How to Be a Good Friend

We all know how lovely friendship can be, but we seldom focus properly on what a good friend should actually be like. As a result, we miss out on opportunities to become precisely that sort of friend - and enrich the social lives of all those we meet. A short masterclass in the art of friendship.

FURTHER READING

“Some of the reason why we aren’t, collectively, so good at friendship, is that we don’t have a clear idea of what a really good friend might be like. It may therefore be worth trying to draw up a list of an ideal candidate, so as to focus our desires and spur us on to acquire the sort of character we would want to find in others…”

MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE

Watch more films on SELF in our playlist:

SOCIAL MEDIA

Feel free to follow us at the links below:

CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Peter Caires

#TheSchoolOfLife #Self #Friendship

[theschooloflifetv]

What are the qualities you value most in a friend? Let us know in the comments below. Be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to turn on notifications so you don't miss future discussions.

[marijnpater]

Good Friends are rare, treasure them.

[derekstark]

My best friends are the ones I can sit in a room completely silent with and still feel comfortable.

[rea]

The most important thing is not to judge. Not just our friends but people everywhere. A true friend for me is the person I can be exactly who I am with and he likes me that way and encourages me to be even more authentic.

[daniel.adeyemi]

Good stuff always!
1. Knows how to show weakness
2. Genuinely interested in our sorrows and difficulties
3. Reassuring
4. Help build a self-understanding
5. Help us think
6. Help us like ourselves

[unleashingpotential-psycho]

Treating your friend as you want to be treated is a great way of being a good friend.

[georgiana]

The fact I'm so deeply touched by this just comes to confirm how much I adore friendship, this most endearing of human connections.

[MosesEmmet]

Friends let you be yourself... and are cool with being derps around you too!

[Achilles]

True friends make time for you and they take a genuine interest in your life. Be wary of people who tell you what a great friend you are and how wonderful you are, but their actions don't match their words.

[Geovanny]

The good friend sounds like a psychologists

[sethery]

“A good friend is always with us” that made me cry

[nadiafernandez]

lovely, lovely video! to all the people who think they have no friends: expand your range, don't be agist. maybe your next-door neighbour, who's 70, could become your best friend. open your eyes, because there's way more potential for friendship than for romantic relations.

[TheLifeFormulaa]

Good friends help each other out through dark times

[EayuProuxm]

This might be the best and most important video on the internet.

[PoutineProductions]

When we are young, friends help us grow. As we grow, we learn from them as well. Sometimes we might end up with bad friends who will influece us negatively, turning us into someone unlikeable.
Others might have grown up without a friend, that alone will greatly impact themselves as they get older and try to socialize. Things will be a tad difficult and awkward.

Friendship is the most wonderful thing a human can develop with others. It's pretty important. Even if we are not socializing everyday...Its always good to have a friend.

[sophiasuerth]

You know when someone is a good friend when you are perfectly contempt sitting next to them without saying anything, just enjoying each others company.

[clarteel]

I've lost a few good friends by living the life of a lonewolf. Now I'm trying to relearn how to be a good friend to others.

[CatzAndMinecraft]

A true friend to me is someone who is honest, loyal, caring, loving, and they help me gt through really hard times without leaving me to cope with it myself. Someone who acts the same around me wherever, whenever, and with different people. Someone who values time together. Someone who gives me advice and lets me talk to them and get deep in the conversation. Someone who I can hang out with, even when it is quiet between us it wouldn’t get awkward. Someone that can be real with me, and won’t care about my ‘flaws’ and someone that I consider my *family*

Yes I have a best friend that has almost all these traits 💕

[faithizzlezz]

Why is no one talking about 3:02? That part was so funny hahahaha

[EddieFox]

A true friend is someone who knows all about you but loves you just the same.