愛情和友情的界限是什么呢？當然，強烈的愛慕，震憾心弦的感情很容易區別出來。然而，淡淡的，細水長流的愛情與推心置腹、無所不談的友情往往只差一線。那么怎樣來區分呢？

Both are so much related to each other. And both are so dissimilar! What are the differences between friendship and love? Is platonic friendship possible between persons of opposite sex? Let us try and understand.

兩者聯系是如此密切，兩者卻又那么截然不同。友情和愛情有什么區別？異性朋友間的理想化的友誼真的存在嗎？我們來試著理解下。

What is friendship? Why do we call a person our friend? When do we call someone a very good friend? If we care for a person, if we are always ready to help that person and if we share most of our thoughts with a person, they are our good friends. We can always count upon our good friends in an emergency. We are always sure that our friend will understand why we acted in a certain way. We need not explain anything to our very good friends. The friendship is so deep and the relationship is so intimate, that most of the things are automatically understood by our friends.

什么是友情？為什么我們管一個人叫“朋友”？什么時候我們管一個人叫作“好朋友”？如果我們關心一個人，我們總是準備幫助那個人；如果我們和某個人分享大部分的想法，那個人一定是我們的好朋友。在緊急情況下我們總是依靠好朋友。我們總是確定好友會理解我們行事的方式。我們不需要向親密的朋友解釋什么。友情如此深，關系如此牢，以致于朋友間的事雙方都會很自然地理解。

What about love? In a relationship of deep love, all the sharing that we discussed above are taken for granted. But love transcends all this. During love, we are attached with a particular person, while in friendship, one may have many friends. A loving relationship makes one so much attached to the other, that one gets pained if his/her beloved is hurt! Love also involves a physical element. Friendship does not have that. This is a vital difference. Nature gives us love so that the specie can go forward. Nature does not give us friendship.

什么是愛情？在深愛中，上面我們討論的事情都是理所當然的。但是愛情遠遠超過這些。戀愛中，我們總是和某個人關系密切。但是在友情中，一個人可能有很多朋友。戀愛的兩個人聯系得如此緊密，如果他/她受到了傷害，另一個人也會心痛。愛情總會有身體上的接觸。友情卻沒有。這是至關重要的區別。上蒼給予了我們愛情，以使種族延續。但是上蒼卻沒有給我們友情。

Your heart beats will never increase in anticipation of meeting your friend. You will not lie awake at night thinking about your friend. You will not feel totally lost, if you don't meet your friend for a few days. You will not have dreams in your eyes thinking about your friend. But in love, you will do all this and much more. Indeed, there is no comparison between love and friendship.

在盼朋友出現時，你的心跳不會增加；你不會夜不能寐地想著你的朋友；如果幾天沒見到朋友，你也不會完全迷失；想到朋友時，你的眼中不會有夢想。但是在戀愛中，這一切你都會做而且程度會更深。確實，愛情和友情沒有可比性。