If thy friends be of better quality than thyself, thou mayest be sure of two things; first, they will be more careful to keep thy counsel, because they have more to lose than thou hast; the second, they will esteem thee for thyself, and not for that which thou dost possess.
Interpretation
Choosing friends who are better than yourself encourages personal growth and confidentiality.
This quote emphasizes the importance of surrounding oneself with high-quality friends who have more to lose, as they will respect your secrets and appreciate you for who you are rather than your material possessions. Having such friends not only enhances your own character but also fosters deep, meaningful relationships based on mutual respect and understanding.
In practice
This quote can be used when discussing the qualities of a true friend during a speech.
Passions are liken'd best to floods and streams:_x000D_ _x000D_ The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb;_x000D_ _x000D_ So, when affection yields discourse, it seems_x000D_ _x000D_ The bottom is but shallow whence they come._x000D_ _x000D_ They that are rich in words, in words discover
Silence in love betrays more woe - Than words though ne'er so witty; A beggar that is dumb, you know, may challenge double pity.
Even such isTime, which takes in trust Our youth, our joys, and all we have, And pays us but with age and dust, Who in the dark and silent grave When we have wandered all our ways Shuts up the story of our days, And from which earth, and grave, and dust The Lord shall raise me up, I trust.
If she undervalues me, _x000D_ _x000D_ What care I how fair she be?
If all the world and love were young,_x000D_ _x000D_ And truth in every shepherd's tongue,_x000D_ _x000D_ These pretty pleasures might me move_x000D_ _x000D_ To live with thee, and be thy love.
It is the nature of men having escaped one extreme, which by force they were constrained long to endure, to run headlong into the other extreme, forgetting that virtue doth always consist in the mean.
The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.
Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.
The story, from beginning to end, I found again in a heart of a friend.
Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the knowledge of it to myself. . . . . . No good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.
True friends challenge us and help us to be faithful on our journey.
You and I were long friends: you are now my enemy, and I am yours.
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