Aristotle was a great philosopher known to some for pioneering contributions to all fields of philosophy and science, inventor of the field of formal logic to others, to some school of thoughts he would first be admitted as an identifier of the various scientific disciplines and explorer and interweaver of their relationships to each other. In all, there is no doubt that this great teacher and founder of the Lyceum school in Athens Greece meant different things to different people.
To me, his works remain my “go-to” any day. I once read about his classification of friendship and the thoughts they generated in me remain potent. Aristotle figured there were three kinds of friendships;
- Friendships of utility: These exist between you and someone who is useful to you in some way. There are some friends we call only when we are in trouble, isn’t it? Many employee/employer relationships also develop this type of friendship.
- Friendships of pleasure: This exists between you and those whose company you enjoy. Although Madonna Ciccone has said “Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another” but then the level of pleasure we derive from some friendships are so phenomenal that many will rather be friends with this than that other person.
- Friendships of the good: These are based on mutual respect and admiration. We build this kind of love with siblings, family, and especially childhood friends, we also stand from afar to build some of this kind of friendship with those we eventually call mentors.
I was amazed by the love I received recently from an interwoven friendship I had received across these three classifications of friends that I have met and related with in my 50 years of existence. The surprise video is no longer news, the Print Tech Gang coordinators took it upon themselves to identify my cadre of friends and put together a lovely video which obviously was done without my knowledge but was delighted to see childhood friends, elders, printing industry friends turned brothers and sisters, relatives, and my trusted clergymen…..To read the full story, kindly place an order for a copy of the 102 editions by calling us at 08169767741 or 08035837934.
