Reading 11 – Friendship

  • This is additional reading material for the Animation degree programme at QUST/Bradford
  • It is uncontroversial to say that reading is probably the best way to extend your vocabulary and the more you read, the greater your vocabulary will be
  • This week’s reading text features various quotes and expressions so does not contain so much AWL vocabulary as previous posts

We have been studying the topic of friendship in class. Everybody knows what friendship is but it is quite difficult to define (see this week’s associated AWL Exercises). This reading introduces some famous quotes and proverbs about friendship. As you read these quotes, think about their meaning and whether you agree with them or not. In other words, try to evaluate the ideas as you read.

“A friend in need is a friend indeed.” Common English expression

“You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.” Common English expression (compare with “Blood is thicker than water.”)

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” Attributed variously to Sun Tzu, Machiavelli or Petrarch; the English version comes from the 1974 movie The Godfather Part II

“Who is mighty? He who makes an enemy into a friend.” Hebrew expression

“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” Muhammad Ali

“We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.” Orson Welles

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” Helen Keller

“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” Woodrow Wilson

 

So, you want to do some more reading? Well, there are more quotes on friendship to read here: http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/friendship-quotes/

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