Part 4
Thus on affliction’s sable bed Deep sorrows rise of saddest hue; Condensing round the mourner’s head They bathe the cheek with chilly dew.
Though pity shows her dawn from heaven, When kind she points assistance near, To friendship’s sun alone ’tis given To soothe and dry the mourner’s tear.
—Penrose.
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Association with others is useful also in strengthening the character, and in enabling us, while we never lose sight of our main object, to thread our way wisely and well.
—S. Smiles.
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What is a friend? one who in Fortune’s rays Would bask with us as on a sun-kissed strand, Beside a tranquil sea, whose restful sand Glistens as gold to woo the passer’s gaze, But who, should Sorrow’s clouds bedim our days And angry winds, at adverse fate’s command, Drive our life’s barque against a barren land, A sudden zeal for other skies displays? Or he who, like a valiant knight of yore, When Summer yields to Winter’s icy breath Or Mirth’s gay laughter to the tears of Woe, Champions our cause, ne’er fearful of the foe, True to the legend which his pennon bore, SEMPER FIDELIS till the call of Death?
—Norman.
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The essence of friendship is entireness, a total magnanimity and trust.
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A look—and lo our natures meet! A word—our minds make one reply! A touch—our hearts have but one beat! And if we walk together—why The same thought guides our feet.
Heed well our friends while yet we may! There are so many winds about, And any wind may blow away Love’s airy child. O! never doubt He is the common prey.
O! every chance while love remains And every chance while he survives, Is something added to love’s gains; Comfort our friend while yet he lives! Dead what shall pay our pains?
—Meredith.
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Oh say, and again repeat, fair, fair—and still I will say it— How fair, my friend, and good to see thou art, On pine or oak or wall thy name I do not blazon— Love has too deeply graved it in my heart.
—Greek Epigram.
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I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For who has sight so keen and strong, That it can follow the flight of a song; ... The song from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend.
—Longfellow.
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Old friends to talk:— Ay, bring those chosen few, The wise, the courtly, and the true So rarely found.
—Messinger.
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It is by loving, and not by being loved, that one can come nearest to the soul of another. Where two love, it is the loving of each other, and not the being loved by each other, that originates, perfects, and assures their blessedness.
—MacDonald.
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It is useless to demand affection: the thing for us to do is to bestow affection, to serve, to be a friend to others, and, lo! by and by friends come to us.
—Merriam.
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O friendship, equal-poised control, O heart, with kindest motion warm, O sacred essence, other form, O solemn ghost, O crowned soul.
—Tennyson.
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Happy that man who has a friend to point out to him the perfection of duty, and yet to pardon him in the lapses of his infirmity.
—South.
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This must my comfort be, That sun that warms you here shall shine on me.
—Shakespeare.
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God’s benison go with you; and with those That would make good of bad, and friends of foes.
—Shakespeare.
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A faithful friend is better than gold—a medicine for misery, an only possession.
—Burton.
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Come to me; what I seek in vain Bring thou; into my spirit send Peace after care, balm after pain, And be my friend.
—F. Tennyson.
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As gold is tried by the furnace, and the baser metal shown, so the hollow-hearted friend is known by adversity.
—Metastasio.
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A friendship as had mastered time: Which masters time indeed, and is Eternal, separate from fears: The all-assuming months and years, Can take no part away from this.
—Tennyson.
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Beauty, Good, and Knowledge are three sisters That dote upon each other, friends to man, Living together under the same roof, And never can be sunder’d without tears. And he that shuts Love out, in turn shall be Shut out from Love, and on her threshold lie Howling in outer darkness.
—Tennyson.
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Each year to ancient friendships adds a ring, As to an oak, and precious more and more, Without deservingness, or help of ours They grow, and silent, wider spread each year Their unbought ring of shelter or of shade.
—Lowell.
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The song-bird seeks its nest, The sun sinks in the West— And kindly thoughts are speeding out to you. May joy with you abide, May Hope be aye your guide, And Love protect you, all life’s journey through.
—Burnside.
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Friendship, a dear balm— Whose coming is as light and music are Mid dissonance and gloom:—a star Which moves not mid the moving heavens alone; A smile among dark frowns; a beloved light; A solitude, a refuge, a delight.
—Shelley.
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Nothing delights the mind so much as true and sweet friendship. What a blessing it is when there are hearts prepared for you in which every secret rests securely, whose knowledge you fear less than your own, whose conversation calms your anxieties, whose opinion aids your plan, whose mirth dispels your sorrow, and whose very sight delights you.
—Seneca.
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All faithful friends, and many friendships, in the days of time begun, are lasting here and growing still.
—Pollok.
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The man who prefers his dearest friend to the call of duty will soon show that he prefers himself to his dearest friend.
—Robertson.
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Friendship is the holiest of gifts; God can bestow nothing more sacred upon us! It enhances every joy, mitigates every pain. Everyone can have a friend, Who himself knows how to be a friend.
—Tiedge.
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Much beautiful and excellent and fair Was seen beneath the sun; but nought was seen More beautiful or excellent or fair Than face of faithful friend, fairest when seen In darkest day. And many sounds were sweet, Most ravishing and pleasant to the ear; But sweeter none than voice of faithful friend, Sweet always, sweetest heard in loudest storm.
—Pollok.
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Respect so far the holy laws of this fellowship as not to prejudice its perfect flower by your impatience for its opening. We must be our own before we can be another’s.
—Emerson.
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Nature loves nothing solitary, and always reaches out to something as a support, which ever in the sincerest friend is most delightful.
—Cicero.
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Some I remember, and will ne’er forget My early friends, friends of my evil day; Friends in my mirth, friends in my misery too, Friends given by God in mercy and in love; My counsellors, my comforters, and guides; My joy in grief, my second bliss in joy; Companions of my young desires; in doubt My oracles; my wings in high pursuit. Oh, I remember, and will ne’er forget Our meeting spots, our chosen sacred hours; Our burning words that utter’d all the soul; Our faces beaming with unearthly love; Sorrow with sorrow sighing, hope with hope Exulting, heart embracing heart entire.
—R. Pollok.
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Gold can be tried by fire and the good-will of friends by time is tested.
—Menander.
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My friend, with thee to live alone, Methinks were better than to own A crown, a sceptre, and a throne.
—Anon.
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Where true love bestows its sweetness, Where true friendship lays its hand, Dwells all greatness, all completeness, All the wealth of every land.
—Holland.
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Occasionally the choicest companions are somewhat dull, especially when they are happy and at ease in each other’s society.
—Arthur Helps.
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Friendship, of itself a holy tie, Is made more sacred by adversity.
—Dryden.
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I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frostwork, but the solidest thing we know.
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Friendship, I fancy, means one heart between two.
—Meredith.