For Auld Lang Syne: A Book of Friendship

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For Auld Lang Syne
A Book Of Friendship
Selected by RAY WOODWARD
Affectionately Dedicated to
My Father, FRED E. WOODWARD.
Friendship is essentially the same bond, whether it unites persons of intellect and refined tastes, or those more unfortunate ones, who, perhaps, have no conception of their mission in the world, or of their duty to society. Its manifestations may be wholly different, but the two friendships will have some points in common. In both instances the friends are drawn close together and are united by that bond which has been so beautifully written about throughout the ages.
The abstract theorizing of one philosopher can never satisfy the individual in regard to the varied manifestations of friendship, and it is therefore interesting and profitable to note what various writers have said about this world-wide force under the varying conditions of the past and the present. It would be a well-nigh hopeless task to attempt to gather within the compass of a single volume all that has been written about it. The present volume present some selections that express in a measure what is implied by the word Friendship.
For Auld Lang Syne
It is a noble and great thing to cover the blemishes and to excuse the failings of a friend; to draw a curtain before his stains, and to display his perfections; to bury his weaknesses in silence, but to proclaim his virtues upon the housetop.
— South .