Poemander

You have no friends. But you have misconceptions, illusions and oblivious thinking. You have no enemies either, but you have self-indulgence, fear and greed. I don't need friendship to be joyful and express kindness; I don't need enemies to remain vigilant. You don't know who is your real friend, neither are your aware of who is your real enemy. Those who you regard as friends are just the acquaintances and those you regard as your enemies are just your unhappened friends. Wise man knows that he has no friends, but he has neighbours. Wise man knows that he has no enemies either, because he had no friends to begin with.

Good neighbour is a far better concept then friendship, it doesn't blind you with the illusions. Fellow traveler is a beautiful concept, it gives you the meaning but not the chains of expectations. A host and the guest is an eternally powerful concept, it gives you the respect but does not tarnish you with the sticky loyalty. Throw your filthy friendship to the dogs, I promise, they won't even touch it.

Respect is the bedrock of congruous co-existence. Unlike the shifting sands of friendship, respect provides a solid foundation with enough space to standfor everyone – big or small. Respect is simple, it needs only one thing – the acknowledgement, the acknowledgement of existence of the other.

Teach respect to your children and nothing else would be needed from you. Don't tangle them in the web of your predispositions and peace will descend on Earth.