FRIENDSHIP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15849, 20 February 1915, Page 5 (Supplement)

FRIENDSHIP

It is an inestimable blessing for any man or woman to possess a friend; one human soul in whom complete confidence may be reposed ; one who knows the best and worst of us, and loves us in spite of all our faults; who will speak the honest truth to us while the world flatters us to our face and laughs at us behind our backs; who will give us counsel and reproof in the day of prosperity and selfconceit, but who, again, will comfort and encourage us in the day of difficulty and sorrow, when the world leaves us alone to fight out our own battle. If we have had the good fortune to win the esteem of such a friend, let us do anything rather than lose him. We must give and forgive, live and let live. If our friends have faults, we must bear with them. We must hope all things, believe all things, endure all things, rather than lose that most precious of all earthly possessions, a trustworthy friend. Friends may part, not merely in body, but in spirit, for awhile. In "the bustle of business and the accidents of life they may lose sight of each other for years ; they may begin to differ in their success in life, in their opinions, in their habits, and there may for a time be coldness and estrangement between them ; but not for ever if each remains trusty and true.