How to Know If You Have Real Friends (And What to Do If You Don’t)

What if being lonely were actually a sign of being an interesting, emotionally sincere and thoughtful person? What if, in a world of superficial alliances, lonely was just what a more serious person tended naturally and legitimately to be? Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: “ How many friends do you have? Most of us would rush to think of a high number. To have to admit to having very few is - in our societies - a marker of shame and failure. But what if being lonely were actually a sign of being an interesting, emotionally sincere and thoughtful person? What if, in a world of superficial alliances, lonely was just what a more serious person tended naturally and legitimately to be? With this in mind, we might take an unusual test that seeks to explore how few friends we might actually have. “ MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: X: Instagram: LinkedIn: CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Mike Booth Title animation produced in collaboration with Graeme Probert