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teach or advise students. So, the universities and the students are not
benefiting from these appearances.
Last but not least, the lecturer mentions that, contrary to the belief of the
passage, not even the public is benefiting. TV stations are solely interested
in the professor's academic title. The information that he ends up being
broadcast is not in-depth information and doesn't differ much from the kind
of information that a reporter (who has done the homework) would give.
Second, the contradiction found in the fact the woman's face is illuminated
by the dark full collar she is wearing is solved if we take into account the
finding that, originally, the woman was wearing a white collar that
illuminated her face. So, in Rembrant, the use of light and shadow was
realistic; it was the changes in the painting that introduced the "error".
Finally, the glued wood panel was actually added to enlarge the painting and
make it more valuable. Also, analyses of the original pieces of wood show
that they belong to the same tree from which another panel for a Rembrant
painting was made.
Friends
I believe that it is more important to keep old friends than to make new
ones. I am going to support my opinion by invoking what I consider to be the
characteristics of a real friendship.
First of all, lets establish that friendship is the most superior form of
relationship in the realm of human interaction. Romantic love is selfish
and always aims at something that is external to the relationship itself sex,
attention, fidelity, etc. Conversely, friendship is essentially uninterested. In
one his essays, the French essayist Montaigne remembers a story of a man
who had two friends. He was poor, but his friends were rich. Upon his deathbed, the man wrote in his testament that he bequeathed to his friends his
debts, the keeping of his mother and the marrying of his daughter.
Everybody laughed at these words, but when the friends learned what they
had inherited, they were both very satisfied and proud. In fact, among
friends, one is always seeking to do the others good and does not expect
things in return.
Therefore, friendship is something very important and all human
beings seek for it. Understandably, because it is so superior, another
characteristic of friendship is that it is rare, very rare. In a human lifetime, I
would say that we come across only a handful of friends. People who would
fall defending our name and who would happily inherit your debts cannot be
that common. And, if it is real, by definition, friendship has to stand the test
of time, has to be enduring. Maybe that is why there is this old saying
claiming that it is more important to keep old friends than to make new
ones. Surely, we are always meeting new people that we consider potential
new friends. But friendship, in my opinion, is something that takes time to
build it is not an instant thing. We might have several people with whom
we interact every day but those could not be considered our friends just
because of that: they are our colleagues, not our friends. Friendship is
something that we must cherish: it requires effort and dedication. It is a
clich, but yes, it is like a garden. In order for it to flourish, we have to take
care of it. So, if we cannot make a friendship last, we challenge the very
definition of it. Friends are not disposable; we cannot abandon them for new
people. If we do that, it is simply because we were not friends with them.
Old friends are people who were by our side in some of the most important
moments of our lives. We lived in their companion things that we havent
experienced with people we have just met. It is only natural to value them
more.
I have a best friend and we have known each other for several years. I
am about to move to another to study and I know I will certainly meet new
people there. I might end up finding one or two new friends and, one day,
they might become my old friends, just like this best friend of mine. But that
does not mean that I am going to forget her and all the things that we lived
together. It is already decided that I am going to be the godmother of one of
her children and we will definitely continue to be in touch. I am sure our
friendship will prove to be real and a new friend is not going to replace it. It
is superior, enduring and will always be cherished.