So far so good about friends and friendships. . . All of a sudden, do I sound cynical a bit? Perhaps (my favourite word in defining relationships) yes! But why? file Frederick Neitzsche feels that the right kind of friendship occurs only when we realise the enemy within and without. Hence when Aristotle said, “O friends, there are no enemies,” Neitzsche in his very characteristic way retorted by saying, “O enemies, there are no enemies.” While Aristotle implied that friends are really enemies in disguise, Neitzsche conjectured to the contrary that enemies are friends in disguise! He was contemptuous of our tendency to give only to our friends. But not to our enemies. The reader should not confuse this notion with the Christian doctrine of ‘love thy neighbours’ or ‘if a person slaps on your cheek, show him the other’ stuff, since for Neitzsche, “God is dead” (an interesting but irrelevant point here, hence I defer a meandering discussion). All that Neitzsche wants to convey is this: while one is so generous in giving to his friends, he must also learn how to give to his enemies. Failing which, for him, there could be no friendship at all.