The tongue loveth not boasting, the heart is made glad with kindness: And one standeth not as on a hill, beckoning to the other to follow, But ye toil up hand in hand, and carry each other's burdens. Ye commune of hopes and aspirations, the fervent breathings of the heart, Ye speak with pleasant interchange the treasured secrets of affection, Ye listen to the voice of complaint, and whisper the language of comfort, And as in a double solitude, ye think in each other's hearing. Choose thy friend discreetly, and see thou consider his station, For the graduated scale of ranks accordeth with the ordinance of Heaven. If a low companion ripen to a friend, in the full sunshine of thy confidence, Know, that for old age thou hast heaped up sorrow; For thou sinkest to that level, and thy kin shall scorn thee, Yea, and the menial thou hast pampered haply shall neglect thee in thy death: And if thou reachest up to high estates, thinking to herd with princes, What art thou but a footstool, though so near a throne? O rush among the lilies, be taught thou art a weed, O briar among the cedars, hot contempt shall burn thee. But thou, friend and scholar, select from thine own caste, And make not an intimate of one, thy servant or thy master; For only friendship among men is the true republic, Where all have equality of service, and all have freedom of command. And yet, if thou wilt take my judgment, be shy of too much openness with any, Lest thou repent hereafter, should he turn and rend thee: For many an apostate friend hath abused unguarded confidence, And bent to selfish ends the secret of the soul. Absence strengthened friendship, where the last recollections were kindly; But it must be good wine at the last, or absence shall weaken it daily. A rare thing is faith, and friendship is a marvel among men, Yet strange faces call they friends, and say they believe when they doubt. Those hours are not lost that are spent in cementing affection; For a friend is above gold, precious as the stores of the mind. Be sparing of advice by words, but teach thy lesson by example: For the vanity of man may be wounded, and retort unkindly upon thee. There be some that never had a friend, because they were gross and selfish; Worldliness, and apathy, and pride, leave not many that are worthy: But one who meriteth esteem, need never lack a friend: For as thistle-down flieth abroad, and casteth its anchor in the soil, So philanthropy yearneth for a heart, where it may take root and blossom.