RULE 97

Never lend money unless you’re prepared to write it off

How many times have I seen friendships fail because one friend lent money to another and then didn’t get it back? And not only money. Maybe it was a car that came back scratched, or a book that didn’t get returned. Or a flat that a friend stayed in for a few days and damaged somehow. Oscar Wilde (I think it was him) once borrowed a book and then lost it. His friend got angry when his book wasn’t returned and asked him, ‘Are you really prepared to jeopardize our friendship over this?’ Oscar replied, ‘Are you?’

This applies to family as well as friends, but I’ve put this Rule in this section because it’s more often friends that fall out over such things. The fact is that you start ...

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