How it works
Transform your enterprise with the scalable mindsets, skills, & behavior change that drive performance.
Explore how BetterUp connects to your core business systems.
Build leaders that accelerate team performance and engagement.
Unlock performance potential at scale with AI-powered curated growth journeys.
Build resilience, well-being and agility to drive performance across your entire enterprise.
Transform your business, starting with your sales leaders.
Unlock business impact from the top with executive coaching.
Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.
Accelerate the performance and potential of your agencies and employees.
See how innovative organizations use BetterUp to build a thriving workforce.
Discover how BetterUp measurably impacts key business outcomes for organizations like yours.
A demo is the first step to transforming your business. Meet with us to develop a plan for attaining your goals.
- For Individuals
Best practices, research, and tools to fuel individual and business growth.
View on-demand BetterUp events and learn about upcoming live discussions.
The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace.
- BetterUp Briefing
The online magazine that helps you understand tomorrow's workforce trends, today.
Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more.
Founded in 2022 to deepen the understanding of the intersection of well-being, purpose, and performance
We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion.
Join us and create impactful change.
Read the buzz about BetterUp.
Meet the leadership that's passionate about empowering your workforce.
For Business
'We are the champions' plus other qualities every good friend should have
Understand Yourself Better:
Big 5 Personality Test
Jump to section
What are the qualities of a good friend?
How to spot a bad friend: 3 tips.
The importance of good friends
How to find good friends: 3 tips
The tough part of friendship, finding fulfillment through friendship.
You’ve probably had a lot of amazing — and not so amazing — friends over the years. Knowing what made the great ones stand out from the rest can help you choose the right friends going forward.
Friendships make life more meaningful and are good for your health . Great friends offer emotional support and make you feel loved and connected . These experiences are critical to your mental health and social wellbeing , which is why it’s so important to choose your friends wisely and treat them well.
But sometimes finding, or even being, a good friend is tough. And for many, making friends as an adult already feels harder. Gone are the days where you could simply approach someone and ask, “Want to be my friend?”
Life is busy, filled with distractions and obligations. But in these moments, knowing the qualities of a good friend is even more important. You need a supportive friend the most when work is stressful and personal problems are weighing you down.
Whether you have too many best friends to count or are still looking for one more, knowing the characteristics of a good friend can help you appreciate your current relationships and make new, meaningful connections .
Not every person you meet will become your new closest friend. And approaching meeting new people with an eye toward making a best friend might even cause stress and possibly make people uncomfortable. A network of loose social connections is valuable to both your well-being and success, too. These friendly connections are what form a community .
Many people in your life will move along the spectrum between acquaintance and best friend. These different relationships are all important. Understanding where someone fits on and differentiating what you expect from the relationship is helpful.
But anyone you call a friend should live up to certain standards if you’re going to invest in the relationship. And you ought to, as well, if you want to retain meaningful and mutually enjoyed connections.
From casual acquaintances to personal cheerleaders, here are 11 important qualities of a good friend.
1. They live with integrity
A friend with integrity acts in alignment with their values and commitments. They have strong moral principles and will speak or act when someone violates these principles. They’re also self-aware and behave and speak in consistent ways. Because of this, you can rely on what they say they’ll do.
2. You can trust them
A good close friend is honest and speaks from the heart with good intentions. They tell you what you need to hear in a respectful and loving manner, so it doesn’t feel hurtful. Because you know they have your best intentions at heart, you can be vulnerable , insecure, and weird with them.
3. “Dependability” is their middle name
There’s no time for fair-weather and flaky friends. A good friend respects this, trying their best to show up, keep promises, and do what they say they’ll do.
That doesn't mean they’ll be dependable in every situation. This friend might always be a little late, but you know you can depend on them to offer a listening ear when you’re going through a hard time.
4. They’re loyal
While blind loyalty is never great, since it might cause you to overlook red flags and toxic traits , great friends are generally loyal to their people — unless these people aren’t great friends back.
A loyal friend sticks by you through your highs and lows, offering a helping hand or a listening ear whenever they can. They listen to your side of the story, give you the benefit of the doubt, and defend you when you deserve it.
5. They have empathy for others
Empathy involves understanding others’ emotions and experiences, and a great friend easily does this for you. If you’re distraught because you didn’t get a promotion , this friend does their best to put themselves in your shoes so they can offer you more thoughtful and meaningful support.
And if they know you really well, they might intuit your feelings before you express them, providing comfort and guidance before you even expected it.
6. They’re good listeners
Excellent listening skills are one of the most important qualities of a good friend. Great listening allows your friend to understand how you are feeling, retain important information about you (like your favorite food or activity), and validate your emotions. They can only truly know who you are and offer excellent advice if they're actively listening .
7. Their confidence is contagious
A great friend has enough confidence for the both of you, making you shine in social situations and offering you courage when you don't have it. They’re self-confident and think you should be, too, since they think you’re the best.
8. Spending time with them makes you feel good
Perhaps the most crucial trait, you should feel great spending time with this person. Social vampires and toxic relationships might exhaust you, but spending time with an excellent friend is something that should cheer you up and energize you. This is someone you’re comfortable seeing even on your most burned out days because it’s not work.
9. They make you laugh
Laughter is life’s medicine, and great friends dole it out in tonnes. Humor reduces stress, brightens your mood, and leads to a greater sense of belonging — all things a great relationship should do. So if your friend makes you laugh, know that this seemingly small trait might actually be increasing your well-being.
10. They're non-judgmental
While they might offer “real talk,” bringing you down to earth with critical insights, real friends never make you feel bad about yourself. They offer a safe space for you to work out issues, share insecurities, and discuss hard topics.
Great friends have your best intentions at heart, no matter what, and simply want you to be happy. And they also understand that your road to happiness is unique to you, so they’re ready to support you as you change throughout your life.
11. They’re low-maintenance
Great friends don’t want to be a burden. While they’ll expect some quality time, care, and consideration from you, they’re low-maintenance and won’t hold your busy-ness against you. And when you reconnect, it’s like no time has passed.
These are excellent friends to be around since they’re also low-drama, avoiding gossip and making hang-outs lighthearted and fun.
hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(9253440, 'eeec287e-7356-4450-b302-52763b3bf364', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"});
Intuitively, you’ll likely know you’ve spotted a bad friend because you don’t want to spend time with them. They tire you out, make you feel judged, and don’t align with your interests and values. In many circumstances, your bad friend won’t be someone else’s. You might want to befriend someone that’s more reliable and available than the next person, or maybe what’s most important to you is interest alignment, like if you both work in the same industry.
You can determine what you require in a friend — and what the sure-fire deal breakers are — by brainstorming and writing down your friendship goals . That said, here are some bad-friend traits extending to all situations:
They constantly “one-up” you: These friends always make their issues seem more significant than yours. If you tell them about your bad day, they tell you how their day was worse. And if you’re proud of an accomplishment , they mention how they did it better and sooner. This constant competition invalidates your feelings, and good friends don’t do that.
They’re a bad influence: They encourage you to participate in risky behavior or activities that make you uncomfortable. And if they don’t respect your boundaries , they’re not worth having in your life.
They bully and belittle you: Some “friends” only keep you around to make you feel bad. To feel better about themselves, they take you down — and that’s simply not friendship, it’s bullying . Instead, great friends raise you up, offering support and affirmation to help you become your best self .
The importance of good friendship
When you have good friends , hard times seem more manageable, and you feel supported and celebrated for who you are. And when times are tough, you know you have someone to count on. No matter the distance or situation, they always seem to know how to make you feel better.
A good friend doesn’t need to share your every interest, but they value what’s important to you and never belittle your passions and hobbies. And when you’re doubtful about your value, they quickly remind you of your importance and what makes you unique.
Having great friendships also means you :
- Gain a sense of belonging
- Feel less socially isolated and lonely
- Have support during tough challenges, like losing a loved one
- Prevents health problems like high blood pressure and heart disease
Making new friends as an adult is difficult. Between work and other obligations, it’s hard to put yourself out there, but it’s worth it.
Here are three tips for finding more healthy friendships.
1. Try different communal activities
If you’re doing an activity you enjoy, chances are high you’ll meet like-minded people. And studies show that most people seek friends who are similar to them , so you could try attending group activities with strangers to make new friends .
So many activities exist that’ll expose you to new people, like dance classes, language courses, and exercise groups. Even if you’re shy , you could try less social events like painting or sculpting classes. And if you’re intimidated by trying something new, join an activity you’re already good at to remove this barrier.
Here are some options for meeting new people with similar interests:
- Attend local events: Having local friends makes it easier to hang out and stay in touch, plus you might have more in common. You can find local networking and social events online or on community boards, or even ask around at your workplace or with current friends.
- Volunteer: Helping out a cause you feel passionate about ensures you’ll meet new people with concurrent values. You might help out in a soup kitchen or with a beach clean-up, trying your best to chat to strangers each time you attend.
- Find a new social hobby: A great way to meet people is by taking on an out-of-home social hobby, like joining a sports team or book club. You might just go to the same spin studio weekly, building community that way.
2. Become your own best friend
If you’re a great friend to others, that means you can also be a great friend to yourself. And considering yourself “a friend” means you might treat yourself more kindly and compassionately, like you would your other close connections.
This self-love also boosts your self-esteem and confidence and helps you practice how to treat people well. And these traits won’t go unnoticed by current and future friends.
Take yourself out on a dinner date every once in a while, give yourself a positive pep talk, and enjoy cozy nights doing free time activities you love. Because you deserve it.
3. Be a good friend to others
Great friendship is based on reciprocity: to find good friends, you must be a good friend. Self-reflect, perhaps journaling or talking aloud, to determine whether you embody the traits listed above, like being a good listener and offering your friends a no-judgment safe zone. Then make a self-improvement plan practicing any missing qualities.
True friendship isn’t always sunshine and roses. You might fight, fall out of touch, and feel jealous of each other — all of which can strain an otherwise great relationship.
And sometimes, your friend’s decisions won’t make you happy. You might have to confront them about a bad work ethic or toxic trait. These conversations aren’t easy, but they’re necessary if you want to be a good friend. If you communicate openly and honestly, your relationship can survive any rough patch.
Building meaningful relationships takes work. You must be vulnerable with others, honest about how you feel, and supportive when people need you. And you have to trust your gut when you feel like someone’s a negative influence in your life.
But the struggle is worth it. Now that you know the qualities of a good friend, you can find people to support you during tough times and help you feel more fulfilled in life. Great friends offer belonging and meaning — what’s more important than that?
Elizabeth Perry
Content Marketing Manager, ACC
Learn how to make friends online to expand your circle
Squad goals 6 tips to recognize (and keep) good friendships, the ultimate guide on how to be a better friend, 10 reasons why friendship is so important in life, 10 tips to help you make friends and get along better with others, learning to give and receive advice on friendship, family, and work, why making friends as an adult is so hard (and how to do it), want to make someone’s day 10 tips on how (or if) to cheer someone up, election stress surpasses pandemic levels, similar articles, what are friendship goals how to make the best of your besties, the benefits of knowing yourself: why you should become your own best friend, revisiting project oxygen: a look at what makes a good manager, 18 leadership qualities and characteristics of a good leader, 8 ethical values every professional should adopt, why it's good to have a bff at work and how to find one, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..
3100 E 5th Street, Suite 350 Austin, TX 78702
- Platform Overview
- Integrations
- BetterUp Lead
- BetterUp Manage™
- BetterUp Care™
- Sales Performance
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Case Studies
- Why BetterUp?
- News and Press
- Leadership Team
- Become a BetterUp Coach
- BetterUp Labs
- Center for Purpose & Performance
- Leadership Training
- Business Coaching
- Contact Support
- Contact Sales
- Privacy Policy
- Acceptable Use Policy
- Trust & Security
- Cookie Preferences
What Makes A Good Friend Essay Example
What makes a good friend, when I get asked this, there are 3 things that come to mind. In order to be a good friend, you have to be someone who's a good listener, have a good sense of humor, and be supportive.
A friend has to be a good listener in order to spot any important details whether it be to know what to get them for their birthdays, or to be able to identify when somethings wrong. Nobody likes having to repeat themselves because their friend wasn’t paying attention.
Secondly, a friend should have a good sense of humor. A friend needs to be able to laugh at a joke with you and make you laugh when you feel down or feel like crying. They also need to be able to get the joke, nobody likes having to explain a joke to someone because they didn’t understand it.
Thirdly, they also need to be supportive. We want a friend who can be supportive and be able to be by us during tough times like when a family member dies or the death of a pet or even a miscarage. We need someone who will be there to tell us that everything will be alright and be able to be there with a tub of ice cream and tissues.
In conclusion, there are many qualities that make a good friend but I believe, to be a good friend means to be able to listen when needed, have a good sense of humor in order to make someone laugh when they feel down, and to be supportive when someone else is going through a tough time.
Related Samples
- Thunderstorm Essay Example
- Comparison Between City Life and Country Life Essay Example
- Personal Narrative Essay: iFunny App
- The Importance of Humor Essay Example
- Racial Discrimination in the Workplace Essay Sample
- Career as an Elementary School Teacher Essay Example
- Personal Narrative Essay: Child of Divorce
- Forensic Science Career Essay Sample
- How Modern Technology Changed Our Lives Essay Example
- Importance of Patience in Life
Didn't find the perfect sample?
You can order a custom paper by our expert writers
Talk to our experts
1800-120-456-456
- Essay on a Good Friend
Essay on a Good Friend for Students in English
An essay is a creative writing skill that enhances the imagination of a writer in every way and provides wings to paint their canvas of mind with their creativity. Essays have been widely used by people in every field to exchange and share their thoughts, experiences and ideas without any foundation. Unlike reports, formal and informal letters, Notices, Advertisements and other formats of writing, an essay gives the writer more flexibility to create without any pressure of how, what and when in the format and content. That makes an essay one of the most important writing skills to learn for anyone and everyone.
An essay is always an important part of the syllabus for students in their language subject right from Class 1. This continues to hold relevance to higher and senior secondary education and even after school. Especially for the students who pursue language in their bachelor's degree, the essay becomes an important part of their everyday learning. It is, therefore, advised for students to learn the basics about essays right from the beginning so that with consistent effort and practice they will get fully prepared for the same in their subsequent classes.
In most subjective competitive exams, essays play the role of a necessary role to fulfil. In the Mains examination of Civil Services, essays constitute a major weightage in the marking scheme and have proven to be a game-changer for a lot of students. In other examinations as well that include language papers in them, essays only help them to perform better. Even in the objective question papers, a good essayer can perform better than other students in answering Unseen passages or compositions. Practising Essays also improves the vocabulary of the students to dive into creativity and make it a little more than beautiful.
A good friend is a person who is capable of caring, irrespective of any conditions or whether he/she is being cared for or not. A good friend never judges us for our mistakes but only encourages us to do better and become responsible human beings.
Long Essay on a Good Friend
Friendship can exist between any beings and it is not only confined to humans only. Some people call their pets their best friends because they love them unconditionally without expecting anything in return. It surpasses age and could be found between even an old man and a small boy. Friendship is the most important relationship because it is not defined by any social boundaries or roles. A good friend will always look out for you in any situation. As there is an old saying- “Friend in need is a friend indeed”.
Yet friendship is separated from love in our society, but we have to ask ourselves that don’t we love our friends? If two lovers are not great friends then the relationship will face many clashes as they still are playing roles. Friendship detaches you from your roles in society and allows you to explore the unknown, where you can be yourself with the other, our friend accepts us as we are, we become friends because of the way we are.
Role of a Good Friend
A good friend sticks by your side both in your good times and hard times. They always provide you with support to rely on during troubled situations; they inspire you not to lose hope and peace in life. They are the ones with whom we celebrate our joy and success. A true friend is almost like your sibling, who has seen your good and bad sides and knows all your faults and your strength and yet remains completely unbiased with you.
As we grow older we realise that a good friend is always tough to find. We cannot always expect to meet people who will turn out to be good friends and will stay along with us for a long time. So it is very much important not to lose contact with close friends over some time. We all get busy in life to fulfil our needs and desires of earning money and sometimes we lose touch with our good friends. This only brings out the worst as we are no longer in touch with the energy that always supported us at some point in our life.
Do Friendships require Regular Calls and SMS?
A true friendship will never require daily conversations or daily spending of time together. Fellowship recognizes the concept of personal space. A good friend will always give you the privacy you need and allow you to go about your life as you always wanted. A good friendship thrives over gaps of silence. You can go a very long time without any interaction and then one day meet to realise nothing has changed at all.
Traits of Good Friends
Good Listeners - It is of utmost necessity that a friend should be a very good listener.
Reliable - A good friend is one whom you can rely on for anything and everything. People share maximum secrets with their friends only.
Loyalty - True friends are always loyal to each other. A good friend will never try to betray you in any way, talk bad about you behind your back or do anything that questions your friendship.
Trust - Good friends are always trustworthy. One should have friends to whom you can share all your secrets without any fear of getting disclosed.
Short Essay on a Good Friend
Throughout our lives, we meet many people either physically or on social media. Some of them only remain our acquaintances, while others end up becoming some of our very closest friends. The very close ones become like family members. Some say a good friend is just like our family member that we choose for ourselves.
It is always a matter of luck if one gets a good friend in their life. True friendship takes time and trust to build. It does not require any hard work or external push, because it is fun to be around friends. The hard part is to maintain a friendship for a long time. One silly mistake, and all the years’ worth of trust breaks in a split second.
Friendship is not bound by people’s financial status. A king can be a best friend to a poor beggar and poor labour can be a good friend to a rich industrialist. As we all have heard the story of Lord Krishna that he was in unconditional true friendship with poor Sudama. The friendship of Krishna and Sudama is a milestone for many people. They were like true soul mates.
Good Friend Essay Conclusion
Friendship is one of the best relationship bonds that people share in the world. A good friendship is developed on the foundation of trust, loyalty, and faith. Without love and emotions, no friendship can last long. We must make valuable friendships throughout our lives. They help us through life. We all must have one good friend whom we can always trust and rely on.
How does Vedantu help Students in learning Essay writing?
Vedantu is an online learning platform that ensures a 360-degree quality learning of the students by providing necessary study material for free and important courses for different exams.
For Essay writing in English, Vedantu provides Topic wise explanations on different topics of essays. In addition to this, Vedantu also provides free access to study material including NCERT text with solutions, Solved CBSE Sample question papers and Previous Year's question papers, Important Questions and keynotes for better revision, solved reference material including all four sections of composition, writing, NCERT text and novel for students.
To initiate master learning in the English language, Vedantu also provides English courses like Spoken English course for students of age 7 to 14, Personalised English reading course for students of age 4 to 6. Curious students or parents can initiate their success with Vedantu by starting with a free online counseling session. Students can register at Vedantu or download the Vedantu app from the play store or app store and register themselves there.
FAQs on Essay on a Good Friend
1. Who is a Good Friend?
A good friend is the one who stands by us through thick and thin. He or she never judges us for our actions and always acts as a guiding light in the moment of darkness. A good friend can motivate us to achieve our dreams by reminding us what we are good at.
2. Why doesn’t a Good Friend fall apart while away for some time?
It’s because true friendship has no boundaries and cannot only thrive during physical meetings. A good friend always gives us our space to explore and waits to listen to our findings.
3. What makes a Good Friend?
Good friends are always caring, loyal, passionate, and critical of you. These qualities make a friend a good friend, the person who talks behind your back and laughs at you can never be your good and true friend.
4. Why is learning and practising the essay "A Good Friend" so important for students to score high marks in Exams?
Essays always come with a good weightage of marks in the respective subject. This ensures that students should at least prepare for all the possible topics that are important and have chances to be asked in exams. The essay on "A Good Friend" is an important topic in this regard to cover. This topic has been seen to be repeatedly used in question papers especially for the junior Classes of 1 to 7. By learning this essay and practising it over and over prepares the students for the other related topics as well. It also provides necessary keywords that can be used in different topics of essay writing. Therefore, before going to the exam hall, students of all classes should at least have a reading on the essay topic "A Good Friend".
5. What is the importance of learning Essay writing for the students of all classes?
Essay writing is the most conventional and convenient way to share ideas without boundaries or boundation. Essay writing is the easiest way to convey a message or share a piece of information on any subject. Be it CBSE, ICSE or even state board exams of any class, Essay writing always holds a relevant weightage not only in English, Hindi and other language subjects like Sanskrit but for all the subjects especially Social Science and other theoretical subjects. It helps students learn the necessary writing skills and presentation of any spontaneous topic. This is necessary for all the subjective exams and even beyond exams, that is in life. By learning good essays, students will become pro at communicating their innovative ideas in the simplest way possible.
6. What should be the approach of students to learn about Essay writing and other questions of the writing section in the english language Exam?
English Writing includes several questions like writing Reports, Notices, formal and informal letters, articles, advertisements, posters, matrimonials, resumes etc. One such topic among them is essay writing. Once the students properly learn essay writing then it becomes easier for them to decode the other formats of writing. As a result, essay writing becomes the foundation of learning all the other formats of writing. Students who wish to master essay writing should immerse themselves in reading. That's right. Reading spontaneous content of sample papers, unseen passages, and unread chapters will give your mind a habit to create fresh and exciting images which is the first requirement of writing a good essay. For this, students can find sample Question Papers of English at Vedantu to start right away. After some time, reading should become a habit so students can start writing and check their writing by themselves to see where they could get better. Keep practising the same from different question papers and voila, you made it!
Home / Essay Samples / Life / Friends / What Makes a Good Friend
What Makes a Good Friend
- Category: Life , Education , Sociology
- Topic: Friends , Research , Social Research Methods
Pages: 5 (2064 words)
- Downloads: -->
Participants
Ethical consideration, analytic approach, results and discussions together.
--> ⚠️ Remember: This essay was written and uploaded by an--> click here.
Found a great essay sample but want a unique one?
are ready to help you with your essay
You won’t be charged yet!
Homosexuality Essays
Effects of Social Media Essays
Social Class Essays
Cultural Identity Essays
Body Language Essays
Related Essays
We are glad that you like it, but you cannot copy from our website. Just insert your email and this sample will be sent to you.
By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.
Your essay sample has been sent.
In fact, there is a way to get an original essay! Turn to our writers and order a plagiarism-free paper.
samplius.com uses cookies to offer you the best service possible.By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .--> -->