Our friends interpret the world and ourselves to us, if we take them tenderly and truly.

A. Bronson Alcott

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart:
So doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.
Iron sharpeneth iron;
So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Proverbs xxvii. 6, 9, 17

Friendship is a disinterested commerce between equals.

Goldsmith

To take the advice of some few friends is ever honourable; for lookers-on many times see more than gamesters, and the vale best discovereth the hill.

Bacon