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There’s a Russian saying, “Your friends are the ones who can tell you ‘no.’”

There's an American joke that "Your friend is the one who comes to bail you out of jail. Your best friend is the one next to you in the cell going, "Duuuude, that was AWESOME!!!!"

It's a joke, but the humor exists because it illustrates the idea that the people really like their enablers. Not everybody would find the joke funny, though I have no idea if Americans in general find it funnier than people from other cultures.

> There's an American joke that "Your friend is the one who comes to bail you out of jail. Your best friend is the one next to you in the cell going, "Duuuude, that was AWESOME!!!!"

Another stab in the same general vicinity is: "A friend will help you move. A REAL friend will help you move a body."

These truisms tend only to apply to people who are subject to social pressure, a feature that goes away when you are wealthy enough.

People who do not listen to their friends are already dead.

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