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Friendship
The primary quest of most human lives may be the quest for friendship, We are
all looking for something--shyly or confidently, carefully or even sometimes
desperately--seeking the satisfactions of life. Of course, we all want a full
belly and a satisfied palate, regular rest and a firm sense of security, sexual
and emotional release, and sensual satisfaction. However, these necessities do
not seem to mean much for most of us except in a context of what we ourselves
decide is genuine friendship. We seek companions on life's journey. We want to
be with people who understand us and listen to us, people who like us and want
to be with us. We seek to nurture and to be nurtured. We wish to have friends
with whom we can he honest and intimate, that is, people with whom we can be
ourselves without embarrassment and, in fact, with pleasure and joy.
Modern life does not make friendship easy. Modern life puts great emphasis
(in psychological self-sufficiency. It tends to turn all connections into
transactions, into capitalistic adventures with competing adversaries. We are
free: free to choose our friends, to select or reject our communities. We are no
longer bound bv family or clan. region or land.
We are not committed to a certain company for our working lives. and,
increasingly in practice, we are no longer committed to a certain spouse for our
loving lives. Our children, we are often persuaded. are best off in the company
of their peers or in the hands of the experts, So even the parenting bond is
being stretched and often broken. Most modern peoples' sense of self worth is
highlv dependent on their money income
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