Diogenes, good advice

After reading about Diogenes's behavior, conduct, and attitude towards life and humanity in general, one can see the ironic wisdom that Diogenes is trying to advocate. For example, one of Diogenes's sayings is "That one ought to hold out one's hand to a friend without closing the fingers," meaning that friendship is a relationship in which the participants are equal. Consequently, being open and comfortable is required. When he is saying, ".... without closing the fingers" he is expressing that in a mutual friendship everything is ours, this is not just mine (to hold, to own etc.) This brings to mind a conversation with my friend in which she was describing her experience at a recent convention she went to. She said she felt a little out of place, and could not understand the source and reason for her distress. All of a sudden she started to cry, and began to tell her story in earnest. I did my best in comforting her and she ended our conversation by saying that the best part of any human relationship is sharing, be it sentiments, feelings, or just chips. Until that point, I did not really understand that it is indeed sharing that is the food of companionship. Sometimes, people are friends for the wrong reasons in which the one person might be using the other. In this case, the companions are not on an equal footing, because one person is taking advantage of the other and not giving in return. Thus this is a one-sided, and closed relationship. Thus, any genuine friendship should not be based on personal gain, but mutual understanding (taking and giving).