Brotherhood

Brotherhood has so many facets - love, honesty, friendship, understanding - that it defies adequate definition. None the less, Brotherhood can be widely experienced though ill-defined

With him you can breathe freely. You can take off your coast and loosen your collar. You can avow your little vanities and envies, your hates and vicious sparks, your meanesses and absurdities, and in opening them up to him they are lost on the white ocean of his loyalty. He understands. You do not have to be careful.

You can abuse him, tolerate him, neglect him. Best of all you can keep silent with him. It makes no matter because he likes you. He is like fire that purges all that you say. He is like water that cleanses all that you do. He is like wine that warms you to the bone. He understands. You can weep with him, laugh with him, but through and underneath it all he sees, knows, and loves you. He is a person with whom you dare to be yourself.

Rules I followed in making friendship

1) Loyalty. This may sound stupid today, but once upon a time, I did things that I KNEW were going to cost me personally for the benefit of a friend. Why? Because I knew that if the roles were reversed, he'd do the same thing for me. At least I thought so.

2) Trust. I've always said that if my friends got together and wrote my biography based on what THEY saw, I'd be a fucking outlaw legend. I never hid a damn thing from them, and all have seen me at both my best and my basest. They all know stories that they've promised not to tell, not even to each other, and they HAVEN'T either. Yeah. I trust every one of them.

3) The Gimlet Eye. If you believe that your FRIENDS don't know everything fucked-up about you, you don't have a head on your shoulders. Friends don't ignore your faults. They accept you warts and all. They know your goddam faults better than YOU do. Try lying to one of them.

4) Nostalgia. Okay, he's not the same guy you went to college with. He looks a lot older, he's running his own business now, and he's got the wife and three kids. (Nod over the pictures extracted from the wallet.) We both feel lots of pressure in our jobs, because nobody is a little boy anymore. But for one golden moment, over a burger and a drink, you both remember a time when you were young and invincible, and you both laugh your asses off, thinking about the same moment at the same time. History matters.

5) Track Record. A good friend doesn't ask for many favors. But YOUR good friend won't abandon you when you need somebody. And the best thing about a good friend is that you don't even have to ask. He KNOWS. And he'll be there