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FRIENDS AND FLATTERERS SUMMARY, By William Shakespeare, This poem is about friends, both false and true. False friends are easier to get, than true friends. False friends flatter a person with wealth saying he is, generous when he spends money recklessly. Such friends desert him once he, loses his wealth and has nothing more to give them., A true friend, on the other hand, is one who will stand by us in times of, difficulty, grieving with us in times of sorrow and sharing our burdens., Such is the glaring difference between the two that flattering friends are, enemies in reality., According to the poet, a person who flatters you is not necessarily your friend as, his words are like the winds which come, go and change direction very easily., He says that as long as you are affluent (wealthy) all will be your friend but, when you need some help no one will come to help you. In fact all will try to, ignore you. But a true friend will always be with you. If you are in sorrow he will, weep with you, he will stay awake if you can’t sleep. Every time you grieve , he, grieves too. These are the basic differences that should be kept in mind to, segregate(separate or stay away) a friend from a flatterer., In other words---In this poem 'Friends and flatterers' William Shakespeare distinguishes between a, real friend or a fake friend(friend who would like to impress you with flattery)., Shakespeare says everyone who would flatter you will not stand by you when you, are in a difficult situation. It is easy to impress one with flattering words. After all, the words are just like wind but it is not that easy to find a real friend., These false friends will be with you as long as you have money to spend. But if, your wealth is gone and you are in want, no one of them will help you., When a person spends a lot on his friends, they will call him generous and, express their sorrow that he is not a king.

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If a person is prone to bad habits, the false friends will lead him to worse habits, and stand by him . If he is attracted to women these villains will be ever ready to, supply him with the type of women he likes., But when he suffers some kind of misfortune, his false friends are sure to leave, him.The people who used to flatter him before his unfortunate days will not come, near him any more. Meaning, he will be all alone., But a person who helps you in your need is your real friend. If you are sad, your, true friend will weep with you. When you cannot sleep, he will wake with you., Thus he will be ready to share all your grief. These are certain points for you to, distinguish between a true friend and a mere flatterer.