“It is one of the major tragedies that nothing is more discomforting than the hearty affection of the Old Friends who never were friends.”

“He used to say that it was better to have one friend of great value than many friends who were good for nothing.”

Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers

“Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.”

Plautus (-254–-184 BC) Roman comic playwright of the Old Latin period

“Friends . . old friends. . .
One sees how it ends.
A woman looks
Or a man tells lies,
And the pleasant brooks
And the quiet skies,
Ruined with brawling
And caterwauling,
Enchant no more
As they did before;
And so it ends
with friends.


Friends . . old friends . . .
And what if it ends?
Shall we dare to shirk
What we live to learn?
It has done its work,
It has served its turn;
And, forgive and forget
Or canker and fret,
We can be no more
As we were before.
When it ends it ends
with friends.”

William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) English poet, critic and editor

“The best way to honor friends who have died is to treat our living ones with equal affection.”

André Maurois (1885–1967) French writer

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

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American novelist and screenwriter

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

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

“I always like to know everything about my new friends, and nothing about my old ones.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

“I loathe a friend whose gratitude grows old, a friend who takes his friend's prosperity but will not voyage with him in his grief”

Euripidés (-480–-406 BC) ancient Athenian playwright

“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.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)