I need help with some quotes and insights on friendship

[Questioning_1]

I am giving a small presentation on friendship and i would like some help to point me in the right direction.

What does friendship mean to you and why it is important to have Christian friendships?

Aswell if you could please give me some further direction into some quotes on friendship from either:

The Bible
Christian writings
Secular
Ancient
Anything at all. Just some quotes or helpful insights.

 

[mercygate]

Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil the Great had a famous friendship and wrote about it . . .

Aelred wrote a whole essay on it.

 

[water]

Friendship - depends on how you define it. Does it need to be a relationship between one with his friend or also between himself with those he does not know. For the latter reason, you can use “The parable of the Good Samaritan” - Luke 11:29-37

 

[JCPhoenix]

Well, here’s what Bl. Fulton Sheen has to say on the topic:

“Nothing has so much contributed to the debasement of human relationships as the idea that friends are won by flattery.”

“When persons are taken for granted, then is lost all the sensitiveness and delicacy which is the essential condition of friendship and joy.”

“The best friends are those who know how to keep the same silence.”

This is stuff to ponder.

As far as my own insights…well, when I was trying to come back to the Church, I prayed for good, Catholic friends. Why? Because I realized that in order to follow my faith, I needed to follow the example of others.

It followed the same logic I learned in skiing: If you want to get better at skiing, then ski with someone who is much better than you. You’ll still be a terrible skier, but over time you’ll learn, and eventually, others will seek YOU out. It both teaches/enforces humility and increases skill.

And it worked…my new Catholic friends were instrumental in my conversion because not only did they provide an example, but they provided their prayers, they asked me for prayers, and provided a community in which I didn’t have to put up a front.

And our friendship is simple; it simply is. The cool thing is that the first new friends I met literally live on the other side of my wall as neighbors, and the Holy Spirit has often used each of us to deliver answers to prayers.

Friendship is a gift from God. True friendship, that is.

 

[tkdnick]

My favorite Bible quote - John 15:13 “For no one has greater love than this, than to lay one’s life down for one’s friends.”

Much of the preceeding verses is about friendship, so I would just look at John 15.