Friendship

Vikram Karve
3 min readJan 22, 2025

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TYPES OF FRIENDSHIP

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TYPES OF FRIENDSHIP

BENEFICIAL FRIENDSHIP AND HARMFUL FRIENDSHIP

Philosophical Musings By Vikram Karve

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I invest in books.

Just like some other investments — where one invests and forgets about it for years — sometimes I buy a book — and I may not read it for years.

Whenever I buy a book — I always write the date and place of purchase.

This morning while I was cleaning my bookcase — I came across a book titled A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

I had picked up this book on 26 Jan 2003 at the annual Strand Book Fair at Churchgate in Mumbai.

Sometime ago — I opened a random page — and here is the gem of ancient wisdom that I read about various Types of Friendship:

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SIX KINDS OF FRIENDSHIP

3 BENEFICIAL and 3 HARMFUL

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Confucius said:

There are:

Three kinds of Friendship which are Beneficial

and

Three kinds of Friendship which are Harmful

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THREE TYPES OF BENEFICIAL FRIENDSHIPS

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1. Friendship with the Upright

2. Friendship with the Truthful

3. Friendship with the well-informed

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These three types of friendship are BENEFICIAL

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THREE TYPES OF HARMFUL FRIENDSHIPS

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1. Friendship with those who “flatter” — especially sycophants and “yes-men” who will lead you up the garden path.

2. Friendship with those who are “meek” — they are so “weak” that they compromise with their principles.

3. Friendship with those who “talk cleverly” — these smooth talkers will not be sincere to you.

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These three types of friendship are HARMFUL

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So — Dear Reader — while selecting your friends — bear in mind the above wisdom from the analects of Confucius — and choose your friends with care.

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Invest in Beneficial Friendships and make good friends

and

Avoid Harmful Friendships with those who can cause you harm

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Well — I always believe that it is best to have a philosophical approach to life.

So — I am going to read this book of ancient wisdom.

And — from time to time — I will share some gems of ancient wisdom from this book with you in my blog.

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SOCIAL MEDIA FRIENDSHIPS

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Nowadays — most of our friends are online friends on the Social Media.

Online friendships increased during the distressing COVID Pandemic Days — when it is not possible to physically meet friends as most of us had to stay at home due to lockdowns, curfews, and COVID precautions which made us stay-at-home most of the time.

Later — many online social media friends became offline real-life friends too — but we still make many friendships on social media.

Dear Reader — have a look at your online social media friends — and — apply the six friendship yardsticks — and — evaluate for yourself — which are beneficial — and which are harmful.

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Choose your friends wisely — online and offline.

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VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve
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Link to my original post in my Blog Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: http://karvediat.blogspot.com/2016/03/types-of-friendship-beneficial-friends.html

NB: This is a revised repost of my earlier blog posts in my blog at urls: https://karve.wordpress.com/2019/08/04/types-of-friendship/ and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2010/10/friendship.html and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2013/01/the-art-of-friendship.html and https://karve.wordpress.com/2021/04/24/types-of-friendship-2/ and https://karve.wordpress.com/2020/07/30/friendship-day-post-types-of-friendship/ and https://karve.wordpress.com/2020/02/02/types-of-friendship-good-and-bad/ etc.

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

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Vikram Karve
Vikram Karve

Written by Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, alumnus IIT Delhi, Lawrence School Lovedale, Vikram Karve is a retired Navy Officer turned full time Writer and Blogger

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