Famous quotes

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Friendship

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“Can I trust you, my friend?” “If you can’t, then what is my assurance worth?”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Logic is a feeble reed, friend. "Logic" proved that airplanes can't fly and that H-bombs won't work and that stones don't fall out of the sky. Logic is a way of saying that anything which didn't happen yesterday won't happen tomorrow.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death is an old friend; I know him well. I lived with him, ate with him, slept with him; to meet him again does not frighten me—death is as necessary as birth, as happy in its own way.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You’re not a stranger; you’re an old friend we haven’t known very long.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A friend who offers help without asking for explanations is a treasure beyond price.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But it is no joke to attend the funeral of a dear friend, dead in her golden youth because her baby killed her. I was at such a funeral in the twenties and heard a sleek old priest talk about “God’s will.” At the graveside I managed to back away from the coffin such that I got him proper in his instep with a sharp heel. When he yelped, I told him it was God’s will.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Leave it to “worthy causes”? That is thin gruel, my friend. Most of such money is sopped up by administration, i.e., eaten by parasites.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it. He will make one man ungrateful, and a hundred men his enemies, for every office he can bestow.”
John Adams (1735–1826) first seen 1825 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Josiah Quincy III (14 February 1825)
“Do not go to the garden of flowers! O Friend! go not there; In your body is the garden of flowers. Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus, and there gaze on the Infinite Beauty.”
Kabir (1398–1518) said by 1518 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I see bacon, I see a pig, I see a little friend, and that's why I can't eat it. Simple as that. But I'll eat Linda's veggie bacon. All her food was so good.”
Paul McCartney (born 1942) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Animal Times interview, Fall, 1998
“General. Prudence is one thing. Paranoia that can’t tell friend from foe is quite another.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’d have worn them as a courtesy to your friend...I’ll wear them now as a defiance to our enemies.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You have no enemies, you say? Alas, my friend, the boast is poor; He, who has mingled in the fray Of duty that the brave endure, Must have made foes! If you have none, Small is the work that you have done, You've hit no traitor on the hip, You've dashed no cup from perjured lip, You've never turned the wrong to right, You've been a coward in the fight.”
Charles Mackay (author) first seen 1888 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No Enemies", in Selected Poems and Songs of Charles Mackay (1888), p. 159
“Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.”
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Towards the end of his life, Fischer became interested in Catholicism. He bought his friend Garðar Sverrisson a copy of "Basic Catechism: Creed, Sacraments, Morality, Prayer" so Garðar could explain the religion better to him. According to Garðar, Fischer talked to him about transformation of society through creation of harmony and that "The only hope for the world is through Catholicism.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Brady, Frank (2011). Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall – from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness (1st ed.). Crown. ISBN 978-0-307-46390-6.
“Zeus had loved his old friend, and lifted him up, and set him among the stars as the constellation Sagittarius. Here, in the Zodiac, now above, now below the horizon, he assists in the regulation of our destinies, though in this latter time few living mortals cast their eyes respectfully toward Heaven, and fewer still sit as students to the stars.”
John Updike (1932–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I acknowledge the Roman Church to be our mother church, although defiled with some infirmities and corruptions...Let [the Papists] assure themselves, that, as I am a friend of their persons, if they be good subjects, so am I a vowed enemy, and do denounce mortal war to their errors.”
James I of England (1566–1625) first seen 1604 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Roman Catholics, at the opening of parliament in 1604.
“The world is ever new to me; like an old friend loved through this and former lives, the acquaintance between us is both long and deep.”
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He, that noble prize possessing— He that boasts a friend that's true, He whom woman's love is blessing, Let him join the chorus too!”
Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Courage, ne'er by sorrow broken! Aid where tears of virtue flow; Faith to keep each promise spoken! Truth alike to friend and foe!”
Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Stately, kindly, lordly friend Condescend Here to sit by me.”
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For it is very hard, my lord," said a convicted felon at the bar to the late excellent judge Burnet, "to hang a poor man for stealing a horse." "You are not to be hanged sir," answered my ever-honored and beloved friend, "for stealing a horse, but you are to be hanged that horses may not be stolen.”
Henry Fielding (1707–1754) first seen 1754 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon (1754), Introduction
“At last the Ocean, that hospitable friend to the wretched, opened her capacious arms to receive him.”
Henry Fielding (1707–1754) said by 1754 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What can I do to see Reality as it is?" The master smiled and said, "I have good news and bad news for you, my friend." "What's the bad news?" "There's nothing you can do to see — it is a gift." "And what's the good news?" "There's nothing you can do to see — it is a gift.”
Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence.”
Joseph Roux (1834–1905) said by 1905 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On the first movement of Claude Debussy's La Mer, From Dawn to Noon: " Ah, my dear friend, there's one particular moment between half past ten and a quarter to eleven that I found stunning!" (with slight variations in phrasing and translation)”
Erik Satie (1866–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mary McAuliffe: Twilight of the Belle Epoque (2014), p. 111.
“Friend. Songwriter. The Great Harmonizer of Humanity. Dolly. Dolly. Dolly. Forever Dolly.”
Lily Tomlin (born 1939) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks on X after the death of Dolly Parton (25 August 2026)
“The poor man who takes property by force is called a thief, but the creditor who can by legislation make a debtor pay a dollar twice as large as he borrowed is lauded as the friend of a sound currency. The man who wants the people to destroy the Government is an anarchist, but the man who wants the Government to destroy the people is a patriot.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1893 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Principal Speech Against Unconditional Repeal (16 August 1893)
“But this won't work as well as the way it once did Because I want to decide between survival and bliss. And though I know who I'm not I still don't know who I am, But I know I won't keep on playing the victim.These precious illusions in my head Did not let me down when I was a kid And parting with them is like parting with a childhood best friend.”
Alanis Morissette (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There can be no greater friend of Israel in this House than I am. I say that quite sincerely. I have pressed that Israel should have arms in the present situation. I believe that if ever there was a case for it, it is today, with the massive supply of Russian war materials now going into Egypt, and that Israel should have more arms at once.”
Tony Benn (1925–2014) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (13 September 1956)
“If you want to keep a friend never test him.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was lying in a burned out basement With the full moon in my eyes. I was hoping for replacement When the sun burst through the sky. There was a band playing in my head And I felt like getting high. I was thinking about what a Friend had said I was hoping it was a lie.”
Neil Young (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I charm in vain; for never again, All keenly as my glance I bend, Will Memory, goddess coy, Embody for my joy Departed days, nor let me gaze On thee, my fairy friend!”
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) first seen 1886 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To my Child-friend" in The Game Of Logic (1886)
“Do not choose for your wife any woman you would not choose for a friend if she were a man.”
Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A person who is never duped cannot be a friend.”
Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”
William Golding (1911–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing happens by chance, my friend... No such thing as luck. A meaning behind every little thing, and such a meaning behind this. Part for you, part for me, we may not see it all real clear right now, but we will, before long.”
Richard Bach (born 1936) first seen 1969 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nothing by Chance: A Gypsy Pilot's Adventures in Modern America (1969)
“What! Would you slap the Porcupine? Unhappy child — desist! Alas! That any friend of mine Should turn Tupto-philist.”
Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) said by 1953 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To exalt, enthrone, establish and defend, To welcome home mankind's mysterious friend Wine, true begetter of all arts that be; Wine, privilege of the completely free; Wine the recorder; wine the sagely strong; Wine, bright avenger of sly-dealing wrong, Awake, Ausonian Muse, and sing the vineyard song!”
Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) said by 1953 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[W]here violence is with resolution repelled it commonly yields, and I owne, though a thorough friend to holding out the olive-branch, I have not the smallest doubt that, if it does not succeed, that when once vigorous measures appear to be the only means left of bringing the Americans to a due submission to the mother country, that the Colonies will submit.”
George III (1738–1820) first seen 1768 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lord North (15 February 1775), quoted in The Correspondence of King George the Third with Lord North, From 1768 to 1783, Vol. I, ed. W. Bodham Donne (1867), p. 229
“Actually, it was in Paris in 1914 that I did my first collages, for an occultist friend. They were mysterious portico's which were supposed to replace mural paintings and which evoked the structure of palm branches or fish-bones. [remark on the first collages Arp made, in different materials]”
Jean Arp (1886–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A blow from your friend is better than a kiss from your enemy.”
Pythagoras (583–491 BC) said by 491 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists‎ (2007) by James Geary, p. 118
“Write in the sand the flaws of your friend.”
Pythagoras (583–491 BC) said by 491 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists‎ (2007) by James Geary
“The best and greatest winning is a true friend; and the greatest loss is the loss of time.”
Pythagoras (583–491 BC) said by 491 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Secrets and sharing soda, That's how our time began. Love is a story told to a friend It's second hand.”
Joni Mitchell (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover.”
Thom Yorke (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.”
Lloyd Bentsen (1921–2006) first seen 1988 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1988 Vice-Presidential debate with Dan Quayle
“I’m not as nervous about being attacked for it as I am nervous about being wrong. As a good friend of mine said, “I don’t mind being called an asshole — I don’t want to be an asshole.”
Penn Jillette (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some may belittle politics but we who are engaged in it know that it is where people stand tall. Although I know that it has many harsh contentions, it is still the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster. If it is, on occasions, the place of low skulduggery, it is more often the place for the pursuit of noble causes. I wish everyone, friend or foe, well. That is that. The end.”
Tony Blair (born 1953) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hansard, Last official words as Prime Minister, said at Prime Minister's Questions (27 June 2007).
“I dedicate this book to the memory of my friend Richard Flisges, who died as a brave soldier of work in a mine at Schliersee on the 19th of July 1923.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dieses Buch widme ich dem Andenken meines Freundes Richard Flisges, der am 19. Juli 1923 in einem Bergwerk bei Schliersee als tapferer Soldat der Arbeit in den schweren Tod ging.