Who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure.
—Hebrew Proverb
A friend is one who incessantly pays us the compliment of expecting from us all the virtues, and who can appreciate them in us. The friend asks no return but that his friend will religiously accept and wear and not disgrace his apotheosis of him. They cherish each other’s hopes. They are kind to each other’s dreams.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Friendship makes prosperity brighter, while it lightens adversity by sharing its grieves and anxieties.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
I can’t forgive my friends for dying; I don’t find these vanishing acts of theirs at all amusing.
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946) American-British Essayist, Bibliophile
A good friend is worth pursuing… but why would a good friend be running away?
—Ashleigh Brilliant (b.1933) British Cartoonist, Author
Friends are proved by adversity.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life. Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
Ones oldest friend is the best.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright
Friendship: Never explain—your friends do not need it, and your enemies will not believe it anyway. A real friend never gets in your way, unless you happen to be on the way down. A friend is someone you can do nothing with and enjoy it. However much we guard ourselves against it, we tend to shape ourselves in the image others have of us. It is not so much the example of others we imitate, as the reflection of ourselves in their eyes and the echo of ourselves in their words.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Who seeks a faultless friend remains friendless.
—Turkish Proverb
The friendship that can cease has never been real.
—Jerome (347–420) Greek Priest, Apologist, Saint
Friendships begun in this world will be taken up again, never to be broken off.
—Francis de Sales (1567–1622) French Catholic Saint
No one is rich enough to do without a neighbor.
—Danish Proverb
Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
A Friend is a treasure. More precious than Gold, For love shared is priceless And never grows old.
—Anonymous
The good fellow to everyone is a good friend to no one.
—Hebrew Proverb
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
Your friend is who man who knows all about you, and still likes you.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Tell me who’s your friend and I’ll tell you who you are.
—Russian Proverb
Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend.
—Agatha Christie (1890–1976) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Your friend is your needs answered.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Love is only chatter, friends are all that matter.
—Gelett Burgess (1866–1951) American Humorist, Art Critic
Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men.
—The Dhammapada Buddhist Anthology of Verses
Friendships are fragile things and require as much care in handling as any other fragile and precious thing.
—Randolph Bourne (1886–1918) American Writer, Scholar
My true friends have always given me that supreme proof of devotion, a spontaneous aversion for the man I loved.
—Colette (1873–1954) French Novelist, Performer
Love demands infinitely less than friendship.
—George Jean Nathan (1882–1958) American Drama Critic, Editor
The ideal friendship is to feel as one while remaining two.
—Sophie Swetchine (1782–1857) Russian Mystic, Writer
Good fellowship and friendship are lasting, rational and manly pleasures.
—William Wycherley (c.1640–1716) English Dramatist
Nothing is there more friendly to a man than a friend in need.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright
In America every woman has her set of girl-friends; some are cousins, the rest are gained at school. These form a permanent committee who sit on each other’s affairs, who “come out” together, marry and divorce together, and who end as those groups of bustling, heartless well-informed club-women who govern society. Against them the Couple of Ehepaar is helpless and Man in their eyes but a biological interlude.
—Cyril Connolly (1903–74) British Literary Critic, Writer
Love is like the wild-rose briar;
Friendship is like the holly-tree.
The holly is dark when the rose briar blooms,
But which will bloom most constantly?
—Emily Bronte (1818–48) English Novelist, Poet
And what a delight it is to make friends with someone you have despised.
—Colette (1873–1954) French Novelist, Performer
Your notions of friendship are new to me; I believe every man is born with his quantum, and he cannot give to one without robbing another. I very well know to whom I would give the first place in my friendship, but they are not in the way, I am condemned to another scene, and therefore I distribute it in pennyworths to those about me, and who displease me least, and should do the same to my fellow prisoners if I were condemned to a jail.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
But just as delicate fare does not stop you from craving for saveloys, so tried and exquisite friendship does not take away your taste for something new and dubious.
—Colette (1873–1954) French Novelist, Performer
Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Every friend is to the other a sun, and a sunflower also. He attracts and follows.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
A man is known by the company he avoids.
—Muriel Strode (1875–1964) American Author, Businesswoman
A friend loveth at all times.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
You may poke a man’s fire after you’ve known him for seven years.
—English Proverb
A friend who cannot at a pinch remember a thing or two that never happened is as bad as one who does not know how to forget.
—Samuel Butler
We create our fate every day … most of the ills we suffer from are directly traceable to our own behavior.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
Join the company of lions rather than assume the lead among foxes.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
A man must eat a peck of salt with his friend before he knows him.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Friendship is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
If you have no friends to share or rejoice in your success in life—if you cannot look back to those to whom you owe gratitude, or forward to those to whom you ought to afford protection, still it is no less incumbent on you to move steadily in the path of duty; for your active exertions are due not only to society; but in humble gratitude to the Being who made you a member of it, with powers to serve yourself and others.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family —but to a solitary and an exile his friends are everything.
—Willa Cather (1873–1947) American Novelist, Writer
Two friendships in two breasts requires The same aversions and desires.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist