There are three kinds of friendship, according to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, based on different ends. These are virtue, utility and pleasure. Merely setting forth these objects serves to remind us how shallow many friendships are in that most of them are based on the last two objects, and far fewer on the first.
Starting from that summary, he manages to pack interesting comments on political parties, marriage and business into a few shot paragraphs. RTWT.
