Quote by Jonathan Swift
Your notions of friendship are new to me; I believe every man is born with his quantum, and he cannot give to one without robbing another. I very well know to whom I would give the first place in my friendship, but they are not in the way, I am condemned to another scene, and therefore I distribute it in pennyworths to those about me, and who displease me least, and should do the same to my fellow prisoners if I were condemned to a jail.
Summary
In this quote, the speaker expresses their unconventional understanding of friendship. They believe that each person has a limited amount of friendship to give and that it cannot be freely bestowed on everyone without taking away from others. The speaker acknowledges having someone in mind who would receive their primary friendship, but circumstances prevent them from forming that bond. Consequently, they distribute their friendship in small portions to those around them who annoy them the least. The speaker implies that if they were confined to a prison, they would apply the same approach to their fellow inmates.
Topics
Friends
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