We can't choose our relatives — but we can choose our friends. It's one of my favorite quotes about our closest companions, who share our secrets, our fears, and our dreams.
As my daughter reminds me, friends keep us from feeling alone, share experiences with us, give us second opinions, save us from making mistakes – and make us laugh.
We want them with us for milestone moments – weddings and even, in my case, childbirth. (Yes, along with my husband, a very close friend was in the delivery room for the birth of our first daughter. Did I mention I was in labor for more than 24 hours?)
In that spirit, here are some best-loved quotes about these human treasures:
"I get by with a little help from my friends" – John Lennon and Paul McCartney
"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you" – A. A. Milne in "Winnie-the-Pooh"
"'We'll be friends forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet. 'Even longer,' Pooh answered" – A.A. Milne in "Winnie-the-Pooh"
"Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend. I'll help you carry on. For it won't be long 'til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on" – Bill Withers in "Lean on Me"
"Friendship — my definition — is built on two things. Respect and trust" – Stieg Larsson in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"It is said that love is blind. Friendship, on the other hand, is clairvoyant" – Philippe Soupault, French writer
"Friendship is like money — easier made than kept" – Samuel Butler, English novelist
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival" — C.S. Lewis
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" – Sermon on the Mount
"My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me" – Henry Ford
"You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am, I'll come running to see you again. Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, you've got a friend" – Carole King
"The only way to have a friend is to be one" – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature" – Ralph Waldo Emerson
For more great quotes, read:
