I boldly assert, in fact I think I know, that a lot of friendships and connections absolutely depend upon a sort of shared language, or slang. Not necessarily designed to exclude others, this can establish a certain comity and, even after a long absence, re-establish it in a second.
Interpretation
Friendships thrive on shared language and experiences, creating bonds that can quickly reconnect people.
Christopher Hitchens emphasizes that friendships often rely on a common language or slang that can foster a sense of community among friends. This shared communication style is not meant to alienate others but rather strengthens the connection, allowing those who have been apart to quickly rekindle their relationship when they reunite.
In practice
In a reunion speech, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of shared experiences.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way — because it’s had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But you’ve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
Looking back, I am grateful for so many friends who helped me in my youth to gain a testimony of the restored Church of Jesus Christ. First, I exercised simple faith in their testimonies, and then I received the divine witness of the Spirit to my mind and to my heart.
Old friendships are like meats served up repeatedly, cold, comfortless, and distasteful. The stomach turns against them.
The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.
We often talk too much & listen too little. The surer route to winning a friend isn't to convince them that you're right, but that you care what they think.
A well-made Martini or Gibson, correctly chilled and nicely served, has been more often my true friend than any two-legged creature.
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