He was one of those men who possess almost every gift, except the gift of the power to use them.
A blessed thing it is to have a friend; one human soul whom we can trust utterly; who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults; who will speak the honest truth to us, while the world flatters us to our face, and laughs at us behind our back; who will give us counsel and reproof in a day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again, will comfort and encourage us in days of difficulty and sorrow, when the world leaves us alone to fight our own battle as we can.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A true friend accepts us unconditionally and offers honest support through life's ups and downs.
This quote by Charles Kingsley expresses the profound value of true friendship. It highlights the rarity and blessing of having a friend who knows us deeply, embraces our imperfections, and provides unwavering support. Such a friend is not only a source of comfort during challenging times but also offers honest feedback to help us grow, contrasting with the superficiality often found in social interactions. In essence, the quote emphasizes that a genuine friendship enriches our lives and provides invaluable companionship amidst life's trials and tribulations.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of relationships, one might say, 'As Charles Kingsley reminds us, a true friend is a treasure.'
More from Charles Kingsley
All quotes →Beauty is God's handwriting — a wayside sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank for it Him.
Take comfort, and recollect however little you and I may know, God knows; He knows Himself and you and me and all things; and His mercy is over all His works.
Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know.
Do today's duty, fight to-day's temptation; and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.
You must not talk about 'ain't and can't' when you speak of this great wonderful world round you, of which the wisest man knows only the very smallest corner, and is, as the great Sir Isaac Newton said, only a child picking up pebbles on the shore of a boundless ocean.
Similar quotes
But the best, in my opinion, was the home life in the little flat--the ardent, voluble chats after the day's study; the cozy dinners and fresh, light breakfasts; the interchange of ambitions--ambitions interwoven each with the other's or else inconsiderable--the mutual help and inspiration; and--overlook my artlessness--stuffed olives and cheese sandwiches at 11 p.m.
As hard as it is and as tired as I am, I force myself to get dinner at least once a week with my girlfriends, or have a sleepover. Otherwise my life is just work.
Our friends - how distant, how mute, how seldom visited and little known. And I, too, am dim to my friends and unknown; a phantom, sometimes seen, often not. Life is a dream surely.
I thought I had friends but in the end n*iggaz dies lonely.
Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog; but you're never friendless ever, if you have a dog.
The story, from beginning to end, I found again in a heart of a friend.