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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Lysis by Plato: stand by him, when all the world are against him; he can gladden and
enlighten him by his presence; he 'can divide his sorrows,' he can 'double
his joys;' he can anticipate his wants. He will discover ways of helping
him without creating a sense of his own superiority; he will find out his
mental trials, but only that he may minister to them. Among true friends
jealousy has no place: they do not complain of one another for making new
friends, or for not revealing some secret of their lives; (in friendship
too there must be reserves;) they do not intrude upon one another, and they
mutually rejoice in any good which happens to either of them, though it may
be to the loss of the other. They may live apart and have little
intercourse, but when they meet, the old tie is as strong as ever--
Lysis |
