What is a Friend?

What is a friend? I will tell you. It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself! Your soul can go naked with her. She seems to ask of you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. She does not want you to be better or worse. When you are with her you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think so long as it is genuinely you. She understands those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With her you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meanness and absurdities and in opening them up to her they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of her loyalty. She understands. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse her, neglect her, tolerate her. Best of all, you can keep still with her. It makes no matter. She likes you. She is like fire that purges all you do. She is like water that cleanses all that you say. She is like wine that warms you to the bone. You can weep with her, laugh with her, pray with her. Through and underneath it all, she sees, knows, and loves you. A friend, I repeat, is one with whom you dare to be yourself.