Tony: You're making this really difficult, aren't you?
Mark: I guess friendship is really difficult to define. Can you think of other definitions to apply to friendship?
Tony: Let me think. What about understanding and support? Surely you get these nowhere as deeply or as often as in friendship. A friend would support you in whatever you're going through. A friend would understand all of your moods and share all your good and bad times. There is no better support than a friend, is there? Take for example the thing with Gary. I'm providing you with understanding and support, because you're going through a difficult time. I haven't been through the same thing, but I understand because I'm your friend.
Mark: Okay, but support and understanding again are flawed, even in friendship. Nobody can be perfectly supportive and understanding. What if you for example were going through a rough time of your own? What if maybe your girlfriend broke up with you? You wouldn't be able to support me in my situation, because you'd need support of your own. Support can also come from more sources than just friends. I may find support from my priest, for example, and he certainly isn't my friend.
Tony:...
I'm not saying we'd be perfectly supportive or even understanding, but I'm saying we'd make the effort because we're friends. We understand each other because we spend time together. We support each other for the sake of our continued friendship. We get support and understanding from each other that we'd find nowhere else - neither from parents nor from religious leaders.
Mark: So you're saying that the quality of the things we get from friendship is different than the quality of the same elements in other relationships?
Tony: Exactly. I think that also goes for the other things we've discussed. Trust, forgiveness, understanding and support may come from many relationships, but only in friendship do they reach a special depth.
Mark: I guess you're right. Now we only need to find a definition for the depth you're talking about. But we can do that later; I'm late for my meeting with Prof Jennings. Bye.
Tony: Good luck with that. Bye.
