The 78 Best Quotes About Friendship

Are you one of those people who value friendship above all else? If so, then we have some amazing quotes for you. Here are the best quotes about friendship.

Reviewed and approved by the psychologist Elena Sanz.

Written by Josberth Johan Benitez Colmenares

Last update: 19 April, 2023

Friendship is a relationship established between people who aren’t family. This is the classic definition of friendship. There’s no single idea about what friendship is, as it varies according to the culture, age, and beliefs of each person. To help you broaden your thoughts about it, we’ve gathered 78 of the best quotes about friendship.

If you’re one of those who have many friends, or just one best friend, you surely have a lot to say about it. Our quotes about friendship are not meant to change your mind. On the contrary, their objective is to show you the many different ways in which friendship can impact our lives. In order to do so, we’ve even selected some quotes that contradict each other!

The best quotes about friendship

For many people, friendship is overrated. For others, its value is among the most important things that someone can cultivate in his life. Be that as it may, the ideas about friendship are very different from each other. Here are some of the best quotes about friendship for you to reflect on according to your experience.

1. “A true friend is one who comes in when the rest of the world leaves.” (Walter Winchell)

If our friendship phrases will teach you anything, it’s that you can identify a true friend because he or she always stays with you, even in the hard times.

2. “It’s not so much the help of our friends that helps us, but the confidence of their help.” (Epicurus)

Confidence and willingness to help are much more important than the help itself. In certain situations, there’s little you can do to solve the problem, but the fact that the person is there supporting you tells you how much he or she appreciates you.

3. “Friendship marks a life even deeper than love. Love runs the risk of degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything other than sharing.” (Elie Wiesel)

You may or may not agree with these words, but surely a couple of times in your life you have been able to corroborate them. While some friendships can also drift into obsession, of course, most of them remain on a plane of cordial fraternity. By involving more intense emotions, love tends to end in it more easily.

4. “True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides the evils. Strive to have friends because life without friends is like life on a desert island. To find a true friend in life is a good fortune; to retain one is a blessing.” (Baltasar Gracian)

Stay with the first words, you will see them a couple of times throughout our best quotes on friendship. A true friendship does nothing but multiplies the good things in life: pleasure, fun, joy, and happiness. In doing so, it inevitably divides evils.

5. “A friend should be one whose understanding and virtue we can equally trust, and whose opinion we can value both for its justice and sincerity.” (Robert Hall)

For many authors on our list, virtue is the most valuable attribute a friend can have. Virtue collects all positive values and projects them to those close to you. The more virtuous your companion is, the more learning, teaching, and positive effects you can glean from their friendship.

6. “Friendship enhances happiness and mitigates misery by doubling our joy and dividing our sorrow” (Cicero)

If you have a friendship that does the opposite, you can’t call it a true friendship. Of course, there are moments of tension, as there can be in any relationship, but the overall balance is that a friendship should be surrounded by joy. If it generates more problems than joys, the best thing to do is to walk away from it, as we will see in many other quotes about true friendship.

7. “One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and be understood.” (Seneca)

In other words, practice the principle of otherness. Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes allows you to see their situation, understand their context, access other points of view, and thus better assimilate their decisions. Without mutual understanding, friendship is impossible. It doesn’t work when it’s unidirectional, it has to be in both directions.

8. “Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends, even the most pleasant activities become tedious.” (Thomas Aquinas)

Think of the funniest moments you’ve had in your life. If you go through them you will have realized that they all revolve around friendship. Whether with family, partners, colleagues, or friends, friendship always mediates the happy moments. Remove the company and any activity, no matter how fun, becomes tedious.

9. “I would rather walk with a friend in the dark than alone in the light.” (Hellen Keller)

It’s very easy to find the way in the light. In the dark, however, is where difficulties will make you grateful to have a companion by your side. With support, any inconvenience seems easier to solve.

10. “A friend is one who knows what you are like, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and yet gently allows you to grow.” (Shakespeare)

The perfect friendship is one in which imperfections are accepted. There’s no such thing as an ideal friend, so the real one is surrounded by imperfections. Understanding that a person is made up of virtues and flaws is the first step in sealing any kind of bond. Giving space to grow is the second.

11. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world that may not be born until they arrive, and it’s only in this encounter that a new world is born.” (Anais Nin)

Surely many readers will feel identified with these words. When you start a friendship you discover a side of yourself that you were completely unaware of. For example, you discover things you didn’t know you liked to do, you discover your degree of patience and companionship and also the ability to act at decisive moments.

12. “Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with the success of a friend.” (Oscar Wilde)

Of all the short phrases about friendship, this is one that will make you reflect more intensely. Many relationships can weather problems, difficult times, or suffering with ease. However, these are shipwrecked when success envelops only one of them. What seemed like virtue turns into envy, resentment, and even disgust.

You have to be very wise and a true partner to applaud a partner’s success without wanting it, more than you think. Just as a real friendship is discovered when one of the two falls, so it’s when one rises through success over the other.

13. “Friendship, like money, is easier to spend than keep.” (Samuel Butler)

Nowadays making a friendship is very easy. Social networks allow you to find thousands of people whose tastes or ideals are close to yours. Maintaining it is another story altogether. Just as there’s the concept of fluid love, we can also find that of fluid friendship.

14. “Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as having friends at great distances: they make the latitudes and longitudes.” (H. D. Thoreau)

One of the best quotes about long-distance friendship. Like any kind of relationship, maintaining a friendship when there is the distance between the two of you is very difficult. It requires commitment, wisdom, and willingness. However, this is an experience that allows you to discover a different way of exercising friendship.

15. “Never leave a friend behind. Friends are all we have to carry us through this life. And they are the only things in this world we could ever hope to see in the next.” (Dean MacDonald)

Whoever leaves behind a friend deep down did not cultivate friendship. This of course when it comes to a difficult time, a fall, or a problem. As you will see in other phrases about friendship, sometimes it’s okay to decide not to continue with it, especially when you know that this no longer corresponds to what you expect.

16. “The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one,” (Emerson)

How do you expect to find a good friend if you are not one yourself? It may sound like a cliché, but in reality, you won’t enjoy the pleasures of a friendship without first assimilating this reflection.

In a friendship you have to give everything you would expect your partner to give you, otherwise don’t reproach his attitudes or aptitudes when they are not in tune with yours.

17. “A good friend is a connection to life, a link to the past, a path to the future, the key to sanity in a totally crazy world.” (Lois Wyse)

For many people, their friendships are the most valuable thing they have in life. Something that has shaped their past, shapes their present and hopefully will in the future as well. Without a doubt, a good friend is an invaluable ally that allows you to overcome all the obstacles and obscurities that surround the world.

18. “A friend can be waiting behind the face of a complete stranger.” (Maya Angelou)

So, don’t be discouraged if you don’t currently have someone to call a friend. You can always start a new friendship, even when you haven’t had good experiences around them.

Just like in a relationship, you just have to know how to choose the right person. The next stranger you cross words with may well become your best friend.

19. “Friendship takes work. Finding friends, cultivating friendships, scheduling face-to-face meetings… it all takes an enormous amount of work. But it’s worth it. If you put in the effort you will see the reward of positive friends who will make your life extraordinary.” (Maya Angelou)

In fact, it takes so much work that for many of the authors of our phrases on friendship it’s almost impossible to cultivate many at once. This is why the concept of a best friend is so valuable. It’s not that others are worthless, but that the effort and time they demand makes it only possible to allocate to one person.

20. “A good friend is like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.” (Irish proverb)

Unfortunately, the concept of a good friend is very easily misunderstood. The true friend is very difficult to find, so much so that we may as well compare it to a four-leaf clover. When you have made it you should keep it as long as possible, this is a way to appreciate its value.

21. “True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.” (David Tayson)

A friendship is not defined only by the great moments. There will be room for fun, games, and happiness; but also for those quieter and calmer ones. When you can keep quiet and do nothing in front of someone and still not feel uncomfortable, then you can say you have a friendship with that person.

22. “A true friend never stands in your way unless you are falling.” (Arnold H. Glasgow)

So he will always be there to pick you up. If you have a partner who is a stumbling block in the way of achieving your goals, then maybe you’d better think about pushing him or her aside. Far from being a drag that slows you down, a friend is someone who looks for a way to push you forward.

23. “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls bloom.” (Marcel Proust)

One of the best metaphors in our phrases about friendship. In one way or another, a true friend is someone who waters the plants inside you so that they eventually come to flower. In the same way, you must do the same to maintain a reciprocal relationship.

24. “Friends are those rare people who ask us how we are and then wait to hear the answer.” (Ed Cunningham)

That is, a friend will always be willing to listen to you; both the good stories and the bad ones. In fact, for many, this is the main value of a friendship: having someone to turn to when you want to be heard.

25. “False friendship, like ivy, decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new life and animation to the object it supports”. (Richard Burton)

Many times, distinguishing a false friendship from a true one isn’t an easy task. At first glance they are almost the same, it takes a close examination to realize their true intent. You can use this analogy and other learnings from our phrases on friendship to help you learn to identify them.

26. “Be courteous to all, but be intimate with a few, and let those few be tested before you give them your confidence.” (George Washington)

One of the best pieces of advice for forging a friendship. It’s not about being closed, or even distrustful or selective, it’s about knowing how to choose appropriately the people with whom you decide to share your time. After all, that person will have access to your secrets, your intimacy, your family, and a good part of your life.

27. “It’s said that friendship at first sight, like love at first sight, is the only true friendship.” (Herman Melville)

Have you ever witnessed these words? Little is said about it, although friendship at first sight is as real a thing as love at first sight. Of course, it’s much more common in children or young adults. In high school or college for sure more than one friendship started this way.

28. “Two people cannot be friends for long if they cannot forgive each other’s little faults.” (Jean de la Bruyere)

Or if they are always reproaching these faults without the intention of constructive criticism. As we have already pointed out in other phrases on friendship, there is no such thing as an ideal friend. They will always have flaws, vices, or imperfections; but these fall by the wayside when you consider all the good they can offer you.

29. “Since there’s nothing worth having like friends, never miss out on the opportunity to make them.” (Francesco Guicciardini)

There are many types of friends. There are those with whom you are more intimate, and others with whom, although they are not so close, you still have a great relationship. Never miss the opportunity to make a new one, especially when you have seen the values by which that person governs his life.

30. “When a friend is in trouble, don’t bother him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think of something appropriate and do it.” (E. W. Howe)

These are words that you can apply to all kinds of relationships, of course, from the one you have with your family to the one you have with your partner. In short, it’s much better to act than to stand still and wait for things to magically work out. Whenever it’s within your means, look for ways to help the people in your friendship circle.

31. “My definition of friendship is based on two things: respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And they have to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don’t have trust the friendship will fall apart.” (Stieg Larsson)

No matter what your opinion of what friendship is, respect and trust are certainly a pillar that forms the basis of any such relationship. Remove one of these ingredients and the relationship will be destabilized, balance them and you can enjoy a great friendship.

32. “In the sweetness of friendship there is laughter, because in the dew of small things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” (Khalil Gibran)

We propose you again an exercise: think of some moments in which you have laughed the most. Do you have them already? Well, surely many of them have been in the company of a friend.

Friendship offers you the opportunity to laugh, which in turn translates into happiness. Never miss the opportunity to laugh with a friend, its health benefits are more than you think.

33. “A friend can tell you things you don’t want to tell yourself.” (Frances Ward Weller)

From these words you can draw a great lesson: it’s better to surround yourself with friends who tell you the truth, who point out the bad things you do, and who are frank with you, than with those who keep silent and keep these opinions to themselves. There are things you are not willing to accept until someone else tells you, especially when they come from someone you care about.

34. “Many people will come in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave a mark on your heart.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

It’s a mark so big that it will last forever. Despite distance or time, you will always remember the moments you spent with that person. Even if you’re no longer friends, this does not imply that in the past you have not shared unforgettable moments.

35. “The most beautiful discovery that true friends make is that they can grow apart without growing apart.” (Elisabeth Foley)

This applies in many ways. Grow professionally, grow on the road to success, and grow in the way you think or do things. This is without wanting to force the other to follow the same course. Maintaining a friendly relationship also requires giving space for others to progress in their own way.

36. “True friendship resists time, distance, and silence.” (Isabel Allende)

This is something that other authors have exposed throughout our phrases on friendship. In fact, if you have a friendship and it has not yet been tested through these three conditions, then you don’t know if it’s a 100% true friendship. Many don’t stand up to even one of them and end up falling apart.

37. “Only the big-hearted can be true friends. The mean and cowardly can never know what true friendship means.” (Charles Kingsley)

Unfortunately, though, they are very good at faking one. Sometimes, you don’t realize you are friends with a mean or cowardly person until very late, at the times when you need them the most. It pays to be cautious to avoid unpleasant surprises.

38. “Laughter is by no means a bad beginning to a friendship and by far the best ending to one.” (Oscar Wilde)

Some friendships end in the worst way, as do other types of relationships. However, as the British writer rightly points out, sometimes it’s better to end a friendship the same way it began: with a smile.

39. “Our closest friend is not the one to whom we show the worst, but the best of our nature.” (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

That is, the one with whom we are kind, brotherly, sincere, and loving. You don’t have a friendship to turn to only when you need it, or to be a shoulder to cry on in difficult times. You must also be present in the good ones and show her through actions all the good you are willing to give.

40. “I’ve learned that friendship is not about who you’ve known the longest, it’s about who came and never left your side.” (Yolanda Hadid)

May these words not completely condition the way you manage your friendships. Yes, it’s true that the most faithful friendship is the one that always stays by your side, but sometimes it’s healthy to take a step back.

The same goes for a toxic relationship; as much as you want to fight for it, deep down, you know it’s best for both of you to write a period.

41. “The strong bond of friendship is not always a balanced equation; friendship is not always about giving and receiving in equal parts. Instead, friendship is based on the feeling that you know exactly who will be there for you when you need something, no matter what or when.” (Simon Sinek)

So, don’t be afraid if you give more than you get; or vice versa. Although the key is to seek balance, of course, sometimes this is very difficult to achieve. The most important thing, in the end, is that you know you will find unconditional support in each other when you need it most.

42. “People come in and out of our lives, and the true test of friendship is whether they can pick up right where they left off the last time they saw each other.” (Lis Ver)

These may be the words you just need to read. It includes a topic we haven’t discussed so far in our phrases on friendship: you can always try to pick up a relationship that you have abandoned for one reason or another. As long as there is willingness between the parties, you can build the bond as much or better than it was at the time.

43. “Every friendship goes through ups and downs. Dysfunctional patterns are established, external situations provoke internal friction; you separate and then you recover.” (Mariella Frostrup)

It’s very important that you are aware of these ups and downs, as this way you will be prepared when they come. Just as in a couple’s relationship, it’s impossible for the bond to remain in the utmost state of grace.

There will be tense moments, fights, upsets, and separations. As long as it’s worth it and they are willing to rectify mistakes, the friendship will rebuild.

44. “A healthy friendship is one in which you share your true feelings without fearing the end of the relationship. It’s also one in which you sometimes have to let things that bother you slide. Difficult times will make you wiser with yourself and with others. They will also make you stronger and closer to friends.” (Rachel Simmons)

Pick up and apply this great selection: you can’t always voice out loud the opinions, actions, or things you dislike about a friend. Sometimes, it’s better to overlook them and pretend they don’t exist.

If you pretend to protest every minuscule disagreement, sooner rather than later, the relationship will fall apart. To prolong it you have to turn your back on some things to avoid fights or tense moments.

45. “One friend in life is too many, two are too many, three are almost impossible. Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aims.” (Henry Adams)

As we have already seen and we will see in other phrases about friendship, the time and effort you must dedicate to a friendship prevent you from having many. Besides, it’s better to surround yourself with a few friends than to open the doors of your confidence to many. Intimacy is a great treasure, one that you must choose with whom you want to share.

46. “The depth of friendship does not depend on the length of the relationship.” (Rabindranath Tagore)

You can make a best friend in a few weeks, as well as maintain a superficial friendship with someone you have known since childhood. It’s not about the time, but the quality behind it. Also about commitment, fraternity, willingness, and showing that you want to establish a close and friendly relationship.

47. “A friend to everyone is a friend to no one.” (Aristotle)

If the authors of our phrases on friendship agree on something, perhaps something true is hidden behind it. Doubt those who want to establish a friendship with everyone, even more those who boast about it. Better to have one sincere friend, whom you know very well than dozens who are partial strangers.

48. “The beginning of a friendship, the fact that two people out of the thousands around us can meet, connect and become friends seems to me to be a kind of magic. But maintaining a friendship takes work. I don’t mean that as a bad thing. Good art also takes work.” (Charles de Lint)

It takes more effort than you think, even more than some are willing to give. You can’t build a solid relationship overnight, or take it for granted that it will be so by standing idly by. Everything worth having in this life requires effort, and of course, friendship doesn’t escape that.

49. “To like and dislike the same things, this is what makes a friendship solid.” (Sallust)

After all, it would be partly boring, monotonous, and even tedious if your friend thinks and acts identically to you. There will be things in common, others that are miles apart. It’s these relationships that help you grow and discover new things.

50. “Friendship has two sides. It’s not a friend just because someone is doing something nice for you. That’s a good person. It’s friendship when you do it for each other. It’s like marriage, it has two sides.” (John Wooden)

So you can’t talk about a friendship when there is only a one-way commitment. Apart from taking into account what we have said about balance, a friendship can only exist when there is mutual help.

It isn’t about paying a favor with a favor as if it were an act of obligation. It’s about being aware that for any kind of relationship, the participation of both are needed.

51. “What sweetness is left in life if you take away friendship? Stealing friendship from life is like stealing the sun from the world. A true friend is more worthy of esteem than kinsmen.” (Cicero)

Perhaps these last words come across as a bit strong, but for many readers, they correspond perfectly to their situation. For a variety of reasons, you will sometimes find greater support and understanding in a friend than you will find in a relative.

52. “If a man does not make new friends as he goes through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man, sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.” (Samuel Johnson)

You are not the same person today as you were one, two, or ten years ago. Your ideas change, so it’s natural to think that the kind of friendships that surround you do, too. What was once a priority for you when looking for a friend may now be a secondary criterion.

53. “Friendship is a strong and habitual inclination of two persons to promote each other’s good and happiness.” (Eustace Budgell)

Promote each other’s good wellbeing and happiness. Remember these words among all the phrases about happiness and make them a mantra of life. What good is a friendship if it only sows hatred, envy or indifference? There are too many problems in life to add to it, so the least you can do for a friendship is to care for it.

54. “Of all the things that wisdom provides to make us completely happy, the greatest is the possession of friendship.” (Epicurus)

There are those today who turn their backs on friendship because they have had unpleasant experiences surrounding it in the past.

Never reject the value of friendship, especially when the alternative is loneliness. Perhaps you have not been fortunate enough to surround yourself with good friends, though this need not condition whether you can find a loyal one in the future.

55. “The rule for friendship is that there should be mutual sympathy between them, each making up for what the other lacks and trying to benefit him; always using kind and sincere words.” (Cicero)

That one friend complements what the other lacks is one of the best metaphors in our phrases about friendship. This is why many friendships are forged in the opposite. Introverts with extroverts, for example. Thus each brings to the other what he or she lacks, and helps him or her to explore it in a kind and sincere way.

56. “Friendship is a full-time occupation if you are really friendly with someone. You can’t have too many friends because then they’re not really friends.” (Truman Capote)

Unless you have the gift of ubiquity or your day consists of devoting yourself entirely to them. The problem is that today the term friend is used in a very superficial way. If the true meaning of this word were recovered, we would discover that it’s a less infrequent relationship than we think.

57. “Friendship is the marriage of the soul and this marriage is subject to divorce.” (Voltaire)

So, don’t be afraid to take a step back when a conflict or problem has no solution. Just like a marriage, sometimes the only solution is for each to go their separate ways. When this is the case, it’s best to do so with the best of intentions and without holding some kind of mutual grudge.

58. “Friendship is something that creates equality and reciprocity, not a reward for finding equality or a way to intensify existing reciprocity.” (Rowan Williams)

Another great lesson from our quotes on friendship. Don’t do something for your friend with the aim of seeking a reward, do it only with the intention that it will benefit him or her or make him or her happy.

It isn’t always possible to return a favor in a friendship, so don’t expect anything in return beyond the feeling that you are doing good to a person you care about.

59. “Sympathy constitutes friendship; but in love, there is a kind of antipathy or opposite passion. Each strives to be the other, and both together form a whole.” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

In other words, a friendship does not consist only of pleasant or happy moments, for there will always be a dose of antipathy in the other.

Just as there are things you don’t like in your friend, they also find things in you that likely don’t quite adore. When you understand that this is bidirectional, you will learn that if he tolerates them, so can you.

60. “Building a friendship takes a lot of time and effort. To ruin it only takes a few seconds.” (Vlade Divac)

You may witness these words with your experience since this is something that happens thousands of times a day all over the world. This is why maintaining a friendship is very important, as it can be ruined at any moment. Just one action (or inaction) or one word (or silence) is enough to destroy it.

61. “I think the way to maintain a friendship is to respect that we are all different.” (Emma Bunton)

And know that this difference can be used to your advantage. You can learn new things from it, which helps you expand your outlook. As long as you respect this you can build a solid relationship.

62. “A friendship with oneself is very important, for without it one cannot be a friend to anyone else in the world.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

At the beginning of our quotes on friendship we pointed out the importance of being a good friend in order to have good friends. This one teaches you a similar lesson, only from a different perspective.

Just as you must have self-love before you can pretend to love others, you must also practice friendship toward yourself before you make it available to those around you.

63. “One of the hardest tests of friendship is to tell your friend his faults. So to love a person without being able to bear to see a blemish in him, and to speak a painful truth in loving words, that is friendship.” (Henry W. Beecher)

When done in a constructive light, pointing out faults is one of the many ways in which friendship can be demonstrated. This is done with the intention of making the other understand that they are there and, if there is a will, to work on improving them.

64. “Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good and alike in excellence; for these desire the same for each other in regard to good, and are good in themselves.” (Aristotle)

In other words, perfect friendship is that which is built between people of extreme virtue. You may disagree in many aspects with your partner, but ideally, she or he should share some values that you consider essential. This includes sincerity, respect, humility, and fidelity, for example.

65. “Only solitary men know the full joy of friendship. Others have their family; but to a lonely and exiled man, his friends are everything.” (Willa Cather)

Those who have had to face important events in their lives know the importance of friends. When he finds them, he values them as no one else does, and does all he can to keep them.

66. “If we are to build on a secure foundation in friendship, we must love friends for their sake, not for our own.” (Charlotte Brontë)

Otherwise, you would be practicing an extension of selfishness. All the things you do for a friendship you should do for the good of the other person. You should seek nothing in return – only the good of that person. When this is reciprocal, a true friendship is built.

67. “Friendship, itself a sacred bond, is made more sacred by adversity.” (C. C. Colton)

One constant in phrases about true friendship is that you know you have one when you must face adverse times. We don’t just mean things that happen to you, but also to your friends. You find out how good a friend you are and how much companionship, understanding, and help you can offer in these contexts.

68. “The greatest sweetener in human life is friendship. To bring this to the highest level of enjoyment is a secret that few discover.” (Joseph Addison)

It’s also a secret that many think they have. The problem with friendship is that it’s sometimes very well camouflaged and difficult to identify. You can have a great friend in front of you, but for various reasons, you may not realize it. You should sharpen your eyesight so that you can recognize which people you really want to have in your life.

69. “Everyone understands friendship, and friendship is different from love; it’s a different kind of love. Friendship has more freedom, it’s freer. You don’t expect your friend to be the way you think your friend should be; you expect your friend to love you like a friend.” (Carole King)

Throughout our quotes on friendship, we’ve drawn several parallels between friendship and relationships. This is because both share the same foundation: love. Although a different manifestation of love, it’s still love, after all.

70. “Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue.” (Mencius)

You may not have approached a friend for his virtue, but this is undoubtedly what makes you want to keep them close to you.

If, over time you, realize that in their heart the person cultivates negative principles such as arrogance, hypocrisy, or lying, you will surely want to keep them away. It’s their virtue that is the incentive you choose to stay.

71. “A friend is a mystery loved. Beloved always because he is not of us, and has something in him that is impossible to probe. If it were not so, friendship would lose its greatest excitement.” (Lucy Larcom)

Just as you will never know your partner completely, you will never know a friendship completely. You generally discover more about him or her as you share time together, as well as when you go through turning points. However, there will always be a halo of mystery that you cannot access.

72. “Friendship is a slow-growing plant that must suffer and withstand the blows of adversity before it has the right to be called such.” (George Washington)

Many of our readers have surely discovered that in the face of adversity several of those who considered themselves friends have ended up taking a step backward. This is more frequent than you might think, so it’s only in the face of it that you can discover the true value of a friendship.

73. “Friendship, like love, is destroyed by prolonged absence, though it may be increased by brief intermissions.” (Samuel Johnson)

Along with other lessons from our phrases on friendship you can use these words to rescue a friendship you thought was lost. If you walk away from it completely, it’s natural for it to be destroyed, although little moments together may remind you of how much good you both enjoyed each other’s company.

74. “One of the most sensitive of human delusions is the notion that friendship must be eternal or, at any rate, for life, and that any act which puts an end to it is in some way dishonorable.” (H. L. Mencken)

This is something we’ve already told you about in other phrases on friendship. It’s a widespread prejudice that a true friendship should be eternal.

Although several of the sentences we chose to share this idea, keep in mind that some relationships have an expiration date. This need not be dishonorable or in any way demeaning.

75. “One of the surest pieces of evidence of friendship that one individual can show to another is to speak gently to him of a fault.” (E. G. Bulwer)

Gently – therein lies the key. When it’s done in an unguarded way, or only with the intention of highlighting the fault, it leads to more problems than benefits.

76. “In friendship as in love, ignorance often contributes more to happiness than knowledge.” (F. de La Rochefoucauld)

After all, it’s better to ignore certain things that a friend has said or done than to know them at all. This of course also applies in the opposite direction: perhaps there are things you have said or done that you would rather a friend did not know.

77. “Friendship is inexplicable. You don’t have to explain it if you don’t want to kill it.” (Max Jacob)

Although this sentence partially negates everything we have said in our phrases about friendship, sometimes it’s better not to put labels or categories on the relationship you have with someone.

78. Quotes about friendship: “No one person can combine all the elements that are supposed to make up what everyone understands by friendship.” (Francis Marion)

We end this section ironically, but with words that also invite you to reflect. Gather the lessons that the phrases about friendship have taught you, although keep in mind that it’s impossible for all of these to converge in your friend. Your relationship may not meet any of the principles we have outlined, and yet it’s still a solid friendship.

As promised, all the quotes we’ve chosen here are intended to show you a different idea of friendship. Assimilate the learnings wisely and use them when making or maintaining your friendships.