My MIL is a counsellor and all her friends are people that she counsells. She has them around because - they are the only people that can tolerate her over a long time, she can manipulate them easily because they are unstable and because they make her feel better about herself. She is always comparing herself to them and she is convinced she is better than them. I think she generally avoids people who are stable because they don't feed her narcissistic need. She also likes having friends with very little money because she can be 'generous' - her 'generosity' is completely impractical because it is actually about flaunting what she has and not about helping them at all. It's all part of the dillusion of grandeur and what you describe sounds spot on to me

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