I've been thinking about friendship a lot lately. There are so many types of friends you can have, and the dynamics you have with each person can be different but still equally as special. There are friends like the sisters you never had, the soulmates you deserve, the comrades you need. There are friends who you may not see or even talk to that often, but when you do come back together it's as if no time has passed at all. There are "let's go out for a coffee" friends, "come to Target with me" friends, friends who are more like acquaintances, and that person that's in like three of your classes who you only talk to during class, but you still refer to them as your "friend."
Platonic relationships are such an underrated topic compared to romantic relationships, which is something that needs to change. Friendships should be talked about, celebrated, and appreciated as deeply as romantic relationships are. Time and time again, my friends prove to be my rock, my therapist, the only people who seem to know exactly what to say at the right time. So, here are 10 quotes to reiterate that and remind us how truly great friendships are:
1. "Here’s the truth: friendships between women are often the deepest and most profound love stories, but they are often discussed as if they are ancillary, “bonus” relationships to the truly important ones. Women’s friendships outlast jobs, parents, husbands, boyfriends, lovers, and sometimes children…it’s possible to transcend the limits of your skin in a friendship…This kind of friendship is not a frivolous connection, a supplementary relationship to the ones we’re taught and told are primary – spouses, children, parents. It is love…Support, salvation, transformation, life: this is what women give to one another when they are true friends, soul friends." - Emily Rapp
2. "Maybe we could be each other’s soul mates. Then we could let men be just these great, nice guys to have fun with." - Charlotte York
3. "Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends." - Virginia Woolfe
4. “But your best friend is still your best friend. Even from half a world away. Distance can’t sever that connection. Best friends are the kind of people who can survive anything. And when best friends see each other again, after being separated by half a world and more miles than you think you can bear, you pick up right where you left off. After all, that’s what best friends do.” - Unknown
5. "There is nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends." - Sylvia Plath
6. "Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes." - Henry David Thoreau
7. "Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing." - Elie Wiesel
8. "I’ve found new meaning in the term my ‘other half’ and I no longer have a sense of urgency to find a soul mate. I already have, in a form I didn’t expect." - ThoughtCatalog
9. “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” - Elbert Hubbard
10. “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” - C.S. Lewis
Next time you talk to your friend, let them know how happy you are to know them. They're likely to return the sentiment.
