On Friendship
by Kahlil Gibran
And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love
and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger,
and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay”
in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “ay.”
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
for with out 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.
And let there be no purpose
in friendship Save the
deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but
the disclosure of its own mystery
is not love but a net cast forth:
and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be 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 always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need,
but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship
let there be laughter,
and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things
the heart finds its morning
and is refreshed.
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