quotations about friends
I distrust the wisdom if not the sincerity of friends who would hold my hands while my enemies stab me.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
letter to Reverdy Johnson, Jul. 26, 1862
However bad a man, he will have some friends: however good, he will have some enemies.
IVAN PANIN
Thoughts
It is the duty of every individual, to be a friend to mankind, as it is his interest, that men should be friendly to him.
WELLINS CALCOTT
Thoughts Moral and Divine
Tell me, why are the old friends kind,
And ever the tenderest, too?
Youth has no art, but an open mind,
And its love is sincere and true.
EDWIN LEIBFREED
"Tell Me"
Anyone may have friends in prosperity, but to have them in adversity, is an object of superior management.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections
It is at all times more easy to make enemies than friends.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
letter to George Washington Parke Custis, Nov. 28, 1796
Be a friend, and thou shalt have friends.
IVAN PANIN
Thoughts
Friends are true twins in soul.
WILLIAM PENN
Some Fruits of Solitude
Friendship either finds or makes equals.
PUBLILIUS SYRUS
The Moral Sayings of Publilius Syrus
My friends are my "estate." Forgive me then the avarice to hoard them.
EMILY DICKINSON
letter to Samuel Bowles
Friends such as we desire are dreams and fables, yet we never quite give up the hope of finding them.
LOGAN PEARSALL SMITH
Trivia
New friends ... can often have a better time together than old friends.
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
Tender Is the Night
When an intimate friend turns from us, we often find him the most inveterate enemy.
WILLIAM SCOTT DOWNEY
Proverbs
You cannot expect that a friend should be like the atmosphere, which confers all manner of benefits upon you, and without which indeed it would be impossible to live, but at the same time is never in your way.
ARTHUR HELPS
Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd
Break not an ancient friendship; keep it hale;
Stir round its roots, that it be green of heart;
Let not the spirit of its growth depart:
It is a power to brave the strongest gale.
WILLIAM WILSEY MARTIN
"Friendship"
One of the most pathetic scenes is to see friendless men and women walking the lonely paths of life. Such need not be the case, for all may have friends if they but live worthy of them, and show themselves friendly.
NICIAS BALLARD COOKSEY
Helps to Happiness
There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.
J. K. ROWLING
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Wherever you are it is your own friends who make your world.
WILLIAM JAMES
attributed, The Thought and Character of William James
A man's enemies are those he should endeavor first to make his friends.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections
Best friend, my well-spring in the wilderness!
GEORGE ELIOT
The Spanish Gypsy: Book III