Friendship
C.S. Lewis believes that friendships are built on commonality. However; if you begin to see that the person you are trying to build a friendship with don’t have the same similarities as you do then you begin to see that there will be no friendship amongst the two of you. C.S. Lewis says that the foundation of the friendship becomes difficult because, “friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one."
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Many people state that they “want friends” but never can’t make them. In Friendship - The Least Necessary Love they make a valid point, which states, “Do you see the same truth? would be "I see nothing and I don 't care about the truth; I only want a Friend," no Friendship can arise—though Affection of course may. There would be nothing for the Friendship to be about; and Friendship must be about something, even if it were only an enthusiasm for dominoes or white mice. Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travelers.” The second difficult which is attitude comes into play when distrust happens. Distrust in friendships happens when individuals become isolated. They begin to notice that they don’t share the same similarities between each other and they start to break off into groups. C.S. Lewis says, “There is the attitude of the majority towards all circles of close Friends. Every name they give such a circle is more or less derogatory. It is at best a "set"; lucky if not a coterie, a "gang," a "little senate," or a "mutual admiration society." Those who in their own lives know only Affection, Companionship and Eros, suspect Friends to be "stuck-up prigs who think themselves too good for us." Of course this is the voice of Envy. But Envy always brings the truest charge, or the charge nearest to the truth, that she can think up; it hurts more. This charge, therefore, will have …show more content…
C.S. Lewis says, “Friendship is—in a sense not at all derogatory to it—the least natural of loves; the least instinctive, organic, biological, gregarious and necessary. It has least commerce with our nerves: there is nothing throaty about it; nothing that quickens the pulse or turns you red and pale. It is essentially between individuals; the moment two men are friends they have in some degree drawn apart together from the herd. Without Eros none of us would have been begotten and without Affection none of us would have been reared; but we can live and breed without Friends.” As stated before you have to know yourself and truths. Without knowing yourself and truths you create non-natural
Friendship is a necessity throughout life whether it is during elementary school or during adulthood. Some friendships may last a while and some may last for a year; it depends on the strength of the bond and trust between the two people. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the main characters, Gene and Finny, did not have a pure friendship because it was driven by envy and jealousy, they did not feel the same way towards each other and they did not accurately understand each other.
In this friendship neither individual requires anything from the other. “There is no question here of any service, or of any demand. The friendship is one of pure, genuine disposition, and is friendship in the absolute sense.” This friendship has no limits or requirements and the individuals within the friendship can throve and deem each other worthy of true friendship. “The point of special importance is this. In ordinary social intercourse and association we do not enter completely into the social relation. The greater part of our disposition is withheld; there is no immediate outpouring of all our feelings, dispositions and judgments. We voice only the judgments that seem advisable in the circumstances. A constraint, a mistrust of others, rests upon all of us, so that we withhold something, concealing our weaknesses to escape contempt, or even withholding our opinions” according to Kant. Though this friendship is the purest of them all Kant believes we should try to open up and be authentic. Kant states that if we can free our constraints meaning fears and give our hearts whole heartedly “we achieve complete communion. That this release may be achieved, each of us needs a friend, one in whom we can confide unreservedly, to whom we can disclose completely all our dispositions and judgments, from whom we can and need hide nothing, to whom we can communicate our whole self. On
Friendship can be debated as both a blessing and a curse; as a necessary part of life to be happy or an unnecessary use of time. Friends can be a source of joy and support, they can be a constant stress and something that brings us down, or anywhere in between. In Book 9 of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses to great lengths what friendship is and how we should go about these relationships. In the short story “Melvin in the Sixth Grade” by Dana Johnson, we see the main character Avery’s struggle to find herself and also find friendship, as well as Melvin’s rejection of the notion that one must have friends.
friendship that it is so valuable? And, more specifically, how does this truth fit with
...ip and they lack what it takes for a real friendship to flourish. Aristotle talks about how “cities are built around friendships” and believe this to be so true because friendships can mature into such greater things. A friendship consists of so many things within it, a true virtuous relationship relies on communication, trust, loyalty, and many other things. These qualities that make up a good friendship are nonexistent in a Utility or Pleasure relationship.
A friendship relies on the goodness of both people; if goodness is not present the friendship will cease to exist. Cicero uses many different instances in his book Laelius: On Friendship to explain how a friendship relies on the goodness of both people to survive. First he starts by talking about the types of friendships that come to an end when goodness ceases to exist. He explains that some friendships rely on advantages, but these friendships never last. He states that “if advantages were what kept friendships together, the removal of that advantage would mean that the friendship itself would cease to exist” (194). A friendship should rely on the qualities of both people, and not on the advantages you get from them. Cicero explains that “when a man shows kindness and generosity, his motive in doing so is not just too exact repayment” (193). Next he talks about friendships that fail due to one person asking too much of the other. He brings in the example of Tiberius Gracchus, “As for Tiberius Gracchus, when he was disrupting the government, we saw how Quintus
With friends, our lives will be better, our days will be full of joy, and our unhappiness will fade away. Friends will take care when we are in need as we will support them in everything with the best we have. Life with friends will always give us wonderful memories that we will never forget for the rest of our days. Works Cited Viorst, Judith. A. Necessary Losses: The Lovers, Illusions, Dependencies and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow.
First, the article introduces the audience to friendships described by Aristotle, and Todd May. In the text it states, “It is threatened when we are encouraged to look up on those
Marion Winik’s “What Are Friends For?” expresses the characteristics of friendships and their importance in her existence. Winik begins by stating her theory of how some people can’t contribute as much to a friendship with their characteristic traits, while others can fulfill the friendship. She illustrates the eight friendships she has experienced, categorized as Buddies, Relative Friends, Work Friends, Faraway Friends, Former Friends, Friends You Love to Hate, Hero Friends, and New Friends. In like manner, the friendships that I have experienced agree and contradict with Winik’s categorizations.
Friendship expectations play a huge role in “establishing, maintaining, and terminating friendships” thus playing a factor of ones’ interpretations and through their affiliations (West & Turner, 2016). A companionship is dependent on
I would define friendship as complete trust and love between two people. Many people believe that this kind of behavior is reciprocated between two individuals without any expectations. A friend is someone who also provides you with support and whom you can rely on to celebrate special moments with. A friend also comes with many great attributes; such as loyalty, honesty, compassion, trust, and morality. Today’s friend is viewed as someone who shares happiness, common values, history, and equality with another. For example, Aristotle and Cicero both wrote dialogues about friendship and its significance on mankind. Therefore, the key issues that will be discussed are: their views on the similarities of friendship, the differences between friends,
“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over. So in a series of acts of kindness there is, at last, one which makes the heart run over.”
Aristotle regards Virtue Friendship as perfect. He does not comment on the potential negatives, whereas Lewis more realistically presents possible dangers of his highest form of friendship. Lewis believes that the birth of friendship proper from companionship reveals friendship’s dark and idolatrous side. Lewis comments on the sense of inclusiveness between friends that can create an “us/them” tension that can be potentially dangerous. He believes there is danger in the sense that a partial indifference or deafness to the voices of the outside world may develop and morph into dangerous perversions of
In life we come across many people. Some will hate us while others will adore us. The ones who hate us can be referred to as enemies and the ones who show us adoration are referred to as friends. There are three types of friends. They are the aquaintinces we make in school, the friends we loose as one grows, and best friends who may stray, but never too far away.
We do not make friends because they are useful but the bond of friendship, once it grows stronger and stronger has a number of positive aspects. There are certain secrets that can only be shared with our friends only. When we are facing a difficult situation in our lives, only true friends come forward to help us overcome all the difficulties.