Friendship

Friendship

And a youth said, Speak of Friendship.

And he answered, saying:

Your friend is your needs answered.

He is your field which you sow with love

and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.

For you come to him with your hunger,

and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you

fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor

do you withhold the "ay."

And when he is silent your heart ceases

not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all

thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born

and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

When you part from your friend, you

grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may

be clearer in the absence, as the mountain

to the climber is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friend-

ship save the deepening of the spirit.

For love that seeks aught but the dis-

closure of its own mystery is not love

but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable

is caught.

And let your best friend 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 him always with hours to live.

For it is his to fill your need, but not

your emptiness.

And in the sweetness of friendship let

there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart

finds its morning and is refreshed.

The Prophet

By

Kahlil Gibran

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