In the misfortunes of our best friends we always find something that does not displease us.
Rare as true love is, it is less rare than true friendship.
What makes us so changing in our friendships is that it is difficult to discern the qualities of the soul, and easy to recognize the qualities of the mind.
It is equally difficult to have a friendship for those whom we do not esteem as for those we esteem more than ourselves.
We love those who admire us, not those whom we admire.
Most of the friendships of the world ill deserve the name of friendship; still, a man may make occasional use of them, as in a business where the profits are uncertain and it is usual to be cheated.
It is more dishonourable to mistrust a friend than to be deceived by him.
We are fond of exaggerating the love our friends bear us, but it is less from a feeling of gratitude than from a desire to advertise our own merits.
What usually hinders us from revealing the depths of our hearts to our friends is not so much the distrust which we have of them as the distrust that we have of ourselves.
We confess our little defects merely to persuade our friends that we have no great failings.