On friendship

To my dearest friends. Thank you. 

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over." – Ray Bradbury

"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

"Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success." – Oscar Wilde

"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

"Every friendship travels at sometime through the black valley of despair. This tests every aspect of your affection. You lose the attraction and the magic. Your sense of each other darkens and your presence is sore. If you can come through this time, it can purify with your love, and falsity and need will fall away. It will bring you onto new ground where affection can grow again." – John O’Donohue

"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