A collection of insightful, wise and humorous quotes on friends and friendship.

Insightful Quotes About Friends & Friendship

Friends are the most important component of our lives. They help us breeze through hard times and brighten our happy moments. At every stage in our lives, our friends and our quality of friendships have a direct impact on well-being. The things we enjoy such as playing a sport, going out for a movie or dinner, or even just taking a stroll are enhance in the company of our friends. Friends can not only act as a support system, but they help you through major phases in your life by guiding you and holding your hand. The most cherished of friendships last throughout our lives and everyone should actively seek for such friends. The value of friendships has been explored countlessly by many social scientists and researchers, and the result is pretty much the same. A good friend will boost your quality of life. You can read some loving and encouraging thoughts on friends here.

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
Mark Twain

It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.

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

There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.

There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.
Jane Austen

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four people is suffering from a mental illness. Look at your 3 best friends. If they're ok, then it's you.

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four people is suffering from a mental illness. Look at your 3 best friends. If they're ok, then it's you.
Rita Mae Brown

It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.

It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.
Marlene Dietrich

Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.

Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.
John Lennon

I don't want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there.

I don't want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there.
Oscar Wilde

I have great faith in fools - self-confidence my friends will call it.

I have great faith in fools - self-confidence my friends will call it.
Edgar Allan Poe

Nobody likes being alone that much. I don't go out of my way to make friends, that's all. It just leads to disappointment.

Nobody likes being alone that much. I don't go out of my way to make friends, that's all. It just leads to disappointment.
Haruki Murakami

Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?

Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?
Abraham Lincoln

Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find.

Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find.
William Shakespeare

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Animals are my friends...and I don't eat my friends.

Animals are my friends...and I don't eat my friends.
George Bernard Shaw

Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.

Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.
Virginia Woolf

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart
Eleanor Roosevelt

What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.

What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.
C. S. Lewis

There is nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends.

There is nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends.
Sylvia Plath

I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects.

I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects.
Oscar Wilde

You create a community with music, not just at concerts but by talking about it with your friends.

You create a community with music, not just at concerts but by talking about it with your friends.
David Byrne

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.
Aristotle

Be glαd of life, becαuse it gives you the chαnce to love αnd to work αnd to plαy αnd to look up αt the stαrs; to be sαtisfied with your posessions, to despise nothing in the world except fαlsehood αnd meαnness αnd to feαr nothing except cowαrdice; to be governed by your αdmirαtions rαther thαn by your disgusts, to covet nothing thαt is your neighbour's except his kindness of heαrt αnd gentleness of mαnners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends and to spend αs much time αs you cαn with body αnd with spirit.
Henry Van Dyke

Many of the network television shows have done takeoffs on 'Family Circus,' including 'David Letterman,' 'Friends,' 'Roseanne,' and others, and, in my estimation the use of them is a compliment to the popularity of the feature, which just by mentioning it's name sets up the image of a warm, loving family-type feature.
Bil Keane

I enjoyed the meetings, too. It was like having friends.

I enjoyed the meetings, too. It was like having friends.
J. K. Rowling

They spoke very little of their mutual feeling; pretty phrases and warm expressions being probably unnecessary between such tried friends.

They spoke very little of their mutual feeling; pretty phrases and warm expressions being probably unnecessary between such tried friends.
Thomas Hardy

My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing,
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
No matter where it's going.

My heart is warm with the friends I make, And better friends I'll not be knowing, Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take, No matter where it's going.
Edna St. Vincent Millay

When I was a kid, there was no collaboration; it's you with a camera bossing your friends around. But as an adult, filmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself.
Steven Spielberg

Like all of my friends, she's a lousy judge of character.

Like all of my friends, she's a lousy judge of character.
David Sedaris

I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends' lives.

I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends' lives.
Steven Spielberg

Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.

Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.
Stephen King

It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.

It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.
Mahatma Gandhi

A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.

A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.
Henry David Thoreau

Good books are as friends, willing to give to us if we are willing to make a little effort.

Good books are as friends, willing to give to us if we are willing to make a little effort.
Gordon B. Hinckley

To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due.

To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due.
Neil Gaiman

This book taught me, once and for all, how easily you can escape this world with the help of words! You can find friends between the pages of a book, wonderful friends.

This book taught me, once and for all, how easily you can escape this world with the help of words! You can find friends between the pages of a book, wonderful friends.
Cornelia Funke

Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most important is nothing to them; nothing, not even a sound they can recognize.

Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most important is nothing to them; nothing, not even a sound they can recognize.
Ayn Rand

I have a couple freeloader friends, but it's okay. I know they're gonna come in with their arms flying in the air empty-handed.

I have a couple freeloader friends, but it's okay. I know they're gonna come in with their arms flying in the air empty-handed.
Amy Sedaris

Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.

Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.
W. H. Auden

I have lost friends, some by death...others by sheer inability to cross the street.

I have lost friends, some by death...others by sheer inability to cross the street.
Virginia Woolf

Friendship with oneself is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

Friendship with oneself is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Don't listen to the malicious comments of those friends who, never taking any risks themselves, can only see other people's failures.

Don't listen to the malicious comments of those friends who, never taking any risks themselves, can only see other people's failures.
Paulo Coelho

I get by with a little help from my friends.

I get by with a little help from my friends.
John Lennon

People hear about stuff from their friends or a magazine or a newspaper.

People hear about stuff from their friends or a magazine or a newspaper.
David Byrne

I always felt that it was easier to take a funny person and teach them to write television than to take somebody who was a television writer and make them funny. And I discovered a lot of great writers that went on to do a lot of great shows like 'Seinfeld,' 'Friends,' you know, 'Three and a Half Men.'
Roseanne Barr

I think women are really good at making friends and not good at networking. Men are good at networking and not necessarily making friends. That's a gross generalization, but I think it holds in many ways.

I think women are really good at making friends and not good at networking. Men are good at networking and not necessarily making friends. That's a gross generalization, but I think it holds in many ways.
Madeleine Albright

Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable.

Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable.
Amos Bronson Alcott

New friends can often have a better time together than old friends.

New friends can often have a better time together than old friends.
F. Scott Fitzgerald

He was fond of books, for they are cool and sure friends

He was fond of books, for they are cool and sure friends
Victor Hugo

A civilized nation can have no enemies, and one cannot draw a line across a map, a line that doesn't even exist in nature and say that the ugly enemy lives on the one side, and good friends live on the other.

A civilized nation can have no enemies, and one cannot draw a line across a map, a line that doesn't even exist in nature and say that the ugly enemy lives on the one side, and good friends live on the other.
Thor Heyerdahl

I try to do women's-point-of-view comedy. The joke is, 'This is what I think; there's the truth.' I try to think of stuff that's real broad, but the more personal it is, the more universal it is. All my friends go through the same stuff.
Roseanne Barr

You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.

You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.
Harper Lee

Concentrate on what you want to say to yourself and your friends. Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness. You say what you want to say when you don't care who's listening.

Concentrate on what you want to say to yourself and your friends. Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness. You say what you want to say when you don't care who's listening.
Allen Ginsberg

Libraries are our friends.
Neil Gaiman

True friends are families which you can select.

True friends are families which you can select.
Audrey Hepburn

David and Dad didn't get along too well growing up. I mean we all got along, but it was harder on David, because David wasn't going to be the son that Dad wanted. But now they're like best friends.

David and Dad didn't get along too well growing up. I mean we all got along, but it was harder on David, because David wasn't going to be the son that Dad wanted. But now they're like best friends.
Amy Sedaris

Friends don’t spy; true friendship is about privacy, too.

Friends don’t spy; true friendship is about privacy, too.
Stephen King

If you want to find out who your real friends are, sink the ship. The first ones to jump aren't your friends.

If you want to find out who your real friends are, sink the ship. The first ones to jump aren't your friends.
Marilyn Manson

Open your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand.

Open your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand.
Dan Brown

Friends are nothing but a known enemy
Kurt Cobain

The dearest ones of time, the strongest friends of the soul--BOOKS.

The dearest ones of time, the strongest friends of the soul--BOOKS.
Emily Dickinson

Do you fall in love often?" Yes often. With a view, with a book, with a dog, a cat, with numbers, with friends, with complete strangers, with nothing at all.
Jeanette Winterson

I know a way to stay friends forever,
There's really nothing to it,
I tell you what to do,
And you do it.

I know a way to stay friends forever, There's really nothing to it, I tell you what to do, And you do it.
Shel Silverstein

Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title.

Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title.
Virginia Woolf

It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.

It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.
Confucius

No matter how far you take it with your friends, whether you're fighting with them or you hate them for two months, you just really need them, because they're the ones who teach you the most about yourself.

No matter how far you take it with your friends, whether you're fighting with them or you hate them for two months, you just really need them, because they're the ones who teach you the most about yourself.
Kate Hudson

I didn't have any friends at school, didn't want any. I felt better being alone. I sat on a bench and watched the others play and they looked foolish to me.

I didn't have any friends at school, didn't want any. I felt better being alone. I sat on a bench and watched the others play and they looked foolish to me.
Charles Bukowski

Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est.

(Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over.)

[Said on his deathbed]

Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est. (Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over.) [Said on his deathbed]
Ludwig van Beethoven

We'll be friends until forever, just you wait and see

We'll be friends until forever, just you wait and see
A. A. Milne

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare,
And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.
Ali ibn Abi Talib

A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are. Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget. A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.
Bernard Meltzer

What I found when I became Secretary of State was a lot of doubts and a lot of concerns and fears from friends, allies, around the world.

What I found when I became Secretary of State was a lot of doubts and a lot of concerns and fears from friends, allies, around the world.
Hillary Clinton

The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.

The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keep your friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent

Keep your friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent
Robert Greene

The relationship between husband and wife should be one of closest friends.

The relationship between husband and wife should be one of closest friends.
B. R. Ambedkar

When I chose to leave a career as a young lawyer in Washington to move to Arkansas to marry Bill and start a family, my friends asked, 'Are you out of your mind?'

When I chose to leave a career as a young lawyer in Washington to move to Arkansas to marry Bill and start a family, my friends asked, 'Are you out of your mind?'
Hillary Clinton

In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends imprisoned by an enchanter in paper and leathern boxes.

In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends imprisoned by an enchanter in paper and leathern boxes.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Only my books anoint me,
and a few friends,
those who reach into my veins.

Only my books anoint me, and a few friends, those who reach into my veins.
Anne Sexton

Come friends, it's not too late to seek a newer world.

Come friends, it's not too late to seek a newer world.
Alfred Lord Tennyson

Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods.

Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods.
Aristotle

The making of friends who are real friends, is the best token we have of a man's success in life.

The making of friends who are real friends, is the best token we have of a man's success in life.
Edward Everett Hale

Are we fallen angels who didn't want to believe that nothing is nothing and so were born to lose our loved ones and dear friends one by one and finally our own life, to see it proved?

Are we fallen angels who didn't want to believe that nothing is nothing and so were born to lose our loved ones and dear friends one by one and finally our own life, to see it proved?
Jack Kerouac

There is nothing more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends.

There is nothing more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends.
Homer

The Sun is such a lonely star. Whenever he comes out to see his friends, they all disappear.

The Sun is such a lonely star. Whenever he comes out to see his friends, they all disappear.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.

Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.
Tehyi Hsieh

To be successful you need friends and to be very successful you need enemies.

To be successful you need friends and to be very successful you need enemies.
Sidney Sheldon

I played golf with my friends, and then I started to play with the hustlers. And I learned a lot. I learned about golf; I learned about gambling. I learned about everything.

I played golf with my friends, and then I started to play with the hustlers. And I learned a lot. I learned about golf; I learned about gambling. I learned about everything.
Donald Trump

Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.

Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.
Tom Waits

Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones

Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones
John Lennon

You don't make peace with your friends. That's the bottom line. You end conflicts by trying to find some political resolution.

You don't make peace with your friends. That's the bottom line. You end conflicts by trying to find some political resolution.
Hillary Clinton

I try to devote my afternoons to making music in my home studio, but it's a lot more fun hanging out with musicians and friends, and trying subtly to influence a band than making your own stuff.

I try to devote my afternoons to making music in my home studio, but it's a lot more fun hanging out with musicians and friends, and trying subtly to influence a band than making your own stuff.
David Byrne

Together, together, my friends, we have begun a political revolution to transform America, and that revolution, our revolution, continues!

Together, together, my friends, we have begun a political revolution to transform America, and that revolution, our revolution, continues!
Bernie Sanders

The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that my friends, that is true perversion!

The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that my friends, that is true perversion!
Harvey Milk

I do have friends that are Republicans, and we have very spirited conversations on a whole range of issues. I am often baffled by why they are Republicans, but I enjoy the dialogue and can move beyond politics to find common ground in my personal relationships.
Barbra Streisand

When you ask God for a gift,
Be thankful if he sends,
Not diamonds, pearls or riches,
but the love of real true friends.

When you ask God for a gift, Be thankful if he sends, Not diamonds, pearls or riches, but the love of real true friends.
Helen Steiner Rice

There are no strangers, only friends you have not met yet.

There are no strangers, only friends you have not met yet.
W B Yeats

Science arose from poetry... when times change the two can meet again on a higher level as friends.

Science arose from poetry... when times change the two can meet again on a higher level as friends.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Being elected to Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected.

Being elected to Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected.
Benjamin Lincoln

I love everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines.

I love everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines.
Oliver Goldsmith

I was the walrus, but now I am John...and so my friends, you'll just have to carry on. The dream is over.

I was the walrus, but now I am John...and so my friends, you'll just have to carry on. The dream is over.
John Lennon

I have no enemies. But my friends don't like me.

I have no enemies. But my friends don't like me.
Philip Larkin

I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. To cut yourself out of stone.

I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. To cut yourself out of stone.
Henry Rollins

Insightful Quotes About Friends & Friendship

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