We all wanted this summer to be different, but it turned out to be another long pandemic summer. Another summer with minimal opportunities to engage in common practices like dinner parties or fun outings with friends. Another summer plagued with distance, division, and a “new normal.”
So as summer nights begin to cool and a pandemic autumn quickly approaches, we wanted to remind you that friendship isn’t just defined by face-to-face interactions.
It’s about the cumulative little things we do each day to show each other we care. From dropping off groceries at a friend's door, to texting a kind message; true friendships can overcome physical proximity.
However for some of us, the challenges of the pandemic have tested the boundaries of friendships, showing us it might be time to let go of relationships that no longer lift us up.
Wherever you are in your friendship journey, we’ve compiled 30 of our favorite friendship quotes to help you keep things in perspective.
And as Helen Keller reminds us, “True friends never apart, maybe in distance never in heart.”
Quotes to remind you of the power of friendship
"If you have a happy friend, your happiness goes up 15%." – Deepak Chopra
"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." – Helen Keller
"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." – Aristotle
"Friendships between women, as any woman will tell you, are built of a thousand small kindnesses... swapped back and forth and over again." – Michelle Obama
"My definition of a friend is somebody who adores you even though they know the things you're most ashamed of." – Jodie Foster
"There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met." – William Butler Yeats
"The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend." – Aristotle
"Social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky." – Brene Brown
"This is one of the things we rely on our friends for: to think better of us than we think of ourselves. It makes us feel better, but it also makes us be better; we try to be the person they believe we are." – Tim Kreider
"How beautiful it is to find someone who asks for nothing but your company." – Brigitte Nicole
"Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’" – C.S. Lewis
"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." – Audrey Hepburn
Quotes when you’re struggling to maintain a friendship
"All friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die." – David Whyte
"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit." – Aristotle
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” - Carl Jung
"The only way to have a friend is to be one." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"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
"Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up."– Thomas J. Watson
"Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people." – Carl Jung
"Quarrel with a friend and you are both wrong." – Lao Tzu
Quotes to help you let go of a toxic friendship
"You can love them, forgive them, want good things for them… but still move on without them." – Mandy Hale
"Sometimes you need to give up on people, not because you don’t care but because they don’t." – Jennifer Green
"Go through your phone book, call people and ask them to drive you to the airport. The ones who will drive you are your true friends. The rest aren’t bad people; they’re just acquaintances." – Jay Leno
"Sometimes friends are like pennies, two-faced and worthless." – Unknown
“Like arsenic, toxic people will slowly kill you. They kill your positive spirit and play with your mind and emotions. The only cure is to let them go.” - Dennisse Lisseth
"Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself." – Deborah Reber
"Look around you at the people you spend the most time with and realize that your life can’t rise any higher than your friendships." – Mandy Hale
"Fire False Friends as early as possible. Do it before they dig out the dream seeds you've planted! The earlier, the better; the quicker, the safer!" – Israelmore Ayivor
"People who create their own drama deserve their own karma." – Unknown
"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow." – Alice Walker
"People inspire you or they drain you. Pick them wisely." – Hans F. Hansen
"An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind." – Buddha
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