Friendship never ends

o learn how to win friends, study the technique of the greatest winner of friends the world has ever known. You may meet him tomorrow coming down the street. When you get within ten feet of him he’ll begin to wag his tail. If you stop and pat him he’ll almost jump out of his skin to show you how much he likes you. A dog makes friends by being genuinely interested in people, not by trying to get people interested

in him. Yet people blunder through life trying to lure others into becoming interested in them. It doesn’t work because people are not interested in you. They are interested in themselves. For example: when you see a group photograph that you are in, who do you look for first? You want approval, recognition of your true worth. You want to feel that you are important. You crave sincere appreciation, not cheap, insincere flattery.

So treat others as you would have them treat you. Where should you begin applying the magic touchstone of appreciation? I know of no place where appreciation is more needed – or more neglected – than at home. All of us can use the philosophy of appreciation of the other fellow. You can work magic almost every day with little phrases: “I’m sorry to trouble you”, “Would you be

so kind as to…”, etc. Once I found myself talking to a botanist. I sat fascinated while he told me some astonishing facts about the humble potato. After I had sad good night, the botanist turned to me, paid me several compliments and ended by saying that I was the “most interesting conversationalist”. An interesting conversationalist I had hardly said anything.

But I had listened intently because I was genuinely interested and he felt it. Another piece of advice about the fine art of human relations is that if there is any secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and to see things from his angle as well as your own. I am very fond of strawberries and ice-cream, and I know that fish prefer worms. So when I go fishing

I think about what a fish wants. The only way to influence the other fellow is to talk about what he wants and show him how to get it. Arguments, and particularly unnecessary arguments, are a sure way to dissipate goodwill. Having watched the effects of thousands of arguments, I conclude that there is only one way to get the best of an argument: avoid it. Even if you win it, you lose it. Why? You may feel fine, but you have made the other person feel inferior,

and it will resent you. Kindliness and friendly approach and appreciation can make people change their minds more readily than all the bluster and storming on earth. Perhaps the most fundamental lesson of all comes from Aesop’s fable about the sun and the wind quarrelling over which one was stronger. The wind said :I’ll prove it! See that old man wearing a coat?

I bet I can make him take his coat off quicker than you can!” So the wind blew until it was almost a tornado. But the harder it blew the tighter the old man wrapped his coat. Finally the wind gave up and the sun came from behind a cloud and smiled kindly on the old man. Presently, he mopped his brow and pulled off his coat. The sun then told the wind that gentleness and friendliness are always stronger than fury and force.

And so it is today. Everybody can fall ill with any disease. Fortunately, only cold and flu are quite frequent in our city among infections illnesses. They are rather easy for the modern medicine and various pills can help you a lot in overcoming this trouble. But of course, being sick isn’t a pleasant way of spending your time. In such situation friend’s participation in this trouble can encourage you, give a moral support and

even can make you feel better. That’s why you always should visit your sick friends. You must remember that tomorrow this illness may happen with you. I always try to follow this rule. Fortunately, my friends don’t fall ill frequent. But I remember such case that happened about 12 months ago. One of my best school friends had fallen ill with a hard form of flu.

Soon I went to his place to see him. I took some things that, as I was expecting, were interesting for him. Among them I brought a videocassette with best game moments of National Basketball Association. He was very glad for this present and soon we both were enjoying the outstanding games of the strongest basketball league in the world.

Then I told him all of the latest school news and everything about the material we had passed when he was absent. Then we tried to entertain ourselves and started to solve crosswords in the newspapers, to watch TV, so we began to do all that everybody makes when he doesn’t know what to do. To my surprise, I lost the feeling of time and there was late evening, when I understood, that it was time to go home. When I was leaving for home, my friend promised that he would

be alright soon and he kept his word. In two days he came back to school and started studying various subjects with new energy. Sometimes a little interval is useful for a person. Modern medicine helps us a lot in illness treatment. It also gives us a piece of advise of how not to fall ill. Modern medicine is nothing without friendship. There’s one familiar quotation: “friendship is the wine

of life”. But it’s pity I don’t know who it belongs to. To have a true devoted friend is a great luck. You can have a lot of friends. Some of them can be your schoolmates, some can be your neighbors. So here is my another good friend – Karolin. She is my closest friend. She is 16. Karolin is a tall and pretty – looking girl.

Her peaches and cream complexion suits her dark brown eyes. She has a nice nose that together with her wonderful hair–do and charming smile makes her face beautiful. She is a very fashionable girl. Karolin has a queenly carriage and the clothes she wears always looks great and beautiful. But she is an attractive girl not only by her appearance, but also by her character and her inner world, because she is well bred, jolly and kind.

And she does well at school. It’s very interesting to speak to her, especially when she has fallen into the habit of reading a lot. She has read a lot of books and it doesn’t matter what kind of book it is. She enjoys them all and the only thing that matters for her is that the book mustn’t be dull but interesting. I don’t like people who are bored at everything and who never make the slightest effort to be pleasant. That’s why my friend is Karolin, the most amusing and cheerful person in the world.

She is a sunny soul by nature and always takes the slightest excuse to be amused and to raise the spirits of the other people around her. Karolin and I are the best friends. I enjoy every minute spent with her immensely. I highly appreciate our friendship. I think there are not too many people I am attached to. We are always ready to help and to support each other and try not to quarrel.

But when sometimes it comes to quarreling we try to make up with it at once. I think that our friendship is very firm and I’ve go a friend for all my life.