Which of the elements is most important to you in a friend?

[Frostgage 7,972]

Some qualities of friendship can be more important to certain people than others for whatever reason. Which is the most important to you? Feel free to rank all of them in order if you want, and/or explain your reasons. I've excluded magic since it's not really applicable in real life.

 

For me, it goes:

 

1. Kindness - I just don't feel like two people can be friends without at least a little of this.

2. Honesty - This one is especially important to me. Unless I know I can believe someone's words, I can't truly think of them as my friend.

3. Loyalty

4. Laughter

5. Generosity

 

I'm curious to see your answers.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Frostgage

[mars 4,861]

1. Laughter - Friends that can make me laugh are always the ones I like the most.

2. Loyalty - I've been stung by so-called friends before. Loyalty has become a huge factor in a friendship for me.

3. Honesty - Honesty is the best policy. I'd like them to be honest with me, and vice-versa.
4. Kindness - Kindness isn't a major thing for me. Niceness is always a great thing, don't get me wrong. But.. I have friends who are jerks, and I have friends who are sweethearts. As long as they aren't mean towards me, we can be friends.

5. Generosity - Generosity is so sweet. And friends who gift me are the sweetest people ever. But it isn't necessary to be generous, even if it's greatly appreciated.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,856]

For me, it's Honesty - Nothing changes my opinion of someone faster than finding out they lied to me. I detest that and, even though I may not always speak up about it to you, if I catch you in a lie, my opinion of you is pretty damaged. I know there's people who lied to me that I still talk to every day - I still haven't forgotten what they did, though, and I'm a bit cautious and less willing to talk to them about things. I can't really call someone my friend if I can't trust them. 

Honesty is extremely important to me, and it's part of the reason I like AJ a lot - that and because she's got such an amazing friendship with Rarity that I consider them to be best friends

 

After that, it's Generosity (in terms of giving of themselves, though - not giving material items) Loyalty, Kindness, and then Laughter. 
 

[AveryGamerDude 4,640]

Kindness, because it feels like everybody on the internet and IRL hates me nowadays. 

[Jeric 46,834]

Carbon!

 

 

@Frostgage, since this is you and I have a great deal of respect for you, I'll refrain from my typical anti-poll non answer.

 

Kindness is the one I value the most. My daughter was struggling with a specific math concept,She confided in me that she was afraid of disappointing me because of how much I value learning. After a pep talk and re-tutoring session, I told her what matters to me most, in respect to my children, is not that they grow up to be geniuses ... but kind and good heated people. That should be the primary goal of any parent ... for you to inspire and teach and hope for general decency. Kindness.

 

1. Kindness

2. Honesty

3. Generosity

4. Loyalty

5. Laughter

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Magic. Because nothing makes you a better friend then being able to teleport, turn birds into oranges, and shoot magic missles. And if you are good enough with magic, you can always create spells and potions that increase the other elements of friendship.

 

And my party is always missing a good mage, magic users are so hard to find in the 21st century.

[Guest]

1. Laughter - When I first began watching FIM, Pinkie seemed like the most ideal pony for me to have as a friend. Why? Because positivity and smiles would be a nice counterbalance to my usual self. 'Cos Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad

 

2. Kindness - As Fluttershy said, "sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness" (apologies if thats not exact ). 

 

3. Loyalty - Obviously I would like my friend to reciprocate the loyalty I show to them.

[Heliodor 156]

Loyalty. No back-stabbing and saying nasty things, which I guess ties in with kindness as well. But for me loyalty is the most important...

[SparklingSwirls 21,261]

Loyalty - I've lost several internet friends that became inactive, which really hurts... I want friends that will stick by my side.

 

After that, I'd say:

Kindness

Honesty

Generosity

Laughter

[Ardhacandra 133]

I chose kindness, because there wasn't an option for understanding and tolerance. I think that kindness resembles it closely. It is very important for me that I can say everything that's on my mind to my friends, without having to worry about judgement all that much.

[Pinkamena-Pills 6,838]

Laughter. 

 

Laughter brings joy,and joy is the most important thing to my existence. 

[Anilewe 2,178]

I was torn between Loyalty and Honesty, but my final choice is Honesty.

 

Mostly because in my opinion Loyalty (or any other element for that matter) without Honesty just can't exist. You can be loyal, but if you're not honest with me - you're not my friend and your loyalty is worth absolutely nothing. I had a friend who lied to me for a very long time and when I found out I was in such a state of shock that I wasn't able to deal with it for another year. I really didn't see it coming and that girl just used me and my friendship, because it was convenient for her. Kindness... I have the same problem here. You can be kind and nice to me, but if you're not honest - it doesn't mean anything. After all, what is kindness worth without honesty? That girl was nice to me. She comforted me when I needed it, she listened to me, but she did it only to achieve the goal. She didn't really care about me or my feelings.

 

I expect my friends to be honest with me. I want to have their honest loyalty, honest kindness, honest generosity and honest laughter. And I give them the same thing in the return. 

 

My list would look like that:

 

1. HONESTY

2. Loyalty / Generosity

3. Kindness / Laughter

Edited August 20, 2014 by Anilewe

[Pastel 7,627]

1. Honesty: nothing is more important than an honest fiend.

2. Loyalty

3. Kindness

4. Generosity: "optional"

5. Laughter: "optional"

Edited August 20, 2014 by Blobulle

[Invincible 2,090]

Iv'e been betrayed by those who i considered close to me before. Loyalty in my friends is paramount, to me.

[CP3_P0n3 170]

I would go for... the elements of harmony! Sorry, serious now. There's only five so I would go for Loyalty, nothing bites more than having your friend washed away the next year. Followed by Honesty, hate it when I know my friend is lying. The others seemed ok, nothing too serious.  

[Jonquil 20]

Nice idea for mixing things up!

 

I'm going to go with loyalty. Most of my friends aren't the nicest people around, but they have a solid moral compass and I know that they'll still be there if things go south, if we have an argument, etc. I can trust that they're in it for the long haul and like who I am deep down, whether I'm happy or unhappy, successful or unsuccessful, etc.

 

Honesty is a close second, but largely because I tie it in to loyalty. A lot of friends have been dishonest over the years and wound up hurting me because of it, but the lie wasn't as important as what the lie was covering up in many cases. As long as it's not a guy picking a fight with me just to see if I like him enough to get upset, I could forgive.

[PoisonClaw 8,153]

Laughter. Being able to laugh and have a good time with people you enjoy interacting with is friendship to me. It could be anything at all: hanging out, playing games together or simply sitting and talking either in person or over the internet, as long as you can laugh and enjoy the time spent together.  

 

Kindness would be second. I know there are best friends who constantly insult one another or say rude things between them, but even them it's all done in good fun and not out of malice. The moment someone willingly crosses the line and hurts your feelings without a hint of remorse or reason is the point they stop being your friend. 

 

Loyalty and then Honesty. This may surprise anyone who knows me, as while I value being honest, even I know there are rare times where friends need to lie for the sake of their friends. That's where loyalty comes in: being able to trust and stand by your friend even if they haven't been completely honest with you for a good reason.

 

And finally Generosity. While a nice gesture, being overly generous is hardly the most important part to being a great friend. 

[11th Doctor Whooves 794]

Laughter, without a doubt.  You can make friends with anyone if you can get a laugh out of them.

 

All the elements are important to friendship, but I think that, along with laughter, Kindness and honesty are also very important.

[GammaDove 428]

1. Honesty - When people lie to me, I kind of lose all my trust in them, and it takes a lot to regain my trust.

Loyalty - Again, trust issues.

Laughter - If there's one thing I like in a friend, it's that they can make me smile.

Kindness - I don't really look for a lot of kindness, mostly because I can be a total a**hole sometimes.

Generosity - I don't think generosity is that big of a friend quality for me.

Magic - haven't met anybody who can wield magic, and it would freak me out a little bit at first.

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

The most important thing for me is trust. Knowing that someone's being open with you, and will appreciate your being open with them is a fantastic feeling. When I have a good friend, I know that we can enjoy the good times together and that we'll be happy to help one another through the bad ones, and I appreciate that dependability. I'm going with honesty and loyalty, because they go hand in hand here.

[Callisto 1,873]

Magic. I only hang out with wizards. You aren't a wizard? Get out of my life.

 

Seriously, though, I'd say loyalty. You can't really call someone who's never there a friend, can you?

Edited August 22, 2014 by Callisto

[Scrubbed user 3,415]

1. Loyalty - I'd rather have somebody that I can trust to stick by my side.

 

2. Honesty - This kinda goes back to loyalty, 

 

3. Laughter - I, like everyone, enjoys a good laugh. So that is a good quality to have.

 

4. Kindness - I don't much care for mean people.

 

5. Generosity - See #4.

[TheAnonOne 48]

1. Honesty- This is paramount, I am told I am an extremely honest person by my friends and I expect the same out of them, I have an extremely hard time dealing with dishonest people.

2. Loyalty- This is tied in with honest a bit in my opinion because I usually find if you are honest you are pretty loyal but yea a friend who will be there through thin and thinner is important.

3. Kindness- Also pretty important, you can have a slight streak, light hearted teasing and jabbing goes on in my friend circle a lot which is completely ok but do not escalate much further than that.

4. Laughter- If there was no laughter in this world it would not seem as bright a place.

5. Generosity- Still important but out of these 5 it is the one that would matter the least to me.

[Hovershy 3,812]

They are all important but Kindness is by far the most important in my opinion.

 

Sure you can have an honest and funny friend, but if they aren't nice to you, you can't really even call them your friend. Loyalty and Generosity are up there as well though.

 

I'm suprised no one has voted for Generosity yet.   But I can see why, kindness is similar but a little more broad.

[iceestarz 5,752]

1) Kindness- I'm not gonna beat around the bush. I'm a sensitive little pussy coward. If you can't be kind to me than a friendship probably isn't gonna work. I need to know that you're going to be at least nice towards me, if not I'll just slowly drift off from you. and secretly hope to never bump into you. or secretly hope you fall off the face of the Earth into a volcano field of flowers.

2) Loyalty- Seriously. I need a friend that is gonna stick by me. I don't need a flip flop. I need someone who is gonna stick up for me and be there, cause I'm one who has trouble standing up for myself. I got into a huge fight with my best friend once because he let his girlfriend talk crap about me nonstop at their school, which I didn't go to. She didn't even know me, she said so many awful things about me (didn't help the fact since I had serious self esteem issues) and he couldn't even tell her to knock it off. After like 4 months we finally became friends again after he realized what kind of person his girlfriend was.

3) Honesty- Not far behind Loyalty. I feel like nobody should have to keep secrets from their friends. If they are true friends they will love you for who you are. My two best friends came out to me and I was really happy they could trust me. Nothing changed between us.  We all still hang out just like before. The only different thing is that I can spend the night without any of our parents throwing fits. Yay for gay friends.

4) Laughter- I laugh a lot. No joke. It was torture after I got double jaw surgery, the stitches made it hurt to laugh/smile for like 3-4 weeks. Anytime I laughed it felt like someone was ripping the stitches in my mouth. I think it's important and healthy for friends to be able to share a good heartfelt laugh to keep the relationship in tact.

5) Generosity- This isn't as important to me as the rest, but nonetheless it is very great to have between friends. Being generous has its own rewards and benefits. It's a give and take kind of thing. 

Edited August 22, 2014 by Cupcakes14