These quotes all help to explain the true meaning of friendship.
Because when we think about the true meaning of friendships in our lives, it can be hard to articulate well.
Whilst friendship can be defined as the bond between two or more people who share common interests, experiences and a general appreciation for each other, it goes far beyond that.
A deep, true friendship also includes trust, loyalty and support.
It’s having fun in the good times, sharing those ‘inside’ jokes and all the ‘stuff’ you don’t have to explain anymore because they already understand how your mind works. It’s knowing that they have your back during the lousy times too.
These short, wise quotes sum it up nicely and help remind us just grateful we should be for amazing friendships.
Meaning of Friendship Quotes
“A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.” Elbert Hubbard
“It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.” Epicurus
“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” Walter Winchell
“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca
“The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.” Hubert H. Humphrey
“One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.” Euripides
“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” Elisabeth Foley
“Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” Marcel Proust
“I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let’s face it, friends make life a lot more fun.” Charles R. Swindoll
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.” Henri Nouwen
“It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.” Marlene Dietrich
“Friends are the siblings God never gave us.” Mencius
“No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.” Alice Walker
“A true friend is someone who is there for you when he’d rather be anywhere else.” Len Wein
“Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” Euripides
“You find out who your real friends are when you’re involved in a scandal.” Elizabeth Taylor
“You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.” Laurence J. Peter
“A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.” Charles Darwin
“I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.” Walt Whitman
“It takes a long time to grow an old friend.” John Leonard
“A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“Friendship is one mind in two bodies.” Mencius
“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” Albert Schweitzer
“True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island… to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.” Baltasar Gracian
“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing… not healing, not curing… that is a friend who cares.” Henri Nouwen
“If you have one true friend you have more than your share.” Thomas Fuller
“A friend is a gift you give yourself.” Robert Louis Stevenson
“A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success.” Doug Larson
“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” Helen Keller
“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” Oprah Winfrey
“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” Muhammad Ali
Meaningful Friendship Quotes
“The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.” Henry David Thoreau
“Friends… they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.” Henry David Thoreau
“When you choose your friends, don’t be short-changed by choosing personality over character.” W. Somerset Maugham
“Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
“Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.” Virginia Woolf
“Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.” Khalil Gibran
“Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.” Arnold H. Glasow
“My definition of a friend is somebody who adores you even though they know the things you’re most ashamed of.” Jodie Foster
“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.” Jim Morrison
“The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights.” Giotto di Bondone
For more friendship quotes and sayings, be sure to check out:
- What Is A Friend? Quotes That Explain The Power of Friendship
- 30 Short, One Line Friendship Quotes
