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Quotes about friendship
Cicero wrote De Amicitia, his dialogue on friendship, at a low point in his own life, and put it in the mouth of a Roman mourning his closest friend. Montaigne's essay on the subject is really about one man, La Boétie, who died young.
Emerson's essay is more awkward and more honest, since he admits he's often better with friends at a slight distance, and keeps them, as he says, the way he keeps his books.
From the books
Checked word for word against public-domain editions.
Men help each other by their joy, not by their sorrow.
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… its parents; but the purpose of Heaven is that it shall rather live for them;—that, not by its sacrifice, but by its strength, its joy, its force of being, it shall be to them renewal of strength; and as the arrow in the hand of the giant. So it is in all other right relations. Men help each other by their joy, not by their sorrow. They are not intended to slay themselves for each other, but to strengthen themselves for each other. And among the many apparently beautiful things which turn, through mistaken use, to utter evil, I am not sure but that the thoughtlessly meek and self-sacrificing spirit of …
Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
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I am loathe to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Every man has a history worth knowing, if he could tell it, or if we could draw it from him.
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… mystics, assured me that nobody and nothing of possible interest was left in England,—he had brought all that was alive away. I was forced to reply: “No, next door to you, probably, on the other side of the partition in the same house, was a greater man than any you had seen.” Every man has a history worth knowing, if he could tell it, or if we could draw it from him. Character and wit have their own magnetism. Send a deep man into any town, and he will find another deep man there, unknown hitherto to his neighbors. That is the great happiness of life,—to add to our high acquaintances. The very law of averages might have assured you that …
The language of Friendship is not words, but meanings.
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The language of Friendship is not words, but meanings. It is an intelligence above language. One imagines endless conversations with his Friend, in which the tongue shall be loosed, and thoughts be spoken without hesitancy or end; but the experience is commonly far otherwise. Acquaintances may come and go, and have a word ready …
Is not prosperity robbed of half its value if you have no one to share your joy?
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… with, how can life be worth living, to use the words of Ennius, which lacks that repose which is to be found in the mutual good-will of a friend? What can be more delightful than to have some one to whom you can say everything with the same absolute confidence as to yourself? Is not prosperity robbed of half its value if you have no one to share your joy? On the other hand, misfortunes would be hard to bear if there were not some one to feel them even more acutely than yourself. In a word, other objects of ambition serve for particular ends—riches for use, power for securing homage, office for reputation, pleasure for …
The comfort of life depends upon conversation.
Infinite is the help man can yield to man.
Your friend is your needs answered.
Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.
Serving others is serving us.
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
Isolation is the sum-total of wretchedness to man.
We have a great deal more kindness than is ever spoken.
Go with mean people, and you think life is mean.
A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere.
In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a second self.
Love of men cannot be bought by cash-payment; and without love, men cannot endure to be together.
One must value old friends.
Do not speak harshly to anybody; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way.
Let us therefore make the best of our friends while we have them; for how long we shall keep them is uncertain.
We talk of choosing our friends, but friends are self-elected.
A good book may be among the best of friends.
Let us therefore forgive one another.
We do not learn to know men if they come to us; we must go to them to find out what they are.
A man’s growth is seen in the successive choirs of his friends.
Be sure of this, that if I have you I shall not think myself wholly lost.
Small men may be envious of their fellows, but really great men seek out and love each other.
We exist only in so far as we hang together.
Above all, however, avoid dismal men who grumble at whatever happens, and find something to complain of in everything.
We are not enemies, but friends.
Can I see another’s grief, And not seek for kind relief?
We may then lay down this rule of friendship—neither ask nor consent to do what is wrong.
We are not strong by our power to penetrate, but by our relatedness.
Of all felicities, the most charming is that of a firm and gentle friendship.
Fire and water themselves, to use a common expression, are not of more universal use than friendship.
To have friends, to win love you must make yourself a magnet for love.
Popular sayings
Widely repeated lines with no name attached, because nobody can honestly put one on them.
A problem shared is a problem halved.
Listen to understand, not to reply.
It's never too late to say sorry.
One good turn deserves another.
The right ones stay.
You teach people how to treat you.
One kind word can change someone's entire day.
Listen more, talk less.
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