Do great relationships start out as friendships?

anyone have any personal experience with a relationship having been just friends first? in your opinion do friends end up having a better relationship once committed than people who start out dating from the get go?
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i encountered this situation before. my best friend and i have developed each other and we became lovers but suddenly we broke up because my best friend had another woman so it was not great to start relationship with your friend.its better to accept the fact that you will be friends only. I'm recovering now;I had my boyfriend now who loves me so much and so do i.

i really dont think so but i know some of my friends that has started as friendships and ended in relationships :S

love is about understanding each other and trust your soul mate .Love can happen anytime as you see.
maybe first sight love strike for some of them .
for some people , being friends for long time make them understand each other , so they couple up., there is a high possibilities that friendships changed into love .

yup, it's proven.. my first boyfriend was my best friend for 4 years. we ended up falling in love, but we didn't work out as couples. we lasted for only 1 year. 11 months and 29 days, just one day before our 2nd year anniversary we broke up;( the worst part is, we can't even bring back our friendship..