A Month of Gratitude #23

I'm grateful for what people have described as my "prickly" friends. Honestly, real friendship goes beyond never being critical. To quote Montaigne, "We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him." I'm grateful for the friends who call me out, who brave my wrath or abandonment of our friendship to help me be better.