Thought 145: About Friends and Enemies

Everyone has friends - and enemies; everyone has persons, whom he labels as “good” and “bad”. Labels are, of course, purely subjective.

Every one has 'good' and 'bad' in him. Everyone has an agenda of his own - which makes him a friend to some and an enemy to others. You should consider him good or bad to you, not because some one says so, but because you find him so.

Every one has likes and dislikes. Every one has ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in him. Everyone has an agenda of his own – which makes him a friend to some and an enemy to others. You should consider him good or bad to you, not because some one says so, but because you find him so.

Most people do not really know who their well wishers are. Some persons are naïve – they accept every one who flatters them as friends. An enemy evidently appears as an enemy but a friend, who is really an enemy, cannot be seen in his true colours so easily. Remember, a friend is your well wisher; he comes to your help without expecting any return. Those who are not your well wishers (friends) in this sense, are your acquaintances. In this world, every one has his/her own agenda. Every one is primarily interested in himself/herself, although they may profess or pretend that they are more interested in promoting your interests like a friend. The intelligent person would be able to see through this pretense – and come to know the real nature of the so called friend.

I always advise my children to keenly observe the behaviour of their so called friends – classify them properly into friends and acquaintances. A friend is one who helps without expecting a return. An acquaintance is one who does business deals – “if I do this for you, what will you do for me?” One should have a small circle of close (real) friends and a large circle of acquaintances.

The next thought is about “We constantly judge people”