在高中時，考卷中的一篇閱讀測驗一直讓我印象很深刻，主題是論朋友對人生的重要性，以及什麼樣的人會成為自己的好朋友， 回想著這篇文章的內容真的是受用無比。
畢業後才發現，人生能夠有幾個好朋友真的是一件重要的事情，分享生活、一起做喜歡的事情、打屁聊天、討論工作…有人能夠共享與分擔，能調節生活的苦悶，幸福感也會加倍。隨著年紀漸長，好友的數量反而越來越少，這不是因為邊緣，而是生活也在考驗友誼，適合你的會留下。
- 這邊想分享這篇有關「友情 friendship」英文文章的簡易筆記
The meaning of Friends
According to Sir William, “In the life of a young man the most essential thing for happiness is the gift of friendship.” But what is a “good friend ?” How is he best described?
對於年輕人的幸福來說，最重要的事情就是友誼的恩賜。
Well, it has been my observation that although many all cry with you, few can sincerely rejoice with you. Therefore, in my opinion, a good friend is one who can enjoy your successes without envy. Nothing taxes a friendships (and marriages) often cannot resist such pressure and fail. No wonder many minor friendships go down the drain for the same reason.
從作者的觀察，大部分的朋友能與你共苦，但很少能真心為你感到喜悅，很少有朋友能夠不帶嫉妒地為你的成功而開心，大部分的友情與感情也容易在失敗的壓力下而破裂。
A person of good character and sound moral, of honor and humor, of courage and belief is a friend to be sought and treasured — for there are few. Too often we hear, “If you can count your good friends on more than one hand, consider yourself blessed.”
充滿道德感、有榮譽心、幽默、勇敢、信念等正向個性、特質、價值觀的人，值得你找尋與珍藏，如果你能擁有一隻手都算不完的好友（超過五個），那是你就是一個被祝福又幸運的人。
What makes a friendship last? Well, I don’t know all the answers, but one of my observations is that most good friends usually have similar tastes. They generally like and dislike many of the same things. There also usually seems to exist a similarity of personality types — especially in the fundamental values of life such as honesty, sincerity, loyalty, and dependability.
如何能讓友誼長久呢？從作者的觀察來看，好朋友都有相同的品味與喜好，和類似的人格特質，特別是誠實、真誠、忠誠、獨立等價值觀是相同的。
More often than not, birds of a feather do fly together. I don’t think it matters a lot whether one prefers jazz or hockey to another’s Mozart or ballet. Much other matters far more: relying, sharing, giving, getting, enjoying;
人都是物以類聚的，如果互相喜好不同的話，這不會影響友誼，最重要的是能夠互相依賴、分享、給予、接收與享受生活中的種種。
A sympathetic ear always there; criticism when it can help; praise — even if only because it would help. With not many people on this earth will you find this much in common. When you find one, hang on to him, for a good friend found is a rare treasure.
知道在你生活中一直會有人傾聽你，給你建議、批判、讚美，只希望能夠幫助到你。要找到和你相似的人是不簡單的，如果你找到的話，不要放手，一個好的朋友是人生的寶藏。
祝大家都能夠找到真心的好友，並且一直互相扶持下去。
重要單字：
- essential (a.) 重要的、不可或缺的、精華的
Hard work is essential to success.
- rejoice (v.) 欣喜、慶祝
I rejoice to hear of your promotion and success.
- tax (n.) 稅金、壓力 (vt.) 課稅、使～受到壓力
The boss taxed him with having neglected his project.
- fundamental (a.) 基礎的、根本的、最主要的
The fundamental cause of her success is her hard work.
- feather (n.) 羽毛、品種 (v.) 長羽毛
Birds of a feather flock together. 鳥以群分、物以類聚
- hockey (n.) 曲棍球
- ballet (n.) 芭雷舞
- sympathetic (a.) 富有同情心的、支持的、和諧的
They are very sympathetic to my proposal.
- criticism (n.) 批評、評論、苛求
I accepted the criticism of my behavior and words.
Please avoid fake friends!