Standing near someone you love in a time of trouble is its own reward.

A real friend is one who helps us to think our best thoughts, do our noblest deeds, and be our finest selves.

No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence.

In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge.

Friendship improves happiness and abates misery by doubling our joy and dividing our grief.

If you want to have a good friend, you first must be a good friend.

Family not only need to consist of merely those whom we share blood, but also for those whom we'd give blood.

The strength of a friendship can be measured by the weight of the burden it's willing to share. (If you want to test this just ask someone to help you move.)

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another

For if I grieve you, who is left to cheer me but those whom I have grieved?

I find it much easier to counsel than to be counseled, to reach out to a friend in my small group who is feeling insercure than to reveal my own inseurity. The truth is we don't much like being dependent. We don't enjoy admitting how depeately we long for someone's kindness and involvement. It's so humbling.

My family is very good about visiting me, and other friends as well.