"A false friend is more dangerous than an open enemy." – Francis Bacon
First off, I agree with the Francis Bacon's statement. It is because false friend is a potential enemy that we cannot see while an open enemy is the one we can do. It is harder to prepare not to be stabbed at the back than to prepare for gunfire towards me. There are several reasons why these potential enemies are more dangerous than the open ones.
To begin with, your false friends know you better than your open enemy does. Even if they are not the closest one of yours, they understand your feeling and behavior easily since they are near you. For instance, you sometimes hang out and eat, drink with them and have some conversation about each other. And the fact that they understand you is the major reason that makes them dangerous. In any case it is very important for winning not to leak any information to your enemies, but they have an access to you and figure something out from you.
Furthermore, it takes a long time to figure out which one it is. In fact, there are several versions of fake friends of yours. For example, there would be people who are being nice in front of you and talking behind your back. Also, there are people saying hurtful things to you and say this meant nothing or to make you better. However, it is up to you to define your own version of the fake. And this often leads to misconceptions, risking yourself to lose your real friends. You cannot be so quick and simple in making this decision.
Lastly, it is much harder for you to be a false friend of theirs than they did to you. Sometimes, for instance, your fake friend may not be perfect and let you realize that he or she is the false one. In this case, you can figure out the false ones and pretend you do not know about it, becoming a false friend of theirs. But the key lies on the fact that it is you to refuse doubting the relationship between you and your false friend. It only hurts yourself when you doubt your friendship with someone. You will be confused whom to believe in and what to say if you do so. In this respect, you have less willing to question your friendship with them. This is what let yourself sabotaged by your false friends.
In sum, your false friends are more dangerous ones among your human relationship than your open enemy. It is not only because they know you better than your visible enemy, but they appear in multiple versions and makes you doubt your allies.
I liked the overall content of your essay. When I first read that statement, it did not really make me think about false friends until I read your essay. You have characterized false friend very well and gives the reader how dangerous a false friend could be.
ReplyDeleteMy only suggestion is that to work more on your intro and conclusion. Meaning, for three of your body paragraphs, you have topic sentences which you may bring it up in your thesis statement and conclusion.
Good luck!
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you in that false friend is the worst enemy. Your essay reminds me of Trojan horse... You cherished it, you valued it, you worshiped it, but all of a sudden it turns out that the one you were so eager about is actually a time bomb in your body. Sunzi, ancient Chinese philosopher said "first know yourself and know the enemy, then nothing will endanger you". If you reverse his word, than someone who knows you well can be the biggest threat to you! I hope that friendship lasts forever, but sometime it comes to an end... and when that happens, that best friend can turn into your worst nightmare. I don't even want to imagine that from happening :-(
ReplyDeleteThanks for your good work!
Kim Keunho (201200283) from summer session