“Love should not be polluted with friendship.”
Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970) German novelist
Source: Arch of Triumph: A Novel of a Man Without a Country
A collection of quotes on the topic of life, love, family, hostility.
“Love should not be polluted with friendship.”
Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970) German novelist
Source: Arch of Triumph: A Novel of a Man Without a Country
“Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.”
Jean De La Fontaine (1621–1695) French poet, fabulist and writer.
“The friendship that can cease has never been real.”
Amicitia quae desinere potest vera numquam fuit.
Jerome (345–420) Catholic saint and Doctor of the Church
Letter 3
Letters
“True friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks.”
Jerome (345–420) Catholic saint and Doctor of the Church
“Love is the attempt to form a friendship inspired by beauty.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero (-106–-43 BC) Roman philosopher and statesman
“Marriage: A friendship recognized by the police.”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer
“Love and friendship exclude each other.”
Jean de La Bruyère (1645–1696) 17th-century French writer and philosopher
“Love is blind. Friendship closes its eyes.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
“The language of Friendship is not words, but meanings.”
Henry David Thoreau A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
Source: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.”
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church
Jesse Owens (1913–1980) American track and field athlete
On the congratulations given by German athlete Lutz Long, a competitor in the long jump, who in some accounts he credited with giving him some friendly advice that helped him to win against him; as quoted in "Owens pierced a myth" by Larry Schwartz http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html in ESPN SportsCentury (2005) <br class="br">Context: It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Lutz Long at that moment. Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace. The sad part of the story is I never saw Long again. He was killed in World War II.
Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Often attributed to Stalin, there is not a single source which show that Stalin said this at any given time. There is only one source outside the blogosphere which attributes the quote to Stalin, but does not provide any evidence for the attribution. That source is the book Quotations for Public Speakers : A Historical, Literary, and Political Anthology (2001), p. 121 by the former US senator Robert Torricelli.
Misattributed
Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) African American boxer, philanthropist and activist
Response to Harold Bell, question about his view on friendship in an Interview (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InSFYdFaS3E.
Meryl Streep (1949) American actress
Misattributed to Meryl Streep (and widely disseminated on the Internet as of August/September 2014), this quote is allegedly a translation of a text by the author José Micard Teixeira, the original of which begins (in Portuguese): "Já não tenho paciência para algumas coisas, não porque me tenha tornado arrogante..."
Misattributed
Luca Pacioli book Summa de arithmetica
Summa de arithmetica, geometria. Proportioni et proportionalita (Venice 1494)
“Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life.”
Jean De La Fontaine (1621–1695) French poet, fabulist and writer.
Trenton Lee Stewart The Mysterious Benedict Society
Source: The Mysterious Benedict Society
“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American politician, 28th president of the United States (in office from 1913 to 1921)
Red Cross Speech http://books.google.com/books?id=f6l-dsvnjhEC&pg=PA406&dq=%22Friendship+is+the+only+cement%22, New York (18 May 1918) <br class="br">1910s
“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
“However rare true love may be, it is less so than true friendship.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States
Letter to Bushrod Washington http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushrod_Washington (15 January 1783) <br class="br">1780s
“No friendship is an accident.”
O. Henry (1862–1910) American short story writer
Source: Heart of the West
“Friendship often ends in love; but love in friendship—never.”
Charles Caleb Colton (1777–1832) British priest and writer
Vol. II; LXXXIII
Lacon
Don Tregonning (1928) Australian professional tennis player and coach
Source: "Life on the court" https://www.medibank.com.au/bemagazine/life-on-the-court/ (January 5, 2014)
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist
The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Unclassified
“Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate”
Johnny Depp (1963) American actor, film producer, and musician
Oscar Wilde book The Picture of Dorian Gray
Variant: There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.
Source: The Picture of Dorian Gray
“Keep your friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent”
Robert Greene book The 48 Laws of Power
Source: The 48 Laws of Power
“Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is by far the best ending for one.”
Oscar Wilde book The Picture of Dorian Gray
Variant: Laughter is not a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is the best ending for one.
Source: The Picture of Dorian Gray
“Friends don’t spy; true friendship is about privacy, too.”
Stephen King book Hearts in Atlantis
Source: Hearts in Atlantis
Adeline Yen Mah book Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society
Source: Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society
“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.”
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
As quoted in The Beacon Book of Quotations by Women (1992) by Rosalie Maggio, p. 130
“Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated (1894)
“Opposition is true Friendship.”
William Blake (1757–1827) English Romantic poet and artist
A Memorable Fancy
1790s, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–1793)
Source: The Portable Blake
“Plato is my friend — Aristotle is my friend — but my greatest friend is truth.”
Amicus Plato — amicus Aristoteles — magis amica veritas
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) British physicist and mathematician and founder of modern classical physics
These are notes in Latin that Newton wrote to himself that he titled: Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae [Certain Philosophical Questions] (c. 1664)
Variant translations: Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best friend is truth.
Plato is my friend — Aristotle is my friend — truth is a greater friend.
This is a variation on a much older adage, which Roger Bacon attributed to Aristotle: Amicus Plato sed magis amica veritas. Bacon was perhaps paraphrasing a statement in the Nicomachean Ethics: Where both are friends, it is right to prefer truth.
Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–1747) French writer, a moralist
Source: Reflections and Maxims (1746), p. 175.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
1950s, Loving Your Enemies (Christmas 1957)
Context: Third we must not seek to defeat or humiliate the enemy but to win his friendship and understanding. At times we are able to humiliate our worst enemy. Inevitably, his weak moments come and we are able to thrust in his side the spear of defeat. But this we must not do. Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate.
Manly P. Hall (1901–1990) Canadian writer and mystic
The Lost Keys Of Freemasonry (1923)
Context: What nobler relationship than that of friend? What nobler compliment can man bestow than friendship? The bonds and ties of the life we know break easily, but through eternity one bond remains — the bond of fellowship — the fellowship of atoms, of star dust in its endless flight, of suns and worlds, of gods and men. The clasped hands of comradeship unite in a bond eternal — the fellowship of spirit.
Chris Martin (1977) musician, co-founder of Coldplay
http://www.metroguiltypleasures.com/metro/coldplays-chris-martin-is-a-modern-day-shakespeare-says-jay-z/ source
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977) the fifth President of India and a politician
Source: Presidents of India, 1950-2003, P.108
I. K. Gujral (1919–2012) Indian politician
Lakshman Kadirgamar's observations on Gujral Dictrine as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, at his Krishna Menon Memorial lecture delivered at Kota, Rajasthan in December 1996 quoted in :Democracy, Sovereignty and Terror: Lakshman Kadirgamar on the Foundations of International Order"
“True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
“Friendship is a precious thing, Sayuri. One mustn't throw it away.”
Arthur Golden book Memoirs of a Geisha
Source: Memoirs of a Geisha
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
“Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.”
William Shakespeare As You Like It
Source: As You Like It
“Friends don't need the intervention of a third party. Friendship's a voluntary thing.”
Haruki Murakami book Dance Dance Dance
Source: Dance Dance Dance
“Friendships, even the best of them, are frail things. One drifts apart.”
Virginia Woolf book To the Lighthouse
Source: To the Lighthouse
“Few friendships would survive if each one knew what his friend says of him behind his back”
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher
“Unreal friendship may turn to real
But real friendship, once ended, cannot be mended”
T.S. Eliot Murder in the Cathedral
Source: Murder in the Cathedral
Irving Stone (1903–1989) American writer
Source: Clarence Darrow for the Defense
“Friendship is Love without wings.”
George Gordon Byron (1788–1824) English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement
L'Amitié est l'Amour sans Ailes, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
“The only true test of friendship is the time your friend spends on you.”
John Marsden (1950) author
Source: Circle of Flight
“Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected.”
Charles Lamb (1775–1834) English essayist
Source: The Life, Letters and Writings of Charles Lamb
Source: Masterpiece
“Think where man's glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
W.B. Yeats (1865–1939) Irish poet and playwright
The Municipal Gallery Revisited http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/1659/, st. 7 <br class="br">Last Poems (1936-1939) <br class="br">Variant: Think where man's glory most begins and ends. And say my glory was I had such friends. <br class="br">Context: You that would judge me, do not judge alone<br>This book or that, come to this hallowed place<br>Where my friends' portraits hang and look thereon;<br>Ireland's history in their lineaments trace;<br>Think where man's glory most begins and ends<br>And say my glory was I had such friends.
John O'Donohue (1956–2008) Irish writer, priest and philosopher
Source: Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
“My Best Friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
“Never explain — your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyhow.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher fue el escritor del jarron azul
The Motto Book (1907).
Variant: Never explain — your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyhow.
“The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
Letter to Joseph Gillespie http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln2/1:88.1?rgn=div2;view=fulltext (13 July 1849) <br class="br">1840s
“Depth of friendship does not depend on length of acquaintance”
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali polymath
“Time doesn't take away from friendship, nor does separation.”
Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) American playwright
Source: Memoirs
Christopher Morley book Parnassus on Wheels
Variant: When you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean.
Source: Parnassus on Wheels
“Never contract friendship with a man that is not better than thyself.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
“Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
Source: The Great Gatsby (1925), ch. 9
“I always like to know everything about my new friends, and nothing about my old ones.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet