Trust is not the same as faith. A friend is someone you trust. Putting faith in anyone is a mistake.
Interpretation
Trust is based on evidence and experience, while faith is believing without proof. True friendship is built on mutual trust.
In this quote, Christopher Hitchens distinguishes between trust and faith, emphasizing that trust is grounded in shared experiences and reliability, while faith often involves a blind belief in someone without assurance. He stresses that a true friend is someone you can trust, implying that placing faith in people without a solid foundation can lead to disappointment, thereby highlighting the importance of establishing trust in relationships.
In practice
This quote could be referenced in a speech about the importance of building trust in friendships.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way β because itβs had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But youβve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
The real trouble about the duty of forgiveness is that you do it with all your might on Monday and then find on Wednesday that it hasn't stayed put and all has to be done over again.
The way I go about it is that we should all be inviting people into our lives who don't look like us, speak like us and don't come from where we come from.
Every so often I would look at my women friends who were happily married and didn't cook, and I would always find myself wondering how they did it. Would anyone love me if I couldn't cook? I always thought cooking was part of the package: Step right up, it's Rachel Samstat, she's bright, she's funny and she can cook!
I always felt like I was a freak when I was growing up and that there was something wrong with me because I couldn't fit in anywhere.
When the mind sees itself in the mirror of relationship, from that perception there is self-knowledge.
Trust is that rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father.
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