"Friendship improves happiness and abates misery by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief." --Marcus Cicero (BC)

Interacting amiably with family and friends is a super stress reducer. Instead of our minds working overtime on worrisome problems, it is occupied with thoughts of other things and other people. There is less room left for anxieties and self-doubt. Good friendship is like good health - appreciate it while you have it.

"Life has no blessing like a prudent friend" --Euripides (BC)

"The only way to have a friend is to be one... A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud." --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Getting people to like you is the starting point, and it should be fairly easy to do. People have a basic need to be liked themselves, and by showing your appreciation of them, they will return your feelings. Praise given out sincerely is a great act of friendship. Be kind, pleasant, calm, and a good listener. Try to see the good, not the bad qualities in people. Smile.

"The rule of friendship means there should be mutual sympathy between them, each supplying what the other lacks and trying to benefit the other, always using friendly and sincere words." --Buddha (BC)

"As a friend, try to let an unfavorable incident or remark fly right over the top of your head. We all blurt out something stupid or do something regrettable at times, and it's so nice when the other acts as if it never happened. This is a dear friend." --Abe Lincoln (1809-1865)

Ken McIsaac is a self-help enthusiast and web author of "32 Keys: A Collection of Ideas About Life." This free-to-read book has been available online since 1999. It is classified into 32 basic ideas on the subject of improving the quality of life.

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