The Power of Friendship

by Beth McHugh | More from this Blogger

03 Nov 2006 10:41 PM

In the recent blogs, Who is your best friend? and Be your own best friend, we looked at the importance of befriending yourself and genuinely liking what you see when you look in the mirror. However, having a good set of supporting friends that we can share good times and bad with is also important to our mental wellbeing.

Let's take a look at what sages and wits through the ages have said about the importance of friends in our lives. Some of these are just great:

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. Walter Winchell

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. George Washington

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead; Walk beside me, and just be my friend. Albert Camus

Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities. C.S. Lewis

Friends show their love in times of trouble. Euripides

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!" C.S. Lewis

Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious. Thomas Aquinas

Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world. Eleanor Roosevelt

I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better. Plutarch

I have lost friends, some by death, others through sheer inability to cross the street. Virginia Woolf

In misfortune, which friend remains a friend? Euripides

Misfortune shows those who are not really friends. Aristotle

Never refuse any advance of friendship, for if nine out of ten bring you nothing, one alone may repay you. Madam de Tencin

One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives. Euripides

Real friends are those who, when you feel you've made a fool of yourself, don't feel you've done a permanent job. Erwin T. Randall

So long as we love we serve; so long as we are loved by others, I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend. Robert Louis Stevenson

The making of friends who are real friends, is the best token we have of a man's success in life. Edward Everett Hale

To the world you might be one person; but to one person you might be the world. Anon

Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget. G. Randolf

Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods. Aristotle

Contact Beth McHugh for further assistance regarding this issue.

Related articles:

Who's your best friend? Be your own best friend

Friends and Mental Health (1)

Friends and Mental Health (2)

Do you have a toxic friend?

Learn more about Beth McHugh

Beth McHugh began her career as a geologist and worked both in industry and as a university researcher.

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Dale Harcombe (10321) 26 Sep 2008 04:37 PM

Some great quotes.I particularly like the two CS Lewis quotes, the one about naked personalities I inluded in my blog http://christian.families.com/blog/what-makes-a-good-friend? Also liked the Euripedes quotes as well as several others.

Beth McHugh (13211) 26 Sep 2008 05:56 PM

Thanks, Dale, I guess my favorite would be the Eleanor Roosevelt one. If you can't be kind and non-judgmental to yourself and nurture yourself at a deep level, you'll struggle with doing the same to your friends.