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Chapter 19 - Friendship |
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a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship." |
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| And he answered, saying: Your friend is your needs
answered. He is your field which you sow with love
and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board
and your fireside. For you come to him with your
hunger, and you seek him for peace. |
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| When your friend speaks his mind you fear not
the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you with hold
the "aye." And when he is silent your heart ceases
not to listen to his heart; For without words, in
friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations
are born and shared, with joy that is unclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For
that which you love most in him may be clearer in
his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer
from the plain. |
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| And let there be no purpose in friendship save
the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks
aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not
love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable
is caught. |
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| And let your best be for your friend. If he must
know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood
also. For what is your friend that you should seek
him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours
to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not
your emptiness. And in the sweetness of friendship
let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. |
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| For in the dew of little things the heart finds
its morning and is refreshed. |
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