Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is more important to keep your old friends than it is to make new friends. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Be sure to use your own words. Do not use memorized examples.

We know that a man is known by the company he keeps. Friends are someone who will help, guide, support and sometimes scold you. Good friends will always want the best for you. Some people tend to stick to their old group of friends, while others are always on the go to make new friends. I believe a mixture of both the attitudes is required as old friends will stand by you in the toughest of times while the new friends will expose you to new things in life. To begin with, new friends will help a person gain knowledge about new backgrounds of people, their cultures, ideas and ethnicity. Let's say if a person just sticks to his long time friends, then he does not get introduced to people who believe in different ideology or way of life. If the old friends' group is largely close minded, the person would never be able to appreciate the open-minded people as he would be unaware of their thoughts and processes. Secondly, modern friends can open more pathways to career opportunities and recognition among people. If a person is struggling in some area of his life, for example his profession, his new well settled friends can guide him about possible career options and give him the contact details of some of the companies they know. This will help the person to uplift from his current state to a well regarged state. On the other hand, long time friends are as beneficial as new friends. They are trustworthy and more honest than new ones. For majority, the old friends believe in your potential and would always encourage you to not give up and work hard. If a person fails badly in a competitive exam, they would not discourage you to quit. Instead they will instill a sense of responsibility and positivity in you to tackle this failure and succeed in future. New friends are less likely to be as supportive as they are not as concerned about you as the old friends. This can be due to newness of friendship. Moreover, it is the old friends that will help you in the worst of circumstances. They will help you deal with money, marital, physical or mental issues. You can openly talk to them about their feelings and get relieved. To sum up, new friends bring exposure to currently unknown ideas, beliefs and opportunities, while old friends bring feeling of trustworthiness and kind support. In my opinion, a person should always look to increase his friend circle but at the same time should also maintain friendship with his old friends.