Favorite Friendship Quotes and Sayings:
What Having a True Friend Means

This collection of engaging favorite friendship quotes that I've put together can show all of us just what it means to be and have a true friend in life.

True friendships can develop in many different ways - from getting to know your next door neighbor, to a good buddy at work, to someone whom you bump into while at the park or on the bus!

And each of our special friends can mean many different things to us. Some friends are great for going out to party with, others are there for you through the tough times and the good times.

The friendship quotations that follow can help to remind us just how important it is to have someone you can count on by your side, and that a true friend does not judge or turn their back on you when you need them the most.

As these favorite friendship quotes and friendship sayings show, real buddies accept you as you are.

When you DO make a significant connection with another person, then that friendship can last a lifetime. That person will bring something special and meaningful into your life... as you do into theirs. So here are some eloquent quotes about friendship that you can share with your best friends today.

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Delightful And Meaningful Favorite Friendship Quotes

"A friend is a second self."

"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies."

~Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)
Among the most influential of the ancient Greek philosophers, along with Plato and Socrates. He was actually a student of Plato, and became a teacher of Alexander the Great. You can read more quotes by Aristotle here.

"To give counsel as well as to take it is a feature of true friendship."

~Marcus Tullius Cicero (106BC - 46BC)
Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and philosopher. He is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.

"There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship."

~Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)
Thomas of Aquin was an Italian Catholic priest in the Dominican Order, a philosopher and theologian. "Aquinas" refers to his residence rather than his surname.

"Laughter is the closest distance between two people."

~Victor Borge (1909 - 2000)
Born Børge Rosenbaum, he took the name of Victor Borge after arriving in America in 1940. Affectionately known as the "Clown Prince of Denmark" and the "Great Dane," Borge was a Danish-American humorist, entertainer and pianist.

"It is a good thing to be rich and a good thing to be strong, but it is a better thing to be loved by many friends."

"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives."

~Euripides (480 BC–406 BC)
These two friendship quotes are attributed to Euripides, the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens.

"It is well, when judging a friend, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality."

~Arnold Bennett (1867 - 1931)
Bennet was an English novelist who is known for writing and publishing "The Old Wive's Tale" in 1908, as well as the "Clayhanger" trilogy. He also wrote several non-fiction, self-help books such as the (still) popular "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day."

"Your friends will know you better in the first moment you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a lifetime."

~Richard David Bach (1936 - )
Bach is an American writer who is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," "Illusions," "The Adventures Of A Reluctant Messiah" and others.

"One of the surest evidences of friendship that one individual can display to another is telling him gently of a fault. If any other can excel it, it is listening to such a disclosure with gratitude, and amending the error."

~Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873)
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (known as the 1st Baron Lytton), was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician. Lord Lytton was a popular writer of his day, who coined such phrases as "the great unwashed", "pursuit of the almighty dollar", "the pen is mightier than the sword", and the infamous incipit "It was a dark and stormy night."

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow; don't walk behind me, I may not lead; walk beside me, and be my friend."

~Albert Camus (1913 - 1960)
Camus was a French-Algerian author, philosopher, and journalist who won the Nobel prize in 1957.

"A real friend is someone who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

~Walter Winchell (1897 - 1972)
Winchell was an American newspaper and radio commentator who invented the gossip column while at the New York Evening Graphic. He broke the journalistic taboo against exposing the private lives of public figures, permanently altering the shape of journalism and celebrity. He was a top gossip reporter, whose newspaper column and radio show could make or break a celebrity.

"Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer."

~Ed Cunningham (1969 - )
Cunningham is a former professional American football player who played center for five seasons for the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks. He became a college football analyst for CBS and now works for ABC.

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

~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
Famous American author, essayist, poet, and philosopher.

"It's the friends that you can call at 4:00 am that really matter."

~Marlene Dietrich (1901 - 1992)
Dietrich was a German-born American actress, singer and entertainer. She is regarded as the first German actress to become successful in Hollywood.

"It takes a long time to grow an old friend."

~John Leonard (1939 - )
I believe this quote is from John Leonard, the American literary, TV, film and cultural critic (although it is possible it could be from the Australian football player or the Australian poet).

"Lot's 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 (1954 - )
Winfrey is the American multiple-Emmy Award winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated talk show in the history of television. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and the world's only black billionaire for three straight years.

"Heaven gives us friends to bless the present scene."

~Edward Young (1683 - 1765)
Young was an English poet, best remembered for the poem "Night Thoughts."

Good friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

~Old Saying

Friends find the sweetest sense of happiness comes from simply being together.

~Unknownn

Where there are friends, there is wealth.

~Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254–184 BCE)
Known mainly as Plautus, he was a Roman playwright and also one of the earliest pioneers of musical theater.

A true friend is the greatest of all blessings.

~François de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)
Rochefoucauld was a noted French author of maxims and memoirs.

Who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure.

~Jewish Saying

Friends are the sunshine of life.

~John Milton Hay (1838 – 1905)
Hay was an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.

A friend hears the song in my heart and sings to me when my memory fails.

~Anonymous

Friends are a very meaningful part of everyone's life. If you've enjoyed reading these wonderful friendship quotes, you may also enjoy our compilation of Inspirational Friendship Poetry too.

And our Best Friend Gift Ideas page will provide you with some beautiful and unique suggestions on what to give to a great friend.

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