"Friendship" by Hugo Black, copyrighted 1898

I was surprised during the summer of 1983 to find in a mountain camp, a little book, entitled, Friendship, with the published date of 1898. I was more surprised to find that twenty or thirty of the book's pages were still joined together. I had to snip the pages apart to read the contents. That small gem of a book, apparently, had lain in the dark corner of the high shelf, unread in its entirety, if at all.

What a treasure of spiritual truths Hugo Black discovered. I am sorry for folk who somehow overlooked this book. I long that they, as I, might have shared the riches of Hugo Black's legacy. marylee manson armour

From Hugo Black's book "Friendship":

The idea,
so common in the ancient writers,
is not all a poetic conceit,
that the soul of a man
is only a fragment of a larger whole,
and goes out in search of other souls
in which it will find its completion.
We walk among worlds
unrealized
until we learn the secret of love

* * * * * * *

Love is always wonderful
A new creation,
Fair and fresh to every loving soul.
It is the miracle of spring
to the cold dull earth. page 20

* * * * * * *

Friendship in its essence
is spiritual. It is the free,
spontaneous outflow
of the heart, and
is a gift from the great Giver.

* * * * * * *