Star Wars: Thrawn

by Timothy Zahn

It is said that one should keep one’s allies within view, and one’s enemies within reach. A valid statement. One must be able to read an ally’s strengths, so as to determine how best to use him. One must similarly be able to read an enemy’s weaknesses, so as to determine how best to defeat him. But what of friends? There is no accepted answer, perhaps because true friendship is so exceedingly rare. But I have formulated my own. A friend need not be kept either within sight or within reach. A friend must be allowed the freedom to find and follow his own path. If one is fortunate, those paths will for a time join. But if the paths separate, it is comforting to know that a friend still graces the universe with his skills, and his viewpoint, and his presence. For if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone.