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A pretended affection is not easily distinguished from a real one, unless in seasons of distress. For adversity is to friendship what fire is to gold—the only infallible test to discover the genuine from the counterfeit. In all other cases they both have the same common marks.
—Cicero.
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A little peaceful home bounds all my wants and wishes;
Add to this my book and friend—and this is happiness supreme.
—Montaigne.
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A true friend is more precious to the soul than all which it inherits beneath the sun.
—Irving.
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