On Friendship

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

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.

　　一個青年說，請為我們講講友誼。

　　他回答道：

　　你的朋友是對你需求的回答。

　　他是你的土地，你帶著愛播種，帶著感激的心清收穫。

　　他是你的餐桌，你的爐灶，你饑餓時來到他身邊，向他尋求安寧。

　　當你的朋友傾訴他的心曲，你不會害怕自己心中的「不」，也不會掩抑你心中的「是」。

　　當他默默無言時，你的心也不會停止傾聽他的心；

　　因為在友誼的不言中，所有的思想、所有的慾望、所有的期盼帶著無聲的歡樂同生共享。

　　在與朋友分別時，你也不會悲傷；

　　因為當他不在身邊時，他身上最為你所珍愛的東西會顯得更加醒目，就像山峰對於平原上的登山者顯得格外清晰。

　　不要對你們的友誼別有他圖，除了對深化精神境界的希冀。

　　因為只尋求顯露自身秘密的愛並非真愛，而是撒出的網：網住的只是些無益的東西。

　　奉獻你最好的，給你的朋友。

　　如果他定要知道你的落潮，那麼也讓他知道你的漲潮。

　　只在你想消磨時光時才去尋找的朋友，難道還是朋友？