I recall a young friend who sought mine out before he had shared a single meal with me, hoping my favor would be fixed by mere declaration. It was as if one might expect the wine in a new jar to taste of the vintage of ten years past without time or care having done its work. We rush too eagerly to call things ours before they have been seasoned by the slow, necessary friction of shared life.

Therefore, do not demand the title of friend until you have endured the salt together. Let your bond be tested by the small irritations and long silences that come only through prolonged association. Only then will your friendship possess the true flavor of endurance, rather than the hollow sweetness of a promise made in haste.