120 Friendship Quotes to Show Affection to Your Dear Friends

Friends can make or break your college experience. I’m a senior, and I’m finally beginning to have the social life I always wanted! 

During the peak of the pandemic, I and many others struggled with loneliness. In that time, the greatest support came from my friends, who called me or texted me every single day.

Friendship is eternal. It doesn’t have to be something that comes from childhood, it can be something brand new.

A great friendship is one that allows you to try new things. It’s also great when a person can be honest with you and can criticize your mistakes. 

Friendship emphasizes the human condition. Many of the quotes I compiled here aren’t modern. A lot comes from philosophers, authors, or great thinkers of the past.

I find this relevant because friendship is something that transcends all time, and I think it’s good to learn from those who came before us. 

Check out these 120 quotes to show your friends that you appreciate them! 

In this post:

• Friendship Quotes About Life
• Wise Friendship Quotes 
• Friendship Quotes for Students 
• 10 tips to Have a Positive Friendship

Friendship Quotes About Life 

1.  “There’s nothing like the deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for all the right reasons.” -The Perks of Being a Wallflower

2. “You’re like the only person who’s ever gotten what I’m about.” -Freaks and Geeks

3. “True friends will go to the ends of the earth until they find the things you need.” -Miley Cyrus

4. “It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.” -Marlene Dietrich

5. “We were together. I forget the rest.” -Walt Whitman

6. “A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” -Proverbs 27:9

7. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” -Maya Angelou

8. “A good friend is like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.” -Irish Proverb

9. “Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant.” -Linda Grayson

10. “If we treated ourselves as well as we treated our best friend, can you imagine?” -Meghan Markle

11. “True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.” -David Tyson 

12. “They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” -Carl W. Buechner

13. “Friends and good manners will carry you where money won’t go.” -Elizabeth Taylor 

14. “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

15. “The real test of friendship is: can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple?” -Eugene Kennedy 

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16. “A friend can tell you things you don’t want to tell yourself.” -Frances Ward Weller

17. “A friend is one of the nicest things you could have, and one of the best things you can be.” -Winnie the Pooh 

18.  “Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.” -Jane Austen

19.  “Friends are the family you choose.” -Edna Buchanan

20. “Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I’m glad for that.” -Ally Condie

21. “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

22. “To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.” -Dr. Seuss

23. “A single rose can be my garden…a single friend, my world.” -Leo Buscaglia

24. “Time doesn’t take away from friendship, nor does separation.” -Tennessee Williams

25. “True friends are never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart.” -Helen Keller

26. “The essence of true friendship is to make allowance for another’s little lapses.” -David Storey

27. “The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing…not healing, not curing…that is a friend who cares.” -Henri Nouwen

28. “Friends…they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.” -Henry David Thoreau

29. “To be honest with you, I don’t have the words to make you feel better, but I do have the arms to give you a hug, ears to listen to whatever you want to talk about, and I have a heart; a heart that’s aching to see you smile again.” -Laura Ortiz 

30. “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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31. “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” -Marcel Proust

32. “My friends are my estate.” -Emily Dickinson

33. “We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” -Robert Louis Stevenson

34. “My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges.” -Helen Keller 

35. “Friends are those rare people who ask how we are, and then wait to hear the answer.” -Ed Cunningham

36. “The greatest sweetener of human life is friendship.” -Joseph Addison 

37. “A true friend is the one who holds your hand and touches your heart.” -Gabriel Garcia Marquez

38. “Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” -George Washington

39. “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

40. “Knowledge can never replace friendship.” -Patrick Star

Wise Friendship Quotes

41. “A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.” -Jim Morrison

42. “I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” -Helen Keller

43. “What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.” -C.S. Lewis

44. “Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

45. “Only your real friends tell you when your face is dirty.” -Sicilian proverb

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46. “Friends are medicine for a wounded heart, and vitamins for a hopeful soul.” -Steve Maraboli

47. “Close friends are truly life’s treasures. Sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves. With gentle honesty, they are there to guide and support us, to share our laughter and our tears. Their presence reminds us that we are never really alone.” -Vincent Van Gogh

48. “Awards become corroded. Friends gather no dust.” -Jesse Owens

49. “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” -Oprah Winfrey 

50. “Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant.” -Socrates 

51. “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” -Walter Winchell

52. “Rejoicing in our joy, not suffering over our suffering, makes someone a friend.” -Friedrich Nietzsche 

53. “Friends and good manners will carry you where money won’t go.” -Margaret Walker 

54. “The language of friendship is not words but meanings.” -Henry David Thoreau 

55. “Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” -Albert Camus

56. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” -Bernard Baruch 

57. “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” -Muhammad Ali

58. “Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” -Tennessee Williams

59. “Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.” -G. Randolf

60. “False friendship, like the ivy, decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new life and animation to the object it supports.” -Richard Burton

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61. “My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.” -Aristotle

62. “But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.” -Thomas Jefferson

63. “Be genuinely interested in everyone you meet and everyone you meet will be genuinely interested in you.” -Rasheed Ogunlaru

64. “Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” -John Lennon 

65. “There is no possession more valuable than a good and faithful friend.” -Socrates 

66. “Cherish the friend who tells you a harsh truth, wanting ten times more to tell you a loving lie.” -Robert Breault

67. “One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.” -Euripides 

68. “All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon the sand.” -Ella Wheeler Wilcox

69. “True friends visit us in prosperity only when invited, but in adversity they come without invitation.” -Theophrastus 

70. “The trouble is not in dying for a friend, but in finding a friend worth dying for.” -Mark Twain 

71. “Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.” -Pythagoras 

72. “Friends, though absent, are still present.” -Marcus Tullius Cicero 

73. “Yes, we must ever be friends; and of all who offer you friendship let me be ever the first, the truest, the nearest and dearest.” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

74. “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” -Carl Jung

75. “Where there are friends there is wealth.” -Plautus

76. “A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.” -Donna Roberts

77. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” -Mother Teresa

78. “When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.” -William Arthur Ward

79. “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 

80. “Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” -Mark Twain 

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Friendship Quotes for Students

81. “The friends you make in college are friends you’ll have for life, even if you don’t talk for years at a time.” -Jessica Park

82. “Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.” -Thomas J. Watson

83. “True friends are like diamonds – bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style.” -Nicole Richie

84. “Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.” -Misty Copeland

85. “‘Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected.” -Charles Lamb

86. “If you are ever lucky enough to find a weirdo, never let them go.” -Matthew Gray Gubler

87. “Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know but need to know. Learn from them.” -C.G. Jung

88. “A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.” -Maya Angelou

89. “Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.” -Oscar Wilde

90. “Each new friendship can make you a new person, because it opens up new doors inside of you.” -Kate DiCamillo

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91. “Getting to know new people and gaining new friends is one of life’s greatest pleasures. So conquer your fears and get out there.” -Tony Clark

92. “A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.” -Bernard Meltzer 

93. “A good friend is a connection to life – a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.” -Lois Wyse 

94. “Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones.” -John Lennon

95. “Cultivate solitude and quiet and a few sincere friends, rather than mob merriment, noise and thousands of nodding acquaintances.” -William Powell 

96. “We are each the star of our own situation comedy, and, with luck, the screwball friend in somebody else’s.” -Robert Breault 

97. “The best things in life are free. And it is important never to lose sight of that. So look around you. Wherever you see friendship, loyalty, laughter, and love…there is your treasure.” -Neale Donald Walsch

98. “Friendship is an art, and very few persons are born with a natural gift for it.” -Kathleen Norris

99. “Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.” -Henry David Thoreau

100. “No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.” -Alice Walker

101. “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” -William Shakespeare

102. “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” -Henry Ford

103. “Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” -Booker T. Washington

104. “To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.” -Theodore H. White

105. “In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends.” -John Churton Collins

106. “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” -Dale Carnegie

107. “The most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people.” -Nicholas Sparks

108. “A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success.” -Doug Larson

109. “My definition of a friend is somebody who adores you even though they know the things you’re most ashamed of.” -Jodie Foster

110. “Depth of friendship does not depend on length of acquaintance.” -Rabindranath Tagore

111. “Some people arrive and make such a beautiful impact on your life; you can barely remember what life was like without them.” -Anna Taylor

112. “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” -Elbert Hubbard

113. “Things are never quite scary when you’ve got a best friend.” -Bill Watterson

114. “Ten minutes with a genuine friend is better than years spent with anyone less.” -Crystal Woods

115. “Never let your best friends get lonely…keep disturbing them.” -Candlelight Publications

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116. “Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.” -Khalil Gibran

117. “If you go looking for a friend, you’re going to find they’re very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.” -Zig Ziglar

118. “The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships.” -Abraham Lincoln

119. “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” -Amy Poehler

120.“A friend is like an Oreo, it’s not always that great, but it always gets better!” -Erin Westbrook

10 Tips to Have a Positive Friendship 

1. Make Sure to Allot Time for Each Other: I’m a very busy person. I have school three days a week and I work five. Once I’m back in the full swing of things, it becomes difficult to spend time with friends.

If it becomes too difficult, you don’t need to meet in person. Simply having a weekly phone call or FaceTime is a great way to keep friends updated and connected. Then, it’s a big deal to finally meet in person!

2. Don’t Spend Too Much Time Together: On the other hand, everyone needs time to recharge. Everyone also has their own responsibilities. If one of your friends can’t get back to you immediately, don’t sweat it. There may be something going on that they don’t want to tell you at the moment.

If you want to tell someone that you won’t be in contact, just say, “I have something going on right now and I have to disappear for a bit. It’s nothing against you, I simply have to work my own things out.”

3. Establish Accountability: Just because you are friends doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes. If you’re having issues with someone, and you feel it is affecting your friendship negatively, gently tell them how you’re feeling.

Make sure you’re not too aggressive, but make sure your feelings are known. Beating around the bush won’t get you anywhere. 

4. Be Their Biggest Supporter: A true friend doesn’t bring others down. If your friend is going through a tough time, support them. In times of success, be their hype person.

If you feel jealousy, those are your own feelings. Do not let them get in the way of your friendship. 

5. Treat Friends Like Family: I come from an Italian family, and when I was younger many of my friends were also Italian. I was treated like a cousin when I went to my friends’ family events.

It’s a different level of personal connection when you involve your friend so deeply in your life. Just remember to keep boundaries so it doesn’t become too much! 

6. Try New Things: Everyone has something to bring to the table. I admit, I was a very sheltered person when I met my friends in high school. While one of my friends had a lot of similarities to me, she also had experienced a lot of things that I didn’t.

As a result of hanging out with her, I tried lots of new foods and went to lots of new places that I would have never gone to otherwise. Culture is a great way to bond and experience new things, and most importantly, make new friends. 

7. Ask For Feedback: I do this all the time in my classes, but this can translate to social life as well. For example, in class, I may peer review my essays, and that helps me improve my writing.

In my social life, I would ask my friends for feedback on outfits, going to new places, handling certain situations, etc. It can offer new perspectives and make the friendship open to discussion. 

8. Pay Attention to the Little Things: When your friend says she likes a certain type of candy, you can give it to her when she’s having a bad day. Or when she brings up an issue she’s been having, you can add to the conversation because you remembered what she said previously.

In these ways, you show your attention to detail and level of concern. This also establishes trust and honesty. 

9. Keep Promises: A friendship is almost like a job. I say “almost” because friendships should be fun. However, I am a person who is always on time and plans things in advance.

These are good qualities to have regardless of a job. If you say to your friend “let’s go out at 9 o’clock on Friday night,” and the friend gives no notice and doesn’t show up, then that’s a bad friend. Give notice if you can’t go, it’s basic etiquette. 

10. Don’t Always Offer Advice, Just Listen: Sometimes I want to rant and I gain unsolicited advice. If someone tells you or shows in their body language that they just want to talk, then simply sit and listen.

Friendship is a two-way street, so don’t expect someone to listen to you if you won’t listen to them. 

A quote can only do so much. You can send these to your friends out of appreciation, but also consider my advice! I hope these helped you greatly. 

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