Successful friends and dear sweet friends

Further to my last entry:

One quote of Gore Vidal which keeps popping up all over the place, and it’s beginning to get on my nerves: ”Whenever a friend succeeds, a little in me dies”.

I don’t understand why so much is made of this particular quote when there are so many better. It marks him as an ungenerous person, an ungenerous friend – it’s not funny, it’s not clever. But then, as he also said: “Shit has its own integrity”.  

It hurts when a person you like and admire shows a deep flaw. In the market place of friendship you can’t even trade: Here is one of mine if you give up one of yours. – No thanks, I’d rather keep mine.

U