Ay, a blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend; one
human soul whom we can trust utterly; who knows the best and the
worst of us, and who loves us, in spite of all our faults; who will
speak the honest truth to us, while the world flatters us to our
face, and laughs at us behind our back; who will give us counsel and
reproof in the day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again,
will comfort and encourage us in the day of difficulty and sorrow,
when the world leaves us alone to fight our own battle as we can.

If we have had the good fortune to win such a friend, let us do
anything rather than lose him. We must give and forgive; live and
let live. If our friend have faults, we must bear with them. We
must hope all things, believe all things, endure all things, rather
than lose that most precious of all earthly possessions--a trusty
friend.

And a friend, once won, need never be lost, if we will only be
trusty and true ourselves. Friends may part--not merely in body,
but in spirit, for a while. In the bustle of business and the
accidents of life they may lose sight of each other for years; and
more--they may begin to differ in their success in life, in their
opinions, in their habits, and there may be, for a time, coldness
and estrangement between them; but not for ever, if each will be but
trusty and true.

For then, according to the beautiful figure of the poet, they will
be like two ships who set sail at morning from the same port, and
ere nightfall lose sight of each other, and go each on its own
course, and at its own pace, for many days, through many storms and