“When you admonish your friend, let it be without bitterness; when you chide him, let it be without reproach; when you praise him, let it be with worthy purpose, and for just causes, and in friendly measures; too much of that is flattery, to little is envy; if you do it justly, you teach him true measures: but when others praise him, rejoice though they praise not thee, and remember that if thou esteemest his praise to be thy disparagement, thou art envious, but neither just nor kind.” – Jeremy Taylor, “A Discourse on Friendship”
Purity of heart is the greatest treasure any person can bring to a friendship. No other tool, skill or state of being can bring a healing current as effectively, for in purity of heart is corrective equanimity, radiant selflessness and compassionate intercession.
A pure heart is an untroubled heart. The suggestion that you “let not your heart be troubled,” therefore, is the key to unlocking all the excellencies of friendship.
Gregory Hake 
A pure heart that is oriented in the eternal light of love allowing heart calm perspective of the temporal world establishes a state of being that can extend real friendship. Here we can play our parts for greater integration and the extension of radiance. Your words are vitals seeds to live accordingly.
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Friendship cannot really be learned, because its qualities and actions spring naturally from a spirit. That spirit is known only to the pure of heart. Yes, it is possible to describe friendship -ts qualities, its evidences – but to be a friend is to be engulfed in the spirit of friendship, governed by its impulse and true to its source.
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Purity of heart is also the answer to all of the world’s woes – with it, there would be no strife, war, hatred or conflict. Although many would agree to this in theory, it takes loving something greater than oneself (God, Truth, etc.) in order to let go of the addiction of self righteousness and/or judgement. These are the traps which imprison the heart, mind and soul.
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Purity of heart unlocks everything. I don’t believe we were created just to struggle with all the undesirable influences that threaten the nature of our hearts. We were created for a specific purpose which seems in part to have been retarded by our preoccupation with self sabotaging spirits of disintegration. Taking every opportunity that presents itself in our lives to further the purification of our own heart is our primary objective. This is why each circumstance in the above quote is actually helpful. If we feel envy, jealousy, any of those ill spirits, we have them in our sights to overcome them. The way for this has been paved; so each time we don’t give those spirits voice we seal their doom for ourselves and make it easier for the next person to do the same.
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Friendship truly is the greatest blessing this world can receive, for in friendship, the light of love is free to grow and help illuminate any and all the darkened corners of the earth where people have effectively shut it out through endless confusion and heartlessness.
These discourses in friendship compel me to ever more keep vigilant – to always see friendships in new lights, to protect them and to nourish them really, as that’s where we can effectively help change the world, no matter what our circumstances are, however limited we think we may be. The truth is, we are not – not by any means, for anyone can make a friend anywhere if the desire and awareness is there. That’s the beginning of a freedom and that particular freedom has loads of potential power to propel a change wherever change is needed. Think about it —- can something like this be controlled and manipulated? No way Jose! – this kind of love carries its own purposes, its own agenda, one that’s far beyond our ability to direct. The good thing is, there’s no need for any of us to try and control this because it is the pinnacle of trustworthiness if we can simply relax into it. That can be a challenge with the way the world is today, but that’s what I gather to be a crucial and critical point. All we have to do is be that good friend to everyone we have the privilege of meeting in our lives. There will always be those that are closer and those that are further, and at one level it really doesn’t even matter. At another level, one indeed experiences the richness of heaven within the closest bonds of friends.
True friendships are indeed the sacred trusts that keep this world from falling apart – God knows we need more of them….I can only imagine what the world could be if everyone pitched in without reservation or fear!
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