FRIENDS

FRIENDS
A decent boldness ever meets with friends.
Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends.
I sought them far and found them, The sure, the straight, the brave, The hearts I lost my own to, The souls I could not save They braced their belts about them, They crossed in ships the sea, They sought and found six feet of ground, And there they died for me.

Always, Sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord, will love you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you.
Anacharsis coming to Athens, knocked at Solon's door, and told him that he, being a stranger, was come to be his guest, and contract a friendship with him; and Solon replying, "It is better to make friends at home," Anacharsis replied, "Then you that are at home make friendship with me."
Friendships begin with liking or gratitude—roots that can be pulled up.
If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.

Sir, I look upon every day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance.
Old friends are best. King James used to call for his old shoes; they were easiest for his feet.
He's an oul' butty o' mine—oh, he's a darlin' man, a daarlin' man.
HARDCASTLE I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine.