Very few people know the real meaning of friendship. More often than not, there is too much emphasis on sentiment, and too little on action. Metta is something that must be lived.
Even without his robes an arahant is recognized simply by the effect his metta has in a crowd.
To reteach a thing its loveliness is the nature of metta. Through lovingkindness, everyone & everything can flower again from within.
When we practice metta, we open continuously to the truth of our actual experience, changing our relationship to life.