Skip to content

Top Navigation

Real Simple Logo Real Simple Logo
  • Food
  • Home
  • Life
  • Health
  • Money
  • Style and Beauty
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • News
  • Shopping
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • My Account
  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Free Organizing App this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Real Simple

Real Simple Logo Real Simple Logo
  • Explore

    Explore

    • How to Measure Your Ring Size at Home

      How to Measure Your Ring Size at Home

      Try one of these three easy methods to make sure your ring fits perfectly, every time. Read More
    • Here's the Right Temperature for Your Refrigerator and Freezer (Because a Few Degrees Makes a Difference)

      Here's the Right Temperature for Your Refrigerator and Freezer (Because a Few Degrees Makes a Difference)

      Keeping foods chilled properly helps them last longer and stay fresher. Sticking to the ideal refrigerator temps can help you avoid potential foodborne illnesses, too. Read More
    • 34 Great Books to Suit Any Mood or Interest

      34 Great Books to Suit Any Mood or Interest

      This list has you covered, no matter how you're feeling. Read More
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food
    9 Cheeses You Can Eat Even If You're Lactose Intolerant

    9 Cheeses You Can Eat Even If You're Lactose Intolerant

    Not all dairy is created equal. 
    • Recipes
    • Real Simple Cooking School
    • Cooking Tips & Techniques
    • Shopping and Storing
    • Kitchen Tools and Products
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    • Cleaning
    • Organizing
    • Decorating
    • Gardening
    • Home Improvement
    • Green Living
    • New Uses for Old Things at Home
    • Quick Fix
    • Real Simple Home
  • Life

    Life

    See All Life
    • Family
    • Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Wedding Planning
    • Travel Ideas
    • Career
    • Get It Done
  • Health

    Health

    See All Health
    Feel Like You Don't Enjoy Anything Anymore? There's a Name for That—Here Are 8 Ways You Can Break Through It

    Feel Like You Don't Enjoy Anything Anymore? There's a Name for That—Here Are 8 Ways You Can Break Through It

    Mental health experts explain anhedonia and how you can bounce back from this joyless state of mind.
    • Preventive Health
    • Mental Health
    • Health Coach
    • Crisis Coping
    • Fitness & Exercise
    • Sleep
    • Healthy Eating
    • Well Fed
  • Money

    Money

    See All Money
    Are You Keeping Too Much Money in the Bank? Here's How to Tell

    Are You Keeping Too Much Money in the Bank? Here's How to Tell

    Putting money in the bank is smart, but too much cash savings can actually be a poor use of that money.
    • Money Confidential Podcast
    • Saving Money
    • Money Planning
    • Money Confidential
    • Spending
    • Money Etiquette
    • Invest Better
  • Style and Beauty

    Style and Beauty

    See All Style and Beauty
    How to Measure Your Bra Size at Home

    How to Measure Your Bra Size at Home

    All you need is a tape measure and a little free time.
    • Clothing
    • Skincare
    • Shoes
    • Hair
    • Clothing Care
    • Makeup
    • Hair Body Face
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See All Holidays & Entertaining
    PowerPoint Parties Are the Party Trend You Have to Try: Here's How to Host One

    PowerPoint Parties Are the Party Trend You Have to Try: Here's How to Host One

    PowerPoint nights are the new fun way to party together—even when you're far apart.
    • All Holidays
    • Gifts
    • Father's Day
    • Passover
    • Entertaining
    • Home for the Holidays
    • Come Together
    • Hanukkah
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
  • News
  • Shopping
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • My Account
  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Free Organizing App this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Real Simple
  2. Magazine & More
  3. Inside the Website
  4. Daily Thought
  5. Friendship

Friendship

Real Simple Author
By Real Simple Editors Updated August 29, 2014
Skip gallery slides
FB Tweet

1 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

True friendship is like sound health, the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.

Portrait of two women Eve Goldstein and Amy Hertz
Credit: John Dolan

Charles Caleb Colton

1 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

Friends toasting in a neighborhood restaurant
Credit: Emily Wilson

Helen Keller

2 of 21

3 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.

Little boys dressed as pirates
Credit: Tara Donne

Henry David Thoreau

3 of 21

Advertisement

4 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.

Couple walking down a road holding hands
Credit: Frederic La Grange

Buddhist saying

4 of 21

5 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.

Two women relaxing in robes at the Cordillera Lodge Spa
Credit: Ken Kochey

Epicurus

5 of 21

6 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

There is no greater loan than a sympathetic ear.

Women talking on a tennis court
Credit: iStock Photo

Frank Tyger

6 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.

Backwards clothes
Credit: Tara Donne

J.M. Barrie

7 of 21

8 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.

Two women hugging
Credit: Len Irish

Dave Tyson Gentry

8 of 21

9 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.

0708two-women-smiling
Credit: Perry Hagopian

Kahlil Gibran

9 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

Woman reading to children
Credit: Brooke Slezak

Mark Twain

10 of 21

11 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.

Two women in leather skirts
Credit: Kwaku Alston

Aristotle

11 of 21

12 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.

Woman talking on the phone
Credit: James Merrell

Henry David Thoreau

12 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.

Two women hugging
Credit: John Dolan

Leo Buscaglia

13 of 21

14 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Silences make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts.

Two women wearing pendants
Credit: Fernando Milani

Margaret Lee Runbeck

14 of 21

15 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

Couple preparing a meal
Credit: Miki Duisterhof

Anonymous

15 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.

a mom and her daughter
Credit: Len Irish

Robert Brault

16 of 21

17 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.

Man and woman eating BBQ
Credit: Claussen

Laurence J. Peter

17 of 21

18 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.

Kids walking
Credit: Francesco Lagnese

Elisabeth Foley

18 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

19 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.

Dinner party
Credit: Maura McEvoy

Japanese Proverb

19 of 21

20 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.

Children at the "Little" Italy party
Credit: Tara Donne

Aristotle

20 of 21

21 of 21

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

No road is long with good company.

Friends watching football
Credit: Quentin Bacon

Turkish proverb

21 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Real Simple Editors

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 21 True friendship is like sound health, the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.
    2 of 21 Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
    3 of 21 The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.
    4 of 21 If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.
    5 of 21 It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.
    6 of 21 There is no greater loan than a sympathetic ear.
    7 of 21 Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.
    8 of 21 True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.
    9 of 21 Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.
    10 of 21 Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
    11 of 21 The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.
    12 of 21 Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.
    13 of 21 A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
    14 of 21 Silences make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts.
    15 of 21 A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.
    16 of 21 I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.
    17 of 21 You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.
    18 of 21 The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.
    19 of 21 When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.
    20 of 21 Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.
    21 of 21 No road is long with good company.

    Share & More

    Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print
    Real Simple Logo

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Help
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithAll products and services featured are selected by our editors. Real Simple may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Real Simple is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Real Simple. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.realsimple.com

    Sign in

    View image

    Friendship
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.