Argument:
Friendship was like a bright light in my past life, illuminating my soul and giving my life a little brilliance. ——Ba Jin
Friendship between people unites the hearts of most people. Because of this precious connection, it is gentle and sweet. —— St. Augustine's "Confessions"
The lack of true friends is the purest and most pitiful loneliness; without friendship, the world is just a wilderness... ——"Bacon's Collected Works" famous saying: < /p>
In fact, everyone has friends who are advanced and backward. The question is how we can help our friends who are less advanced and make them progress. We must not follow them and follow the crowd. This is the real "friend enough". ——Xie Juezai
Friendship was like a bright light in my past life, illuminating my soul and giving my life a little brilliance. ——Ba Jin
Three friends and four friends, eating, drinking and having fun, this is called "fair-weather friends". When friends get together, they don't talk about work, study, or politics. They only talk about personal interests and anger. This is called "living in groups all day long, speaking without meaning". ——Xie Juezai
Friendship is always an assistant to virtue, not evil. ——(Roman) Cicero
Foolish friends are worse than wise enemies. ——(India) Sakyamuni Case:
The poet Zheng Shaogu and Wang Ziheng were thousands of miles apart and had never met each other, but they admired each other and cheated on each other. Zheng Shaogu once wrote a poem praising Wang Ziheng: "When Wang Ziheng talks about poetry in the world, the spring breeze will spread all over Lu." This means: when Wang Ziheng talks about poetry, even the disciples of Confucius in Lu will feel like the spring breeze. Later, Zheng Shaogu died. Wang Ziheng was shocked to hear the bad news and was extremely sad. He rushed to Fujian despite traveling thousands of miles to attend to his funeral and comfort his relatives.
As the saying goes, "literati despise each other", but in the literary world of the Tang Dynasty, there were two literati who left a good story about literati's love for future generations. They are Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen. The friendship between the two was established in times of adversity. In the first month of the tenth year of Yuanhe, Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen reunited in Chang'an after a long separation. The two often talked freely and recited poems to make peace. But not long after the incident, Yuan Zhen offended the eunuchs and nobles because of his outspoken advice, and was demoted to Sima of Tongzhou in March of that year. In August of the same year, Bai Juyi was also hated by the powerful ministers because he requested to investigate the assassination of Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng by the feudal warlord Li Shidao in collusion with the eunuchs. Xianzong listened to the slander and demoted him to the Sima of Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi). Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen were closely linked by their shared fate. They had a deep friendship throughout their lives, and the world called them "Yuan Bai".
Ulysses Grant, the 18th President of the United States, left office after two consecutive terms as president and traveled around the world with his wife. In 1879, Grant arrived in China by ship. Li Hongzhang, then Minister of Beiyang, hosted a banquet in his honor, and the two hit it off. When Grant visited China, he brought a valuable cane with him. This walking stick is fully carved and very ornately decorated; the handle is inlaid with a diamond no bigger than your thumb, surrounded by small diamonds. It is so dazzling that it is said to be worth "tens of thousands of gold." After Li Hongzhang saw it, he liked it very much. He played it repeatedly and couldn't bear to put it down. When Grant saw this, he said through an interpreter: "Since the Central Hall likes this cane, I should have given it to you. However, this cane was given as a souvenir by all business circles across the country when I left office. It represents the public will of the people and cannot be given away privately." . After I return to China and obtain everyone's consent, I will send it as a gift, with the words "Vice Zhongtang Yayi". During his visit to New York in 1896, Li Hongzhang visited Grant's widow Julia. Mrs. Grant hosted a banquet for Li Hongzhang and invited more than a hundred celebrities from all walks of life to accompany him. After the party was over, Julia immediately put the cane on the stage and told everyone about Grant's friendship with Li Hongzhang and the story of the cane. She told Li Hongzhang: After Grant returned to China, he kept remembering the cane. Due to the complicated trivial matters, he never had the opportunity to discuss it with all walks of life. However, he had specifically asked her to help realize the promises and wishes he made back then. Then, Julia faced everyone and said, "Mr. Li is visiting today. I would like to ask you: Do you agree to transfer the cane that everyone gave to my husband to Mr. Li?" All the guests applauded in agreement. So Julia raised her staff in front of everyone and presented it to Li Hongzhang. After Li Hongzhang returned to China, he cherished this cane as a treasure and never left it.