What keeps [friends] together? Common history, some shared conquests, a delight in ideas and people and living. But they will also be distinguished by their ability to listen to you. They will not be uncritical, but they will understand and accept you. You will be interested in each other's happiness and well-being.
Margaux Bergen, Navigating Life: Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me
acceptance, friend, friendship, listening, understand