The word “friendship” conjures up thoughts of honesty, vulnerability, companionship, and mutual respect. It also implies a certain outlaying of time and energy. C.S. Lewis said of friendship: “It is when we are doing things together that friendship springs up – painting, sailing ships, praying, philosophizing, and fighting shoulder to shoulder. Friends look in the same direction.”

“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

In order to get through the good and bad times with your partner you need to have a good friendship and be able to help each other through!

I find that friendship before marriage makes for a happier longer relationship!

“Marriage without friendship cannot work in our culture,” says Bill Hanawalt, who has conducted pre-marital and marital counseling for 30 years as the executive pastor of the Vineyard Christian Church of Evanston, Il. “Friendship has to be nourished and nurtured regularly or it faces the danger of becoming a business relationship. I have seen many distant and business-like marriages where careers have developed and children have come into the picture, and the priority of emotional connection has been left to die on the vine. Couples that don’t give attention to developing their friendship often come apart. It also creates an opening for marital infidelity.”

In life you never want to just jump into something that could in the long run have a bad outcome. That is why I believe that it is important to be friends with your partner to be, before you jump right into a relationship and later on marriage. Having a good strong friendship before a relationship will help a couple to last longer and have more fun together. These are just my beliefs on marriage and what role friendship plays in marriage.

//www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/sex_and_intimacy/the_role_of_friendship_in_marriage.aspx

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/friendship

You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you’re miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you’ve got a friend in me
Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me

You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
If you’ve got troubles,I’ve got ’em too
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you
We stick together and can see it through
Cause you’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me

Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you
The way I do, it’s me and you
Boy, and as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You’re gonna see it’s our destiny
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me

Having good friends in life is very important because they get you through the rough times and you never want to think about a day without them.

You’ve got a friend in me

In life it is always important to have at least one or two friends that you can really count on to be there with you through everything. For me I have my best friend since we were one. We have always been best friends and I hope that we always will be. He is always there for me and I am always there for him. He is a true friend in deed and I am able to count on him through think and thin, and like the song says I hope that “our friendship will never die”.

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/youvegotafriendinme.htm

Etymology:

Friendship (n.)

friendship (n.) Old English freondscipe; see friend (n.) + -ship.

cronyism (n.) 1840, “friendship,” from crony + -ism. Meaning “appointment of friends to important positions, regardless of ability” is originally American English, from c.1950.

Literary Examples:

“For friendship maketh indeed a fair day in the affections, from storm and tempests; but it maketh daylight in the understanding, out of darkness, and confusion of thoughts.”

“He then launched forth into a panegyric on Allworthy’s goodness; into the highest encomiums on his friendship; and concluded by saying, he should never forgive his brother for having put the place which he bore in that friendship to a hazard.”

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Fielding, Henry

Common Usage: 

Friendship is most commonly used to describe someone who is there when you need them the most and they can usually make you feel better. The relationship between 2 or more people and the trust that you have between each other.

My own short story:

I know that friendship has been very important to me during hard time. One example of a good friendship that I have had was in 11th grade. The Newtown school shooting had happened earlier that day and my mom was away skiing and toward the end of the school day I found out that my dad was at the school helping the children that were still alive. This was very hard for me to think about and I didn’t want to go home to my empty house so my good friend invited me over so that I had somewhere to go and be with my friend rather than being alone. So this was a very important friendship to me and I treasure moments like this when my friends are there for me.

 

When friends can sit and silence and still enjoy each other you know that you are true friends and just enjoy each other’s company and you don’t always have to be doing something to have fun.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/search/Search.aspx?By=0&SearchBy=4&q=friendship

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=Friendship&searchmode=none

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiZyWqpTX9c&feature=fvwp

http://media1.santabanta.com/full1/Emotions/Friendship/friendship-31a.jpg