30 Inspiring Quotes on Friendship That Will Make You Feel Good

Friends are the bread and butter of life. They share our sorrows, empathize with our troubles, and magnify every smile and laugh. They know us at our core when we’re blind to our qualities amid a difficult moment. They point out when we have spinach in our teeth and aren’t afraid to call us out on nonsensical behavior.

Here are 30 thought-provoking quotes to meditate on the beauty and importance of friendship.

A Friend Allows You to Grow

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” – Jim Morrison

Let There Be Laughter

“In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” – Khalil Gibran

A New World Is Born Through Friendship

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1

Friends Show up in Times of Trouble

“Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” – Euripides

Friends Pick up the Pieces in the End

“Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it’s all over.” – Octavia Butler

Sharing the Load Eases the Burden

“Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.” – Swedish Proverb

Friendship Is About Sharing Life Experiences

“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another, “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .” – C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves 

A Friend Loves You in Spite of Your Faults

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” – Elbert Hubbard 

Walking With a Friend in the Dark

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark than alone in the light.” – Helen Keller 

Loving People Means Accepting Who They Are

“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” – Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island 

Sharing Pain and Joy Is What Connects Us Most

“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

Friends Rekindle Your Inner Fire

“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

Friends Believe In Each Other

“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your Friendships Reflect Your Self Worth

“A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.” – Charles Darwin

Friends Tell the Uncomfortable Truth

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

Friendship Means Feeling Safe to Be Silly

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friendships Grow More Valuable With Time

“There are three things that grow more precious with age; old wood to burn, old books to read, and old friends to enjoy.” – Henry Ford

The Song in My Heart

“A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” – Donna Roberts

Friends Are Like Stars

“Friends are like stars; they come and go, but the ones that stay are the ones that glow.” – Roxy Quicksilver

Friends Know You Best

“Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.” – Richard Bach

Friends Make Our Souls Blossom

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust

To Understand and Be Understood

“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Friends Hold up a Mirror and Show Your Heart

“That was what a best friend did: hold up a mirror and show you your heart.” – Kristin Hannah

Be Slow to Fall into Friendship

“Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant.” – Socrates 

Winter Friends Are Forever

“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.” – George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows 

The Freedom to Be Your True Self

“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.” – Jim Morrison 

Friends Are the Key to Sanity in an Insane World

“A good friend is a connection to life – a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.” – Lois Wyse 

Friendship Divides Our Grief

“Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

A Friend Stays When the Going Gets Tough

“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

Friends See Your Value Despite Weaknesses

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.” – Bernard Meltzer