Invite a friend for coffee today and tell her how much you appreciate the time you spend together.

It’s the International Day of Friendship, a UN
observance day that promotes the role friendship plays in promoting peace.

Friendship Day has been celebrated in many South American countries since the 50s, but it was proclaimed an international observance day in 2011 by the UN, with the idea that friendships help bridge communities and cross cultures. The UN resolution particularly emphasizes friendships between young people, our future leaders, and community activities that include different cultures.

A popular way to celebrate friendship is wearing friendship bracelets with your friend. In 1998, Nane Annan, the wife of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, named Winnie the Pooh the world’s Ambassador of Friendship. 

Here’s a few quotes to celebrate friendship, by Winnie the Pooh and other wise thinkers:

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” Winnie the Pooh (A. A Milne)

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” Ellen Hubbard

“It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.” Marlene Dietrich

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” Aristotle

 

Also in July:

Dharma Day – July 3rd

International Day of Cooperatives – July 7th

Martyrdom of Bab – July 9th

World Population Day – July 11th

Ramadan Begins – July 20th/21st

Olympic Games Begin – July 27th

Tags: bracelet, friend, Friendship, Friendship Day, United Nations, Winnie the Pooh, Youth

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 30th, 2013 at 1:52 am and is filed under about cross-culture, days of significance, General, other interesting stuff, social practices . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.