Lend your money and lose a friend If your friend finds himself unable to repay the debt, he will avoid you and may well say bad things about you to justify his conduct. There is a Portuguese proverb that says: ‘If you would make an enemy, lend a man money, and ask it of him again.’ See also: When I lent, I had a friend; when I asked he was unkind Neither a borrower nor a lender be