The Truest Friends
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What are the most important qualities of true friendship? All these months of social distancing have led many to think deeply about the friends they miss and treasure the most.
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‘I have a new friend.’ So starts the charming bestseller My Best Friend, a 2020 picture book written by author Julie Fogliano and illustrator Jillian Tamaki.
Later, we see the young friends quietly huddled. ‘Sometimes when we are feeling quiet, we sit under a big tree.’
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Who are your best friends? What do they do to earn that special ranking? How many true friends would you say that you have?
72 point polled 2,000 adults on their ideas around deep friendship. Adults 18-24 reckoned that they have 6 true friends; those over 55 name 3. The top four marks of true friendship were: good listening, offering honest opinions, being able to sit together happily in silence, and offering a shoulder for tears. The truest friends inspire you to be a better friend.
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Top 21 Marks of True Friendship
i. A good listener
ii. An honest opinion
iii. Silences are never awkward
iv. A shoulder to cry on
v. Shared interests
vi. Ability to not see each other for long periods but nothing changes
vii. Trusts your opinion/listens to you
viii. Keeps your secrets/business private
ix. Would change their plans to help you out
x. Can tell when you are feeling down in the dumps, even when you haven’t said anything
xi. You cry laughing with them
xii. Phones you in an emergency
xiii. You are happy to cry in front of them
xiv. Share the same morals
xv. Gets on well with your partner, but not too well
xvi. Always remembers your birthday
xvii. Is always proud of your achievements
xviii. You share private jokes
xix. Will rescue you from awkward situations
xx. Has visited you even when you have moved miles away
xxi. First person you’d tell gossip to
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