Friend of my bosom, thou more than a brother, Why wert thou not born in my father's dwelling?
Interpretation
This quote expresses a deep bond between friends, emphasizing the closeness that can sometimes surpass familial ties.
In this quote by Charles Lamb, the speaker reflects on the profound connection they feel with their friend, comparing that friendship to a sibling relationship. The phrase suggests a sense of longing, as the speaker wonders why their friend was not born into their family, indicating that the bond they share is so strong that it feels as if they should be relatives.
In practice
During a toast at a wedding, you might express how grateful you are for a friendship that feels like family.
Thus, when the lamp that lighted The traveller at first goes out, He feels awhile benighted, And looks around in fear and doubt. But soon, the prospect clearing, By cloudless starlight on he treads, And thinks no lamp so cheering As that light which Heaven sheds.
As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see, So deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion, Unheard by the world, rises silent to Thee. As still to the star of its worship, though clouded, The needle points faithfully o'er the dim sea, So dark when I roam in this wintry world shrouded, The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee.
The most mortifying infirmity in human nature, to feel in ourselves, or to contemplate in another, is perhaps cowardice.
Oh, ever thus, from childhood's hour, I 've seen my fondest hopes decay; I never loved a tree or flower But 't was the first to fade away. I never nurs'd a dear gazelle, To glad me with its soft black eye, But when it came to know me well And love me, it was sure to die.
May my last breath be drawn through a pipe, and exhaled in a jest.
A pun is not bound by the laws which limit nicer wit. It is a pistol let off at the ear; not a feather to tickle the intellect.
Two are better than one,because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lif' up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up.
When I turned 40, I invited Johnny Cash to my party, even though I knew there was gonna be 200 people roasting a pig and wild as can be. He didn't come, but the next day, I got a bowl of chili he'd made and a note that said, 'John, I'd love to come to your party, but that would mean I would have to leave my house.'
The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.
There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends. That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first; when you learn to live for others, they will live for you.
Be thou the first true merit to befriend, his praise is lost who stays till all commend.
A good friend who points out mistakes is to be respected, as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.
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