Does borrowing money from friends harm friendship
“Keep your friendship and business relationship separate.” This statement is very popular. There are many people who have personal experience that proves this point. A dollar sign often symbolizes greediness, envy and even crime. That is why many people avoid involving money into their friendship. They try to keep them separate.
We can find the reason for this separation if we take a closer look at human existence. An individual has to choose between physical and mental sides of his life all the time. Almost in every religion he is presented as a creature comprised by two parts: one of them is spiritual and good, and the other one is materialistic, and therefore, bad. It is extremely hard to choose once and forever which part of yourself you devote your life to; we usually try to manoeuvre between them. I think that we can stop being afraid of keeping money and friendship closer to each other, and even benefit from merging them.
I personally never had a bad experience with involving money into my friendship. I never borrow money from people, but I have no problem with lending money to my friends. They always return it on time, and I never have to remind them about it. I am also sure that if I have to borrow money from them they will never refuse to lend it to me. Maybe it indicates that they are my real friends. In this case we can see that money can be litmus paper of friendship. I know my friends for many years and I am certain that nothing can break us up: neither money nor other circumstances. If I decide to start my own business I will do it with my friend, because he will not deceive me or steal anything from me.
On the basis of this personal experience of mine I can deduce that money does not spoil friendship; they just indicate the worst parts of our souls – the materialistic parts. Money helps us understand who considers them as a source of living, and who worships it. If my conclusion is right I recommend that everybody involve money into friendship – this way you can find out who your real friend is.
