Friendship is always a sweet responsibility; never an opportunity.
Kahlil Gibran
MEANING OF THIS QUOTE
Friendship has to be one of the most beautiful relationships known to man. It is an inexplicable bond between non-family members who feel like family. And even when a person’s family fails to understand them due to generational gap and whatnot, a true friend always does. Friendship isn’t about hanging out together or going to cool parties; it is a connection that goes well beyond those superficial considerations. A good friend will always see your friendship as a duty, not a privilege. For them, it isn’t all about telling you the things that you would like to hear. In fact, theirs is a much harder job – they need to keep you, their dear friend, on the right path, even at the expense of alienating you.
SHOULD A GOOD FRIEND ALWAYS BE CRITICAL OF YOU?
Not when it’s not called for – and that’s where you need to trust your judgment of people. That said, if you have been friends with someone for long and you have stuck together through thick and thin, there is little reason to doubt their judgment and intentions. And while they wouldn’t be critical of you all the time, you can expect a good friend to be a good critic. They will be the first ones to call you out when you are doing something wrong.
NOT EVERYONE I HANG OUT WITH IS A FRIEND?
Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, most people you think of as friends aren’t even worthy of that tag. How many of those people would be there for you whenever and wherever you need? How many of them will be happy to see you succeed and heartbroken when you stumble? Will they have the courage to prod you into doing something you should do for your own good? These are the simple questions you need to ask yourself when narrowing down your friend list.
CONCLUSION
Friendship is not an opportunity to do fun stuff. It is more about being there for someone and guiding them along the right path when they have gone astray.
Gibran Khalil Gibran, usually known as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American author. Respected around the world for his insightful works and thoughtful quotes, Gibran once remarked: “Friendship is always a sweet responsibility; never an opportunity.”