It’s important to have good friends, but not every person that we consider to be a good friend, is actually a good friend. That is to say, not everything that glitters is gold, and those that are unawares are perhaps too credulous for their own good, are thereby the very type of people that may well discover to their ultimate dismay, that a person that they always considered to be a good friend, wasn’t really a good friend, at all.
In order for us to know who a true friend is, we have to first know what the good qualities of a true friend are, and when we don’t know that, than we are indeed quite fortunate when we have obtained a good friend, despite our lack of knowing what those good and necessary qualities are. For instance, a good friend is the type of friend that knows the difference between what is right and honorable, as contrasted to what is wrong and dishonorable – and further to the point, they will then do their best to discourage us from committing those types of acts which are wrong and thus detrimental to not just our own character, but also are hurtful to other people as well. Indeed, a true friend is that friend that does what they can to demonstrate in their own behavior and actions the superiority of committing to doing the right thing, as well as the reasoning behind why it is beneficial to do the right thing, as contrasted to doing that which is wrong. Additionally, a true friend, is that friend that will take the time to explain to us, how it is important that we consistently toe the line and not take then those missteps into wrongness, by displaying the discipline and thus the wisdom of not giving in to temptation, that will ultimately be of harm to us, though perhaps at the moment, it doesn’t seem to be that way.
So too, a true friend is that friend who understands the importance that they have a duty to see that we are ourselves able to develop our thinking so as to utilize our mind in a way and manner that is in keeping with good judgment; in addition a true friend will impress upon us the importance of not only to think for our own self, but to evaluate what we interact with in a way and manner that we learn the difference between right and wrong, which we surely need to know in order to make the right decisions and then to subsequently follow through with the necessary actions to honor properly those decisions so made. Additionally, a good friend, has taken the time to examine their own life, and thus to understand the purpose of that life, and then has made the wise decision to honor that purpose in all that they say and do – in which, they then encourage us to do the same, because they desire to see us to grow and to thereby become the best person that we can be, in which, by doing so, we together help to make society a better place for our good participation in it.