Social Minimalism

Life without friends is meaningless, because friendship is the mirror of our own humanity. Without it, we are no better than beasts.

Inversely, the theory of Dunbar’s number tells us we aren’t wired biologically to have an infinity of sustainable relationships, whether they are friends or family.

It is thus primordial for our sanity to be wary of who we let in our lives, focusing on the quality of said friends rather than their quantity. More people isn’t always better.

Sure, meeting new people is exciting and we have nothing to gain from closing ourselves to others. But when it comes to true friendship—the one that makes us better, the one we can count on, the one that ennobles us—not everyone is and should be qualified.

Beware of naysayers, beware of emotional vampires. There are some times in life when people aren’t worth fighting for and we’d better leave them. 

Friendship, or any relationship for that matter, should never be a war. Friendship is a tree: it needs to be watered regularly in its infancy. It needs care and consistency. We have to trust it will ripe nutritious fruits. We can cut it and put it in a pot, but it’s going to die.

If we want to be happy, we need good people.