"الحب أعمى؛ الصداقة تغمض عينيها."
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Simplified Meaning:
When people fall in love, they might overlook each other’s flaws because they are so focused on their strong feelings. They tend to ignore things that might normally bother them because they are swept up in their emotions. For instance, a person in love might not mind that their partner is messy whereas they would be annoyed by this trait in others. On the other hand, friendship doesn’t ignore imperfections but chooses to accept and look past them. Friends are aware of each other’s weaknesses and faults, but they decide to support and stand by each other anyway. For example, one friend might know that the other always arrives late to meetings, but instead of getting frustrated, they choose to be patient because they value the friendship. In a way, love is about being so infatuated with someone that you don’t see their shortcomings, while friendship is about seeing those shortcomings and deciding they don’t matter. This teaches us that in both love and friendship, there is a lot of acceptance, but it comes from different places. In love, it might be from a place of intense emotion, and in friendship, it’s from a deeper understanding and appreciation of who the person really is.