On Friendship
By: Kahlil Gibran
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 his absence, as the mountain to
the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let
there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught
but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and
only the unprofitable is caught.
And let
your best be for 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.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.