Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

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Friendship

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“We didn’t choose the friend life, the friend life chose us.”
Rochelle Pangilinan (born 1982) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 December 2025
“The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend as to find a friend worth dying for.”
Henry Home, Lord Kames (1696–1782) said by 1782 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I began using the tracing paper quite by accident. I was hiking with a friend and saw this small roll of paper on the path. I picked it up and was entranced, and then put it back down because I thought the person who had dropped it might return to look for it. My friend smiled and said, “I think that’s for you.” I’ve been using it ever since.”
Wura-Natasha Ogunji (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But that’s also because people don’t know me very well. If I’m a friend, then I’m a friend. If I’m not, then I’m not.”
Cynthia Erivo (born 1987) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We cannot enjoy a friend here. If we are to meet it is beyond the grave. How much of our soul a friend takes with him! We half die in him.”
William Ellery Channing (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah, me! so poor, can I declare that friend, who never had another friend his like,—none, therefore, who could know his soul?”
Rumi (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Alas for this life so light, beware of this slumber so heavy, O soul seek the Beloved, O friend seek the Friend O watchman be wakeful; it behoves not a watchman to sleep.”
Rumi (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no friend like an old friend who has shared our morning days, no greeting like his welcome, no homage like his praise.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (misattributed) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Kessinger Publishing (2005).
“He that is a friend to himself, is a friend to all mankind.”
Seneca the Elder (misattributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) said by 1616 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Statesman, yet friend to truth! of soul sincere, In action faithful, and in honour clear; Who broke no promise, serv'd no private end, Who gain'd no title, and who lost no friend.”
Alexander Pope (1688–1744) said by 1744 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Forsake not an old friend, for the new is not comparable unto him. A new friend is as new wine: when it is old thou shalt drink it with pleasure.”
The Bible (active around 812) bartlett, Public domain source
“I wrote it about a friend of mine who married his high school sweet heart. They had a baby together and one day, when the baby was about four months old, my friends wife was driving down the road by herself, pulled over to the side and she just died in her car.”
Tommy Lee (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“See, I went to an all-gay high school. Art and Design. Now the truth is it wasn’t really all gay, but they bused them in, it was the law. [...] So I went to this high school, I had friends like Pablo. Pablo used to breast-feed a porcelain doll during math. You know. My friend Lauren used to roll cigarettes on her boots.”
Harvey Fierstein (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Better to have one friend of great value, than many friends who were good for nothing.”
Anacharsis (701–601 BC) said by 601 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius, as translated by C. D. Yonge, (1853), "Anacharsis" sect. 5, p. 48
“On the day long after childhood when I suddenly heard of his death, the sky grew dark above my head. I was walking on a Southern highway, and a friend driving in a pony carriage passed me, stopped and said, "Have you heard that Charles Dickens is dead?" It was as if I had been robbed of one of the dearest of friends.”
Margaret Elizabeth Sangster (1838–1912) said by 1912 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I was little, my dad used to tell me, "Will, you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose.”
John Green (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death came like a friend to restore thee To those who had died before thee: Father, mother, Sister, brother— There were none of these to mourn o'er thee. But now that Death has found thee, Thy kindred and friends are round thee ; In their rest they are laid In the dark yew shade, And cold sleep like their own has bound thee.”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) first seen 1827 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (18th August 1827) Euthanasia
“This is nine! Nine! This is nine! Nine! This is ten! Ten! We have killed your friends! Every friend is now dead! This is six! Six! ... Eighteen! This is now eighteen! Take cover when the siren sounds! This is four! Four! ... Five! This is five! Ignore the siren! Even if you leave this room, you can never leave this room! Eight! This is eight!”
Stephen King (born 1947) first seen 1408 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Disembodied voice of Room 1408, over the telephone
“Friend don't let companies spy on friends.”
Richard Stallman (born 1953) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: LibrePlanet 2019
“Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends.”
Chanakya (375–283 BC) said by 283 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, while he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.”
Ali (599–661) said by 661 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He did not attempt to capture her hands. He did not make a single move that might embarrass them both. Old friends were harder to come by than new lovers. Oh, my oldest friend. Still. Always.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whoever does not see his friends in a good light loves them little. To see in a good light. — Whoever does not see in a good light is a bad painter, a bad friend, a bad lover. Whoever does not see in a good light has not been able to lift his mind up to what is there or his heart to what is good.”
Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He's just a contact of hers, which is not the same as a friend. While she was in the hospital she decided that most of her friends were really just contacts.”
Margaret Atwood (born 1939) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bodily Harm (1981)
“This is for my peoples who just lost somebody, your best friend, your baby, your man or your lady, put your hand way up high, we will never say bye, mamas, daddies, sisters, brothers, friends and cousins, this is for my peoples who lost their grandmothers, lift your head to the sky, cause we will never say bye.”
Mariah Carey (born 1969) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bye Bye", "E=MC²", 2008
“What else is there which you would regret to have taken from you? Friends? But who can be a friend to you? Country? What? Do you think enough of your country to be late to dinner? The light of the sun? You would extinguish it, if you could; for what have you ever done that was fit to be seen in the light?”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You look like my friend Debbie. That's really weird … do you get that a lot? — It's sad, though, 'cause you know, we're not really friends anymore. But, uh, it's not your fault. Seriously, it was 'cause she's, um … not "born again Christian" … oh! — "pathological liar.”
Sarah Silverman (born 1970) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Comments to a member of the audience, in "Sarah Silverman-Early Standup (1992)
“The dead are friends whom death is powerless to take from us. Great writers are immortal companions who can embellish our old age as they enchanted our young days. Music, too, is an extraordinarily faithful friend. To those of us who have lost our faith in human nature, it offers refuge in other pleasant worlds.”
André Maurois (1885–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Tertullian
“But life is sweet, though all that makes it sweet Lessen like sound of friends’ departing feet; And Death is beautiful as feet of friend Coming with welcome at our journey’s end. For me Fate gave, whate’er she else denied, A nature sloping to the southern side; I thank her for it, though when clouds arise Such natures double-darken gloomy skies.”
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) first seen 1874 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Epistle to George William Curtis (1874)
“Once upon a time these two men had been in the same situation; now the difference between them was like the difference between a wish and its fulfillment. The one was what the other had dreamed of, and therefore they did not know one another anymore. He who has wishes yearns for a friend; but when the wishes have been fulfilled, the friends are the first thing we forget.”
Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Put your arm around the buddy next to you. And if you don't have any friends, I'll be your best friend in the whole world.”
Bert McCracken (born 1982) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement to the audience at a concert, reported in Patrick Donovan (June 3, 2005) "Scream it out loud: Cover Story", The Age, p. 2.
“Because I had goodwill for all, / I thought all were my friends. / And then I learned of treachery, / that some preferred my end. / It wasn't the goodwill I felt / that made someone a friend. / What handy day, the one I learned / the meaning of the word. / How good to know my enemies /(though their reasons are absurd!)”
Vanna Bonta (1958–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He's the truest friend I've ever had. What's more, he's an exquisite man, full of kindness and sophistication, the most aristocratic aristocrat one can meet. To those who can't understand how I, a non-communist, could be friends with Zhou Enlai, I say: "But he's a prince more princely than I am!”
Norodom Sihanouk (1922–2012) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Zhou Enlai, said during his exile in Peking, as quoted by Oriana Fallaci (June 1973), Intervista con la Storia (sixth edition, 2011). page 109.
“You have now. Coming here, I sang a friend-gathering song. Valmiki, I've seen other skies than these, other worlds, and other friends. People are counting on you... and I can hear the chariot from Ayodhya approaching across Ganga.”
Valmiki (active around 201 BC) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I feel very sad, as though I had not a friend in the world.... A man is nowhere without money.... People care little about you without money.... People talk terribly. We find that we have but few friends left ... I feel sad and constantly worried. People as much as say we have money. It is hard to bear .”
Henry J. Heinz (1844–1919) first seen 1875 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Henry J. Heinz in his diary (1875), cited in: Robert C. Alberts (1973), The good provider: H. J. Heinz and his 57 varieties. p. 24
“We are going to Britain as friends, and I trust that South Africa will also be seen and accepted as a friend by that country and by the thinking and more responsible segment of the British public.”
Hendrik Verwoerd (1901–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fire in my heart is turned to ashes. I feel like a monk; Only my head is still unshaven.O poor heart! How wind and rain have worn you out! How the partings from friends, dead and alive, Have torn you to pieces!This orphan-like candlestick Appears like an old friend to me.There remains one thing alone That keeps me from a complete Awakening:— Love still smoulders in the ashes of my heart!”
Nalan Xingde (1655–1685) said by 1685 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nocturnal Thoughts in a Temple" (trans. Teresa Li), as quoted in Chinese Literature: A Historical Introduction (1961) by Ch'en Shou-Yi, p. 553
“My name’s Christopher. I was a friend of Jack’s before she went back to the Moors. I mean, not really. Jack doesn’t have friends, she has minions who haven’t figured out their place in the grand scheme of things.”
Seanan McGuire (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I treat my audience like my friends. Whatever information I feel I would love to share with a friend, I will share the same on my social platforms, especially if it is content that will add value to my audience.”
Sisi Yemmie (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Suddenly he felt that all civilization depended not only upon men but also upon these other things which had marched with him like kinsman and friends and companions. If Saint Francis had hailed the sun as brother, might not we also say, “Oh, Brother Wheat! Oh, Sister Barley!” He smiled to himself. Yes, one could go on: “Oh, Grandfather Wheel! Oh, Cousin Compass! Oh, Friend Binomial Theorem!”
George R. Stewart (1895–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What I have found in life-it makes me very sad-is that one friend sustains me in one direction, another in another direction. What's missing are the friends who sustain one altogether.”
Diana Trilling (1905–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am very emotional and the last thing I want to see is for a friend or someone I know to betray me. I cannot just stand that so I keep very few friends I trust so that I don’t get hurt. It takes a while for my heart to heal when it gets broken.”
MzVee (born 1992) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kofi Duah, Very easy ignoring my haters —MzVee, Graphic Online, 18 October 2021.
“It’s a really special show about family - and how the suicide of a father and friend shapes and changes the lives of a group of friends. The show itself deals a lot with mental health and the topics most people struggle with in silence, but really shows how love and support helps heal people.”
Lizzy Greene (born 2003) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Henry's choice of these two men was a signal that the criteria for deciding who was a friend and who a foe had changed with the coronation and that from that moment on those who worked loyally for his program of centralization were to be his friends, while those who opposed the increase of monarchial power were his enemies, regardless of former affiliations.”
Henry II of England (1133–1189) said by 1189 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Satan has no friends, only slaves who naively believe they have made him their friend.”
Francesco Bamonte (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And at that time, Kevin, his brother, Jason, and their friend Anthony were doing stuff on YouTube. So I reached out to them and said, “Man, I love y’all stuff. Y’all are funny.” And we became friends online. Kevin’s brother Jason became Kev’s manager as well as my manager too.”
Lexi Allen (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“However, my friends from the Makanaka fashion show knew I once spoke about auditioning so when the time was going against me, they offered to drive me to the venue. My other friend offered to do my make-up and we did at the Rainbow Towers bathroom. I am so grateful to these people because they did not give me a room to make an excuse and I showed up for the auditions”
Charlotte Muziri (born 1997) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If there’s one thing I’m proud of, it’s that as a friend, I don’t mind being the first one to say sorry. Some friends have a lot of pride, right? That’s not me!”
Karen Davila (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source