loyalty, even when faced with difficulties or disagreements.
Communication: Open and honest communication is key to a healthy friendship. Friends should be able to express their thoughts, feelings, and concerns without fear of judgment. Effective communication helps in resolving conflicts and strengthening the bond between friends.

These values are the building blocks of strong, enduring friendships that bring joy, support, and fulfillment to the lives of those who cherish them.

Nurturing Friendships

Communication: Open and honest communication is vital for maintaining friendships. Regularly check in with friends, share thoughts and feelings, and actively listen to their concerns.
Quality Time: Spend quality time together, whether in person or virtually. Shared experiences strengthen the bond between friends.
Supportive Acts: Show kindness and support through actions. Be there for your friends when they need you, and offer help willingly.
Resolve Conflicts: Conflicts are natural in any relationship. Address them promptly and constructively, focusing on finding solutions rather than blame.
Respect Boundaries: Respect your friends’ personal boundaries and their need for space when necessary.

The Importance of Friendship in Adolescence:

1. Emotional Support and Understanding:
2. Identity Formation:
3. Social Skills Development:
4. Peer Influence:
5. Sense of Belonging:
6. Coping with Transitions:
7. Lifelong Lessons:

Toxic Friendships

Friendships are typically associated with positivity, trust, and support. However, not all friendships are healthy or beneficial. Toxic friendships are those that have a detrimental impact on your well-being, emotional health, and overall life satisfaction. It’s crucial to recognize the signs of a toxic friendship, understand its consequences, and take steps to address or end it.

Signs of a Toxic Friendship:

Constant Negativity: A toxic friend tends to be consistently negative, complaining, criticizing, and bringing down your mood.
Self-Centeredness: They are primarily focused on their needs, problems, and interests, rarely showing genuine interest in your life.
Manipulation: Toxic friends may use manipulation tactics to control or exploit you, often making you feel guilty or obligated.
Lack of Support: They are not there for you during challenging times, and they may even undermine your goals and aspirations.
Jealousy and Competition: Toxic friends may become envious of your successes and engage in unhealthy competition or passive-aggressive behaviors.
Betrayal of Trust: They may breach your trust by sharing personal information or spreading rumors about you.

In conclusion, friendship is a priceless gem that adds depth and meaning to our lives. It thrives on trust, mutual respect, and support, offering solace in times of need and joy in moments of celebration. As budding writers, we must recognize the profound significance of these bonds, striving to cultivate and cherish them as we navigate life’s journey. Friendship is, indeed, a treasure worth preserving.

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Definition of friendship

benevolence
brotherhood
cordialness
friendliness
gemütlichkeit
good-fellowship
neighborliness

Examples of friendship in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'friendship.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

see friend entry 1

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing friendship

betray someone's friendship

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Friendship sloop

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“Friendship.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/friendship. Accessed 14 May. 2024.

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Essay on Friendship in 50/100/150/500 Words

Essay on Friendship: – Friendship is basically a relationship between two or more people of the same or different age groups. As we, team GuideToExam always focus on giving something new to our readers, this time, we have come up with a detailed Essay on Friendship. Varieties of “ Essay on Friendship ” as per the requirement of Students are included here.

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Table of Contents

Essay on Friendship in 150 words

Friendship is a communal and a common faithful and loyal and trustworthy relationship flanked by two or more people who are emotionally involved and interrelated to each other in a friendly manner.

We factually can’t live our entire time of life unaccompanied or alone and for this reason, we require a faithful and loyal connection between two or more people to live gladly and happily called friendship or briefly we call for to have friends in our life, in turn, to make our life with a reduction of boring memories.

Friendship is not narrow or stuck to the age of people that is to say a tiny boy can be there as a good friend with his grandfather or any aged person, sex i.e. a girl can be a good friend of a boy and a boy can be good friends with a girl, literacy point, height or level in the social order, etc. also humans can be friends with animals as they find them more trustworthy the choices of people varies from one person to the other.

Essay on Friendship in 200 words

Friendship refers to camaraderie and proximity. Friendship is something which is something very difficult at the same time it bestows lots and lots of reminiscences too. Steadfast friendship lasts everlastingly but the friendship which was preordained for benefit of no matter which is quite little hurtful.

We can’t choose our family in which we are born. right? Like our parents, brothers, sisters, etc. other than yeah, of course, we can choose our second family which comprises our friends so we should always be very defensive grown up and shrewd enough and should make good quality people as our friends.

Friends can alter a person from Good to bad and even bad to good, the thing which matters the most is friendship or amity or acquaintance or companionship or comradeship or camaraderie or closeness or familiarity or our alliance.

We should make partial friends and be supposed to be faithful with them as an alternative to making plenty of associates or friends or links with people who as an alternative to serving or sustaining or supporting you in your absence, they backbite about you.

Friends craft our life fascinating or very less uninteresting or boring; they fill up our lives with plenty of reminiscences or memories.

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Essay on Friendship in 300 Words

What is Friendship: – Friendship is a divine relation. It can be called a bridge of love between two persons. Friendship binds two souls together.

Why man needs friends: – Man is a social animal. He doesn’t like to live alone. Man always needs a company of some similar liking persons. Man always wants to share joy and sorrow with others. That is why a man needs a friend. A man who doesn’t have any friends can be called an unlucky fellow.

What is true friendship: – Though there is no certain definition of true friendship, we can identify true friendship through some certain qualities. A friend in need is a friend indeed goes the proverb.

A true friend always stands by us in every situation. They not only come on our good days, but they also stand and support us in our bad times. A good friend is always ready to sacrifice everything for us.

We can rely on him in every situation. He/She is the best source of inspiration for us. A true friend always gives us good advice. He also thinks good for us.

Dangers of evil friends: – We must be very careful in choosing our friends. All the people that surround us are not our friends. Some people remain with us only in the days of our prosperity.

They leave us in our bad times. They are not our real friends. Those evil friends always lead us toward the evil path.

My experience with Friends: – I have got both sweet and bitter tastes in friendship. I have some good friends who always think good about me. They are very near to me. But during the early days of my school life, I had some friends; those friends were not real friends.

They didn’t last long. They remained with me during my good times and they left me when I needed their help. Friendship is a heavenly relation. Every man expects a good friend in their life. Without a friend, our life will become dull and Charmless.

Long Essay on Friendship

Friendship refers to companionship and closeness. Friendship is something which is something very complicated at the same time it gives lots and lots of memories too. Loyal friendship lasts forever but the friendship which was meant for the advantage of anything is quite a little harmful.

We can’t decide the family in which we are born right? Like our parents, brothers, sisters, etc. but yeah, of course, we can choose our second family which comprises our friends so we should always be very protective, mature and wise enough and should make good people as our friends.

Friends can change a person from Good to bad and even bad to good, the thing which matters the most is friendship. We should make limited friends and should be loyal to them instead of making lots of friends who instead of helping or supporting you in your absence backbite you. Friends make our life interesting or very less boring; they fill our lives with lots of memories.

Friendship is a shared faithful and loyal relationship between two or more people who are emotionally involved and interrelated to each other in a friendly manner.

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We literally can’t live our whole life alone and hence we need a faithful and loyal relationship between two or more people to live happily called friendship or in short we need to have friends in our life in order to make our lifeless boring.

Friendship is not limited to the age of people i.e. a small boy can be a good friend with his grandfather or any old person, sex i.e. a girl can be a best friend of a boy and vice Versa, literacy position, level in the society, etc.

Humans can even be friends with animals as they might feel animals more trustworthy than human beings in short people can share friendship with anything they feel good with.

Friendship normally becomes more powerful or strong between people with the same thinking style etc. no one of us will have an interesting and complete and satisfying life without having friendship, friendship is very important.

Everyone out there needs a friend to share his or her feelings, which may comprise both sadness and happiness. Good friends help to overcome a fear of something.

A friend is the one whom one trusts and loves very much. Good friends help us to be positive and help improve our character etc. friends motivate each other without criticizing them.

True and pure and good friendship is the most precious gift of life. A person should have to be very lucky if have a good friend if you have a good friend then you should feel very special and lucky as very fewer people have this blessing.

Friendship is something that no one wants to lose. True friendship gives us numerous unforgettable memories and many sweet experiences to experience. Searching for a good friend is very hard if we find a good friend, it makes our lives heaven and if our friend is bad he or she makes our life hard and ugly as hell.

Some people are lucky enough to carry or have their childhood friend throughout their lives as childhood friends are found to know each other more but some breaks down their friendship due to misunderstanding, long-distance or other problems, etc. friends are our family outside our home which gives us the best memories of our life.

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Of Friendship Essay | Summary by Francis Bacon

Table of Contents

Introduction

The essay Of Friendship by Francis Bacon celebrated the intimacy between friends which is subjected to both prosperity and adversity without succumbing to the clouds of doubt and jealousy. The essay was written on the request of his friend Toby Matthew.

Human need for company

Bacon introduces the text with thoughts of Aristotle on companionship. He posits that human nature demands company and social contact . Isolation and solitude are traits of either wild beast or heavenly god.

Human beings require other human beings and anyone who avoids such interaction is not doing justice to his natural state. Bacon does not criticize people who feel shy in a crowd and head for therefore seek isolation in the wild.

Such people find great value in peace and it aids their mental processes to contemplate of profound issues. Through their extensive analysis, they journey on a path of self-discovery. Such hermits search for truth and knowledge in continued social sequestration.

However, the consequences of such isolation can be like a double-edged sword, desirable or detrimental. Bacon points to philosophers like Epimenides the Candian, Numa the Roman, Empedocles the Sicilian, and Apollonius of Tyana, who postulated theories unique to their age and contemporaries.

Their works are of immense philosophical wealth. Even several spiritual men find great benefit and progress through prolonged abstention from public life. Therefore, voluntary retreat from society can have positive consequences too.

Bacon attempts to differentiate between kinship and general crowd. For him, there is a big difference between strangers of society and known friends. A person can feel lonely in a crowd too . People may become transient glimpses which are lost if a person does not interact with them.

If a person does not feel passionate or interested in a conversation then it becomes an exercise in futile monologues and is similar in meaning to the undecipherable notes of musical instruments like cymbals.

Bacon uses a Latin adage which means that a big city is filled with great solitude. In a large city, people are separated and encamped in distinct areas that are difficult to bring closer together.

These long distances cause separation between friends and relatives. Therefore, for cultivating friendship a small city or town is more conducive . In smaller townspeople live closer by and mingle a lot more regularly. Thus, these small cities have strong and united communities.

According to Bacon, a friendship demands the involvement of passions and feelings. They form the foundation of any friendship. Emotions are the threads that bind the hearts together.

A cure for ailing hearts

Bacon points to the ailments of the heart that it suffers if it stops or is suffocated. A healthy heart required vigour and the same is provided by an intimate and friendly conversation with one’s pals.

The bonhomie is the cure for depression and various diseases of the heart. Friendship is the panacea for heartaches. A true friend acts a secondary valve for the heart to pump life into a sick person.

Amusing and pleasant badinage acts as a stress reliever for the burdened and ailing heart. It elevates the mood of gloom and deathly isolation that a patient feels and makes him feel good again.

Patients take medicines like sarza for the liver, steel for the spleen, flowers of sulphur for the lungs, castoreum for the brain etc, but for the issues of the heart, the love and affection of a friend is the best cure.

Friendship can be bought

The elite of society like kings and leaders are really adept at making friends. They understand the value of friendly ties with worthy people. The rich and the powerful often try to buy friendships of noble and influential people through gifts, badges of reverence and their wealth.

But such friends lack emotional attachment with their patrons or benefactors. Their loyalty or friendship is tied to generous rewards and they are susceptible to corruption and greed.

Friendship requires a quantum of parity if not equality. Therefore, the massive chasm between the king and his subjects cannot be bridged that easily.

Even if the princes admire certain ordinary individuals they find it difficult to befriend them. The only solution is to elevate such individuals so that they come nearer to the monarch in terms of power and influence.

But such trade in friendship is often problematic. The intentions of someone whose friendship can be bought are not reliable and subject to greed and wickedness. The people who do enter the caucus of such powerful elite become favourites to them.

Bacon tells us that the Romans had a special name for such individuals, ‘ participes curarum ’ meaning people who share one’s fears, doubts and worries.

This sharing of one’s burdens is a true quality of friendship and a strong tie of camaraderie. These favoured individuals gain the confidence of the elite and offer advice to them.

This practice and ploy of befriending individuals have been prevalent throughout history, from able and proud monarchs to weak and cloying rulers.

The empowered elite has used their political wits and acumen to enlist such friends at par with the ranks of nobility and governance.

History teaches the toughest lessons

Now, Bacon comments on some historical examples. He says that Roman ruler Sylla gave Pompey the moniker of ‘the Great’. However, consumed by arrogance Sylla’s friend Pompey reprimanded and rebuked him in public when they had some disagreement.

Pompey derided Sylla as the setting sun while calling himself the rising sun of Roman power. Similarly, Decimus Brutus gained Julius Ceaser ’s friendship and became his most trusted advisor . Ceaser was so entrenched in his devotion to Brutus that he made him his heir apparent as well.

His blind trust in Brutus caused Caesar’s final downfall . Ceaser, fearing a calamity owing to his wife Calpurnia’s bloodied nightmare, had decided to dissolve the Senate.

Brutus, however, convinced him to delay his decision. He had such powerful hold over Ceaser that Antonius would call him an enchantress ( venefica ) with evil machinations.

Even though Agrippa was from an ignoble birth, Augustus befriended him and honoured him with royal commendation. Agrippa was showered with praise, privilege and power.

When Augustus decided to marry his daughter Julia, his counsellor Maecenas suggested marrying her to Agrippa. According to Maecenas Agrippa was the best man for her and in the emperor decided otherwise, Agrippa had to be killed.

Bacon gives the example of friendship between Tiberius and Sejanus. Tiberius was charmed by Sejanus they became inseparable companions. This brought great stature and honour to Sejanus.

Their friendship was considered as venerated as a goddess. Even an altar was attributed to their companionship by the Senate.

Bacon then praised the friendship between Septimus Severus and Plautianus. Septimus’s son and Plautianus’ daughter were married against Plautianus’s wishes.

Even when irate Plautianus condemned Septimus’ son, their friendship did not weaken. On the contrary, Septimus praised his friend beyond reason and logic. He even wished Plautianus a longer and more fulfilling life than his own.

Bacon reiterated that all the historical figures he mentioned were hard and practical men . They did not have the noble heart or compassion like Trajan or Marcus Aurelius.

A valuable blueprint

Every decision they made was strategic and careful and not impulsive or emotional. However, it was their longing for friendship that made them gush in praise of their friends.

Even with all the power in the world, luxuries of life, doting families, they were dependent on the whims of their friends. In the end, these favoured individuals became their nemesis and cause for their demise.

Bacon goes on to highlight the requirement of a friend to share joys and sorrows, successes and failures with. He gives the example of Duke Charles Hardy and French king Louis XI through their diplomat Comineus.

He says that in their last years both of them became reclusive and isolated themselves from others. They grew suspicious of everyone and were afraid of divulging any information that could bring their empires to a collapse.

Bacon points at the parable given by Pythagoras i.e. ‘ Cor ne edito ’, meaning ‘eat not the heart’ . Pythagoras had his suspicions of who can be called as true friends.

He felt that a worthy friend who can be trusted with one’s intimate secrets and even then there would be chances of his trust being broken. He likened it to cannibalizing one’s own heart.

Two sides of a coin

Becoming intimate and excessively dependent on a friend can be a double-edged sword . It can help unburden the baggage of the heart and weight of worries. But on the flipside, it can all be just an illusion of comfort.

Realistically no such friend exists who can reduce one’s own grief and pain. Palliation and reduction of pain through such miracle friends are all but fool’s gold. He goes on again reaffirm the ability of true friendship to comfort one’s ailing heart but at a risk of hurt .

Even Nature testifies to the fact that when two elements combine, they form a better and improved thing. Even if there is an element of faith and risk, human friendship can cure and soothe the injuries of the heart.

Personal bonds can have an embalming impact that enhances one’s quality of life, strengthens mental prowess and. They provide cover in the midst of a storm. Friendship is like the glorious sunlight after that turbulent storm has passed over the horizon.

Bacon proffers a caveat that friends will not guarantee great advice all the time.

But when a person does not have clarity of thoughts and emotions or biases cloud his/her judgment, a friend can be a sounding board or even an enlightened perspective. This can be more productive than hours of contemplative meditation in isolation.

He quotes Themistocles who thought speech can be appreciated only if heard . It was similar to the rich textiles of Arras that needed to be seen to be appreciated and admired for their beauty and craftsmanship.

In the same vein, human thoughts when shared can unlock cluttered minds . Packs of folded tapestry lie underappreciated and overlooked until it is unravelled.

Even a not so clever and witty can have an illuminated opinion when one propagated his thoughts to him. This puts them under a different light. Bacon gives the analogy of the thinker as tool sharpened on the obtuse friend acting as the whetting stone.

Self vs others

Bacon sage advice from well-meaning friends often leads to desirable consequences. Sometimes intuition, instincts, and emotions can tint and obfuscate one’s own judgment.

Our inherent biases can create complexities that can be eased by wise friends. Bacon points at Heraclitus who considered such invaluable advice as ‘ dry and pure light ’ enlightening and comforting.

Bacon warns against cultivating sycophants and men of tact. He considers the counsel of such cloying individuals as more dangerous and lethal and even vain judgments.

Notwithstanding that one should be aware of one’s own limitations of value judgment. It is very rare that men are adequately self-critical and inherent weakness should not cause us to reject the sound advice of able and well-intentioned men.

Such advice can have two purposes. Firstly, personal i.e. out of the goodness of one’s heart and secondly, conduct for the preservation of self-interest i.e. for business. Such criticism acts as a check on one’s pride and a cure for vanity.

Bacon says that reading books on good conduct and morality is uninspiring and learning through observation of other people’s behaviour is not always advisable or even possible. In such condition having a friend who is willing to evaluate and criticize our flawed judgments act as a remedy.

History is replete with examples of powerful men who committed the biggest of blunders and damaged their name and position only for a want of some good advice from good friends.

Bacon quotes St. James who warned people against the blindness induced by self-deception regarding one’s own faults and limitations.

People often cannot see their own flaws, especially when met with some success. To them, another set of eyes sees the same things and they do not need other’s advice.

Similarly, a gambler thinks he sees better than the onlookers or a gun can be fired as efficiently from a rest as from the arm. These musings reflect an arrogant and conceited mind which can lead to dire consequences for the individual.

Any good business advisor always weighs the pros and cons and extends the best counsel without hesitation. A man can ask different advice from different friends and it is better than always gunning by one’s own instincts.

However, there could be an element of envy or complacency on the part of anyone advisor if there are multiple advisors. Only loyal and principled advisor the intention behind the advice remains questionable.

Bacon says that every counsellor is limited by his own ability to analyze and study the matter , even if he intends well. Therefore, there always exists a risk that the outcome of such advice is undesirable.

Bacon gives the analogy of a well-meaning but incompetent doctor who gives the wrong medicine to the patient without enquiring about his medical history. Instead of getting a cure, this could lead to more damage and even death.

To conclude

To conclude the essay Of Friendship , Bacon claims that every businessman must have a single reliable counsellor . A confidant who understands every little detail of his work and proffers correct advice based on sound judgment and analysis of the business.

Multiple counsellors might lead to multiple and often conflicting paths be. The two main advantages of friendship are emotional support and good advice .

Bacon enlists the third benefit too. He explains it in terms of the pomegranate fruit. He says that a good friend has many parts for different occasions just like the many kernels inside the pomegranate.

Every human being is faced with things that he cannot accomplish on his own. It is here, a friend is more than one body. He is more than his own self. As discussed in ancient times, a friend is a replica of one’s self.

Bacon feels that a loyal and self-sacrificing friend is a friend not just for life but even in death . A true friend will honour is departed friend’s wishes and take care of his responsibilities like taking care of his family, finish all the unfinished things like repayment of debts etc.

Another advantage is of the delegation of authority . At any given point of time, a friend can fill in for any person. Be it running a business or defending the house or safekeeping secrets, a loyal friend is a true blessing.

He is the best deputy anyone can ask for. There are numerous things for which a man requires another set of hands, a pair of eyes and even different perspective. It is here a true friend becomes invaluable.

Bacon feels that when someone is trying to convince others of his value and qualities, he tends to be consumed with haughtiness and thus is easily ridiculed by them. On the other hand, sometimes people become too self-aware and shy and find it difficult to praise themselves.

They feel awkward in asking for a favour or even something they deserve or merit. These problems can be obviated through the agency of a loyal friend who has more social utility and functions that people normally assume.

A trustworthy friend acts a great arbiter or intermediary. He becomes a conduit for messages when it is to be relayed to a pugnacious child or disgruntled spouse or even avowed enemy.

Thus, friends bring a lot easy in such difficult situations and help break barriers of communication . Bacon ends the essay condemning an unsociable man without friends as an aloof being not fit to belong to society.

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Of Friendship

Let’s dive right in for an in-depth “Of Friendship Summary and Analysis”.

Francis Bacon begins “Of Friendship” with an anthropological statement of Aristotle i.e “Whatsoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god.” It is humans’ nature that whenever they come across solitude, they act as wild beasts due to ‘natural and secret hatred’ and ‘aversation towards society’. There are however, examples of few men like ‘Epimenides the Candian,Numa the Roman, Empedocles the Sicilian, and Apollonius of Tyana’, all these men tried to sequester themselves for a higher conversation. Bacon calls their attempt ‘false and feign’ without supporting his argument, he leaves it to the reader’s evaluation to decide whether they were ‘false and feign’ or righteous in their pursuit. Bacon further demonstrates that solitude may also prevails in company; faces may be nothing more than ‘a gallery of pictures’; conversation may be ‘tinkling cymbal’ where there is no love. As a Latin saying clearly supports Bacon’s point, “Magna civitas, magna solitude”. Great cities are great solitudes.The reason behind this very statement is that in greater cities, friends are scattered and there is no fellowship. Bacon says it is the miserable solitude that compels a person to make friends and a person wills to want true friends without which the world is not other than a place of wilderness. In second paragraph of his essay, Bacon describes the utilitarian approach of friendship. He elaborates utility of a friend in life.

The Principal Fruit of Friendship:

The principal fruit of friendship is the ease and discharge of the fullness and swellings of the heart, which passions of all kinds do cause and induce.The diseases of stoppings and suffocations are the most dangerous in the body, so, a true friend helps to unload emotional burden. A person may take ‘sarza to open the liver, steel to open the spleen, flowers of Sulphur for the lungs, castoreum for the brain’ but there is no dose to open the heart except a true friend. A true friend can be utilized to impart griefs,joys,hopes,suspicions,counsels, and whatsoever lies upon heart to suppress it.

In the third paragraph, Bacon tells some bitter realities of friendship. He luminates some examples from the history where friendship took place between emperors and their servants. The rulers rose their servants or subordinatives so high that later on they caused immense inconvenience for them. Those subordinatives knowing the weakness of their royal friends, made attempts to make them their own subordinatives. Firstly, he gives example of L. Sylla, the commander of Rome, who raised the general of his forces, Pompey to great height. Afterwards, Pompey vaunted himself for Sylla’s overmatch.

Brutus had slowly made his way to Ceaser’s heart. He was Ceaser’s closest confidant and advisor. As a reward of the enduring companionship provided by Brutus, Ceaser in his will had made Brutus his heir after his nephew. Brutus had cast a spell over Ceaser, an influence the latter never suspected as wicked. This was to become Ceaser’s nemesis later. Ceaser had all but dismissed the senate because some ill omen portended a calamity. His wife’s deadly dream about an impending danger strengthened Ceaser’s desire to do away with the senate. Brutus stepped in at the last moment to prevail upon Ceaser to hold back his decision of discharging the senate until Culpurina (Ceaser’s wife) dreamt something better. So great was Brutus’s sway on Ceaser that in one of Antonius’ letter, mentioned by Cicero in his speech, Antonius has disparagingly called Brutus ‘venefica’– a witch, who had ‘enchanted’ Ceaser for evil designs.

Augustus elevated Agrippa high up in the royal hierarchy despite the latter’s mean birth (not from a noble family). Agrippa’s clout in the royal court had soared ominously. He was enjoying enviable privilege and power. When Augustus consulted the royal counselor Maecenas about the marriage of his daughter Julia, the counselor proffered an awkward advice. He suggested to Augustus to give his daughter in marriage to Agrippa. There was no way anyone else could win her hand with Agrappa around. If this was not agreeable to the emperor, he would have to eliminate Agrippa. There was no third option.

In the same way, Bacon gives some more examples of Tiberius Caesar and Sejanus, Septimius Severus and Plautianus etc. All these men tasted a bitter fruit of friendship.

All the characters described above were not novices. They were not soft-hearted and noble-minded like Trajan, or Marcus Aurelius. In fact, these eminent members of Rome’s royalty were hard-nosed pragmatists. They took no major decision relating to governance without enough care, caution and confabulation.

Yet, why did all of them fawn over their friends in such bizarre manner? This is explained by the fact that these powerful persons craved for friendship in their quest for worldly happiness.

Bacon reiterates his contention by saying that all these eminent men had access to all pleasures of life, had families, wealth and power. They failed to draw a line in their relation with their chums. Later, the same adored friends brought them defeat, disaster and even death.

Bacon shares the parable of Pythagoras; Cor ne edito; ‘Eat not the heart’. It may seem dark but it is true that those that want friends to open their hearts are killers of their own hearts.

The First Fruit of Friendship:

The communication of a man’s self to his friend, works two contrary effects; first, it redoubles his joys and second, it cuts his griefs in halves. Because, there is no doubt when a person imparts his joys to his friends, he joys more than others. However, when he imparts his griefs, they become less. It is a fact that, bodies become healthier upon natural actions such as joy and happiness. Whereas, they are weakened and become dull on sad and violent impressions, same is the case with the mind.

The Second Fruit of Friendship:

As the first fruit is for the affections, the second fruit is for understanding of things under different perspectives. It makes ‘daylight in the understanding out of darkness and confusion of thoughts’. Moreover, a friend is undoubtedly, a witty counselor. He helps in different tough circumstances for making a way right out of trouble. Sharing one’s problems with a friend is far more fruitful than a day’s meditation. A friend’s counsel always works when a person himself is not clear with his thoughts. It is need of wisdom to think critically on a situation, hence , two minds can think more excellently than a single one. Bacon says, ‘ the help of good counsel is that which setteth business straight’. However, only that friend is legitimate for counsel who is wholly acquainted with a man’s estate. Otherwise, his counsel ‘will rather distract and mislead, than settle and direct.

The Last Fruit Of Friendship:

First two fruits helps for peace in the affections and support of the judgement. The last fruit is like pomegranate, full of many kernels. It helps in several ways and has manifold fruits in itself.There is an ancient saying,

‘ A Friend is another himself; for that a friend is far more than himself ’.

There are many things which, a man cannot do himself, and then a friend is an appropriate alternative. Undoubtedly, the death is inevitable, so if a man dies, a true friend is highly suitable to do his unfinished work.

A man owns a single body that is confined to a single place, but where there is friend, ‘ all offices of life are as it were granted to him, and his deputy.For he may exercise them by his friend’. A man cannot speak to his child except as a father. On the other hand , his friend can fulfill his job in a better way. A man has many proper relations that he doesnot want to put off. So, a friend can be helpul in handling his public and personal relations.

At the end of this essay, Bacon encloses with a rule, ‘where a man cannot fitly play his own part; if he have not a friend, he may quit the stage’.

More From Francis Bacon

Of Adversity
Of Ambition
Of Discourse
Of Followers and Friends
Of Great Place
Of Marriage and Single Life
Of Nobility
Of Parents and Children
Of Simulation and Dissimulation
Of Superstition
Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature

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The definition of friendship essay is quite clear and straightforward. A paper about friends can be described as a write-up on a relationship between two or more people. This interpretation makes it easier to obtain the meaning of friendship essay. Writing such thematic essay will help you communicate your feelings as well as your thoughts. It ...
Essay on Friendship: Samples to Check for A+ Writing
500 Words Essay Sample on Importance of Friendship. The Significance of Friendship: A Core Component in Human Life. Friendship, an intricate tapestry woven from shared experiences, mutual respect, and genuine camaraderie, stands as a cornerstone in the edifice of human existence.
Defining of True Friendship
The true friends are those who stand by you in both the good and the bad times. This group of friends accepts your mistakes and accepts you regardless of your condition. These people see the bright side of your life and encourage you to become more than what you are.
Friendship. The Meaning and Relevance.
Friendship is a relationship that helps us grow by learning from the joy, sadness, anger, disappointment, and forgiveness that is necessary to make friendships flourish and grow into lifelong bonds. We will write a custom essay on your topic. 809 writers online. Learn More. In a way, the best friend any person can have is God.
Essay on Friendship for Students and Children
500+ Words Essay on Friendship. Friendship is one of the greatest bonds anyone can ever wish for. Lucky are those who have friends they can trust. Friendship is a devoted relationship between two individuals. They both feel immense care and love for each other. Usually, a friendship is shared by two people who have similar interests and ...
Essays About Friendships: Top 6 Examples and 8 Prompts
8 Topic Prompts on Essays About Friendships. 1. The Importance of Friendship in Early Childhood Development. In your essay, tackle how they can help children with learning, communication, or behavioral difficulties build friendships.
Aristotle on Friendship: What Does It Take to Be a Good Friend?
This essay presents his views on friendship and a contemporary debate he inspired. An image of Aristotle and Hypatia laughing together, next to the first page of a Latin and Greek version of Nicomachean Ethics. Generated using Midjourney AI and edited by G.M. Trujillo, Jr. 1. Friendship, Useful Friends, and Pleasurable Friends
True Friendship Essay for Students and Children
500 Words True Friendship Essay. Friendship is an essential part of everyone's lives. One cannot do without friends, we must have some friends to make life easier. However, lucky are those who get true friendship in life. It is not the same as friendship. True friendship is when the person stays by you through thick and thin.
The Importance of Friendship
Having solid friendships is important for two main reasons. First, they make life more enjoyable. We get to share the beautiful aspects of life with people who we love, which can enrich our ...
Essay on Friendship
You can read more Essay Writing about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more. Long and Short Essays on Friendship for Kids and Students in English. Below are two essays- a 400-500 words long descriptive Essay on Friendship for students and a 150-200 words Essay on Friendship for children on the topic that will guide you.
Definition Of Friendship Example Essay
Beautiful, dangerous, and heart-wrenching, friendship is not something that can be easily defined. It is something that must be seen, lived, and experienced.. Poets can write about it, musicians and sing about it, but until you make a true friend, and become one in return, the definition of friendship will always be a bit slippery and hard to ...
Essay on Friendship [Edit & Download], Pdf
Essay on Friendship. Friendship is a timeless and cherished bond that transcends age, culture, and circumstance. It is a connection that enriches our lives, provides support in times of need, and offers a profound sense of belonging. In this essay, we will delve into the meaning of friendship, its qualities, the significance it holds in our ...
Friendship Definition & Meaning
The meaning of FRIENDSHIP is the state of being friends. How to use friendship in a sentence. the state of being friends; the quality or state of being friendly : friendliness; aid…
Essay on Friendship in 50/100/150/500 Words
Essay on Friendship in 300 Words. What is Friendship: - Friendship is a divine relation. It can be called a bridge of love between two persons. Friendship binds two souls together. Why man needs friends: - Man is a social animal. He doesn't like to live alone. Man always needs a company of some similar liking persons.
Of Friendship Essay
Friendship is the panacea for heartaches. A true friend acts a secondary valve for the heart to pump life into a sick person. Amusing and pleasant badinage acts as a stress reliever for the burdened and ailing heart. It elevates the mood of gloom and deathly isolation that a patient feels and makes him feel good again.
Of Friendship by Francis Bacon Summary & Analysis
Of Friendship. Let's dive right in for an in-depth "Of Friendship Summary and Analysis". Francis Bacon begins "Of Friendship" with an anthropological statement of Aristotle i.e. "Whatsoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god.". It is humans' nature that whenever they come across solitude, they act as wild ...
Definition Essay Friendship
Definition Essay Friendship Friendship is being loved by your friends and keeping in contact. My definition of true friendship is keeping in contact with them if it's a long distance friendship, try to support them in what activites they are in, and help them with any company or advice they need. Me and my best friend have been

The Meaning of Friendship

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Friendship Essay: Writing Guide, Outline With Examples

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Friendship: The Meaning and Relevance Essay

Essays About Friendships: Top 6 Examples and 8 Prompts

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Aristotle on Friendship: What Does It Take to Be a Good Friend?

1. Friendship, Useful Friends, and Pleasurable Friends

2. Virtuous Friends, the Best Friends

3. Do Good Friends Have to Be Good People?

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