What is a friend?
What is a friend? I will tell you.
It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself.
Your soul can be naked with him.
He seems to ask of you to put on nothing,
Only to be what you are.
He does not want you to be better or worse.
You do not have to be on your guard.
You can say what you think, so long as it is
genuinely you.
He understands those contradictions in your
nature that lead others to misjudge you.
With him you breathe freely.
You can avow your little vanities and envies and
hates and vicious sparks,
Your meanness and absurdities and, in opening
them up to him,
They are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of his
loyalty.
He understands. You do not have to be careful.
You can abuse him, neglect him, and tolerate him.
Best of all, you can keep still with him. It makes no
matter. He likes you.
He is like fire that purges to the bone. He
understands.
You can weep with him, sin with him, laugh with
him, and pray with him.
Through it all - and underneath - he sees, knows
and loves you for who you really are.
A friend? What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with
whom you dare to be yourself.
