OUR FRIENDS HELP DEFINE WHO WE ARE.

Alexander Nehamas, On Friendship (New York: Basic Books, 2016) ("Each one of our friendships--some more, some less--contributes an element of individuality to our character. Each one leads us in particular direction that no other can duplicate. That, of course, may result in a shattered self moving in different directions without rhyme or reason, unity, or coherent. But such shattered self is what we are all faced with at first--and accidental self, made of of haphazard elements, picked up at different times, in different contexts, from different people, from various books, pictures, and music, from diverse social, political, and cultural environments. Individuality requires the organization of these elements into a whole within which they are no longer haphazard--a coherent whole to which each makes a distinct contribution. But coherence is not enough. The whole these elements compose must also be distinctive. It must have a style that express one's distinctive character." Id. at 221-222.).