FRIENDSHIP

No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth. -Anonymous

A friend is a present you give yourself. -Anonymous

They who have loved together have been drawn close; they who have struggled together are forever linked; but they who have suffered together have known the most sacred bond of all.
-Anonymous

Insomuch as any one pushes you nearer to God, he or she is your friend. -Anonymous

The strength and sweetness of friendship depend on sincerity tempered by sympathy.
-Anonymous

Friendship is the great opportunity to demonstrate our capacity for lofty and ennobling relationships without the motive of selfishness. -Appleby

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. -Aristotle

Life is sweeter, stronger, fuller, more gracious thing for the friend's existence, whether he be near or far. If the friend is close at hand, that is best; but if he is far away he is still there to think of, to wonder about, to hear from, to write to, to share life and experience with, to serve, to honor, to admire, to love. -Benson

Friendship cannot be permanent unless it becomes spiritual. There must be fellowship in the deepest things of the soul, community in the highest thoughts, sympathy with the best endeavors. -Black

Friends should be chosen by a higher principle of selection than any worldly one. They should be chosen for character, for goodness, for truth and trustworthiness, because they have sympathy with us in our best thoughts and holiest aspirations, because they have community of mind in the things of the soul. -Black

Friendship is the positive and unalterable choice of a person whom we have singled out for qualities that we most admire. -Bonnard

Friendship is in loving rather than in being loved. -Bridges

It brings comfort to have companions in whatever happens. -Chrysostom

The whole fruit of friendship is in the love itself, for it is not the advantage, procured through a friend, but his love itself that gives delight. -Cicero

Chance makes our parents, but choice makes our friends. -Delille

The only way to have a friend is to be one. -Emerson

My friends have come unsought. The great God gave them to me. -Emerson

It is possible for two people who have wide differences of preference and opinion, of habits, of teaching, of training, of background and belief to enjoy the company of each other in many ways. Indeed, a diversity of friendships is one of life's real enrichments. To learn of the goodness of those who are unlike-their worth, their sincerity, their good hearts, their good minds, their good company-is rich and rewarding. It is wonderful to have a wide range of choice friends who can be counted on, friends who can be enjoyed and loved and trusted. Such is the meaning of friendship. -Evans

The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend, as to find a friend worth dying for. -Home

Blessed are they, who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one's self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another. -Hughes

We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop that makes it run over, so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one that makes the heart run over. -Johnson

Those are our best friends in whose presence we are able to be our best selves. -Kohler

Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer. -Fontaine

Lead the life that will make you kindly and friendly to everyone about you and you will be surprised what a happy life you will live. -Schwab

Friendship always benefits; love sometimes injures. -Seneca

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in continue firm and constant. -Socrates

It is a noble and great thing to cover the blemishes and excuse the failings of a friend; to draw a curtain before his weaknesses and to display his perfections; to bury his shortcomings in silence but to proclaim his virtues on the housetop. -South

A friend will be sure to act the part of an advocate before he will assume that of a judge.
-South

A true friend is the gift of God, and he only who made hearts can unite them. -South

By friendship you mean the greatest love, the greatest usefulness, the most open communication, the noblest sufferings, the severest truth, the heartiest counsel, and the greatest union of minds of which brave men and women are capable. -Taylor

Some friendships are made by nature, some by contract, some by interest, and some by souls. -Taylor

Constantly look for a new friend, a truly first-class person, one who has the courage to criticize, to demand your best self, a person who has different interests and different beliefs from yours, a friend for whom you can render a constructive service. Devote energy toward making such friends. Retain them, never let them go, and continue making new friends until you die. -Terhune

In the progress of personality, first comes a declaration of independence, then recognition of interdependence. -Van Dyke