I recently came to know of Arthur Brooks, an author and Harvard Professor, through a podcast with Jordan Peterson. He had many ideas on happiness that stood out to me, but I really liked his take on friendship. He says that “real friends are useless.” It is quite a statement and is really memorable.
Real friendship is useless in a sense that the friendship is not transactional. It is not based on utilitarian needs. It is not based on extracting value from one person.
Real friendship is based on shared interests, values, and authentic connection.
So, if you are my friend, you are useless to me. 🙂 But I love you and we are going to be friends until the end.