Quotes

150+ Inspiring Friendship Quotes To Show Your Best Friends How Much You Love Them

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Oprah Winfrey friendship quote

Childhood friends. School friends. Neighborhood friends. College friends. Work friends. Best friends. Boyfriends. Girlfriends.

There are so many great friendship quotes out there because we work our entire lives building friendships — from preschool, where we all learn that "it takes a friend to make a friend," through adulthood.

We learn the 5 stages of friendships as we create them: We go from strangers to casual acquaintances to friends to having deep friendships to self-intimacy.

We all crave closeness with other human beings. We need to know there's someone out there who gets us.

And sharing your thoughts with the help of some inspirational, cute, and positive best friend quotes is a creative way to show how much you care about your BFFs.

A true friend is hard to find. So when you do find that person who is your very best friend in the whole wide world, Someone who is there for you, cares about you, and will hurt those who hurt you, be sure to hang on tight and make sure they know how important they are to you!

The Best Inspirational Friendship Quotes to Share With Your Best Friends

Best Friend Quotes

1. "A best friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you for the way you are today."

2. "Girls can survive without a boyfriend, but they can't survive without a best friend."

3. "Dear best friend: just a daily reminder that you are beautiful and I love you."

4. "Best friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you know they're always there."

5. "A best friend accepts who you are, but also helps you become who you should be."

6. "A best friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart."

7. "When a woman becomes her own best friend, life is easier." — Diane von Furstenburg

8. "And till the end you're my very best friend."

9. "Best friends say good things behind your back and bad things to your face.”

10. "Having a soulmate is not always about love. You can find your soulmate in a best friend too."

11. "If you have a best friend that you can talk to about anything and they won't judge you, never let them go."

12. "A best friend is someone you can call at any hour to laugh or cry or complain."

13. "A best friend who understands your tears is much more valuable than a lot of friends who only know your smile."

14. "Best friends are the ones who lift you up, when no one else has noticed you've fallen."

15. "Talking to your best friend is sometimes all the therapy you need."

16. "Ooh you're the best friend that I ever had /I've been with you such a long time /You're my sunshine and I want you to know /That my feelings are true /I really love you /Oh you're my best friend" — Queen, "You're My Best Friend"

17. "A best friend accepts who you are, but also helps you become who you should be."

18. "You are my best friend, my human diary, and my other half. You mean the world to me and I love you."

19."'We'll be friends forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet. 'Even longer,' Pooh answered." — A.A. Milne, "Winnie The Pooh"

20. “A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. I am arrived at last in the presence of a man so real and equal, that I may drop even those undermost garments of dissimulation, courtesy, and second thought, which men never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

21. "It's not that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but it's your best friends who are your diamonds." — Gina Barreca

RELATED: 110 Timeless True Love Quotes To Remind You What Really Matters In Life

Short Friendship Quotes

22. "Life isn't about having a thousand friends, it's about finding the very few right ones you need." — A.R. Asher

23. "There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family."

24. "No friendship is an accident."

25. "Friends are the people who make you smile brighter, laugh louder, and live better."

26. "Friends make the world beautiful."

27. "You are the sister I got to choose."

28. "Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." — Albert Camus

29. "In my friend, I find a second self." — Isabel Norton

30. "My circle is small, but the love is enormous and genuine. It gets no better." — Alex Elle

31. "Friends are chosen family."

32. "You will always be... the sister of my soul, the friend of my heart."

33. "True friendship is never serene." — Marquise de Sevigne

34. "Some friendships are timeless."

35. "I get by with a little help from my friends." — The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends"

36. "Friends are medicine for a wounded heart, and vitamins for a hopeful soul." — Steve Maraboli​

37. "Friends should be like books, few, but hand-selected." ― C.J. Langenhoven

38. "That grow together type friendship."

39. "One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives." — Euripides

40. "Friends are the sunshine of life." — John Hay

41. "Here's to the nights that turned into mornings with the friends that turned into family.”

42. "The best mirror is an old friend." ― George Herbert

43. "Some souls just understand each other upon meeting." — N.R. Hart

44. “A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world.” — Leo Buscaglia

45. "A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” — Donna Roberts

46. “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” — Woodrow T. Wilson

47. “Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.” — Ed Cunningham

48. “The best time to make friends is before you need them.” — Ethel Barrymore

49. "You've got a friend in me." — Randy Newman, "You've Got A Friend In Me" from Toy Story

50. “To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.” — Dr. Seuss

51. "Share your smile with the world. It's a symbol of friendship and peace." — Christie Brinkley

52. "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud." — Maya Angelou

53. "There's nothing like a really loyal, dependable, good friend. Nothing." — Jennifer Aniston

54. "True friends are always together in spirit." — L.M. Montgomery

RELATED: 55 Epic Songs About Friendship To Share With Your Best Friends

Funny Friendship Quotes

55. "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'" — C.S. Lewis

56. "Friendship is all about trusting each other, helping each other, loving each other and being crazy together." ― O. Henry, Heart of the West

57. "Good friends don't let you do stupid things ... alone."— Doris Shutt

58. "I hit the BFF jackpot for sure."— Mel N. Colley

59. "There is nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends." ― Sylvia Plath, "The Bell Jar"

60. "Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." — Oprah Winfrey

61. "You and I are more than friends. We're like a really small gang."— Miles A. Head

62. "Friendship. Like a comforting coffee and a sweet snack."— Mona Lott

63. "Wow .... Only a true friend would be that truly honest." — Shrek

64. "True friends are like diamonds — bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style." ― Nicole Richie

65. "Boys are whatever. Friends are forever."— Phil Landers

66. "I like you because you join in on my weirdness."— Polly C. Holder

67. "We'll be friends 'til we're old and senile. … Then we'll be new friends!"— Rex Cars

68. "In the cookie of life, friends are chocolate chips." — Salman Rushdie

69. "Some people go to priests. Others to poetry. I to my friends." — Virginia Woolfe

70. "There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate." ― Linda Grayson

71. "No one will ever be as entertained by us as us."— Earl E. Bird

72. “A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.” — Bernard Meltzer

73. “It is the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.” — Marlene Dietrich

74. “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” — Abraham Lincoln

RELATED: Zodiac Signs That Make The Best Friends

Long-Distance Friendship Quotes

75. "Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes." — Henry David Thoreau

76. "Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with." — "Sex and the City"

77. "A strong friendship doesn't need daily conversation or being together. As long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends never part."

78. "Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit." ― Aristotle

79. "There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met." ― Jim Henson, "I'm Going To Go Back There Someday"

80. "Friendship to me isn't about how much we talk, but instead how much we're there for each other in times of need." — Trent Shelton

81. "The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." — Elizabeth Foley

82. "A strong friendship doesn't need daily conversation or being together. As long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends never part."

83. “Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.” — Washington Irving

84. “If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart… I'll always be with you.” — A.A. Milne, "Winnie the Pooh"

85. “Many a person has held close, throughout their entire lives, two friends that always remained strange to one another, because one of them attracted by virtue of similarity, the other by difference.” — Emil Ludwig

86. “There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.” — Diana Cortes

RELATED: Why Long-Distance Friendships Are So Hard To Maintain (Plus 3 Reasons Why It's Worth The Effort)

Friendship Makes You Better Quotes

87. "Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life." — Amy Poehler

88. "Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." ― Muhammad Ali

89. "Dear George: Remember no man is a failure who has friends." — "It's A Wonderful Life"

90. "A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have been and still, gently allows you to grow." — Unknown, although often misattributed to William Shakespeare

91. "The great thing about new friends is that they bring new energy to your soul." — Shanna Rodriguez

92. "A sweet friendship refreshes the soul." — Proverbs 27:9

93. "Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant." ― Socrates

94. "A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself — and especially to feel, or not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at any moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to — letting a person be what he really is.” ― Jim Morrison

95. "It's the friends we meet along the way that help us appreciate the journey."

100. "A friend is someone who makes it easy to believe in yourself." — Heidi Wills

101. "Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you." — Misty Copeland

102. “Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.” — Thomas J. Watson

103. “A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.” — Arnold H. Glasgow

104. “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” — Albert Schweitzer

105. “Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I’m glad for that.” — Ally Condie

106. “One’s friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.” — George Santayana

107. “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” — Marcel Proust

108. “It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.” — Epicurus

109. “In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” — Khalil Gibran

110. "Some people arrive and make such a beautiful impact on your life, you can barely remember what life was like without them.” — Anna Taylor

RELATED: 100 Life Quotes From Famous Authors That Prove Everyone Has Bad Days

Friendship Advice Quotes

111. "Friendship is delicate as a glass, once broken it can be fixed but there will always be cracks." — Waqar Ahmed

112. "It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends." — "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

113. "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12." — Stephen King, "Stand by Me"

114. "An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind." — Buddha

115. “If you go looking for a friend, you’re going to find they’re very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.” — Zig Ziglar

116. "The only way to have a friend is to be one." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

117. "A friend to all is a friend to none." ― Aristotle

118. “Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings.” — Miles Franklin

119. "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." —Martin Luther King Jr.

120. “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” — Walter Winchell

121. “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” — Dale Carnegie

122. “Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.” — Oscar Wilde

123. "Sitting silently beside a friend who is hurting may be the best gift we can give."

124. "Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations. Don’t over-analyze your relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness." — Leo F. Buscaglia

125. “A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling.” — Arthur Brisbane

126. “If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.” — Maxwell Maltz

127. “Friendship is like a glass ornament, once it is broken it can rarely be put back together exactly the same way.” — Charles Kingsley

128. “Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.” — Gloria Naylor

129. “Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” — Tennessee Williams

130. “The tender friendships one gives up, on parting, leave their bite on the heart, but also a curious feeling of a treasure somewhere buried.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

131. “They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” — Carl W. Buechner

RELATED: 5 Signs Of A One-Sided Friendship & How To Know If It's Worth Saving

True Friendship Quotes

132."A good friend is like a four-leaf clover; hard to find and lucky to have." — Irish Proverb

133. "I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."

134. "Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing." ― Elie Wiesel

135. “True friends are families which you can select.” — Audrey Hepburn

136. "We need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible. To have real conversations with people may seem like such a simple, obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk." — Thomas Moore

137. "Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success." ― Oscar Wilde

138. "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." — Shania Twain

139. "Friendship isn't about who you've known the longest, it's about who walked into your life, said 'I'm here for you,' and proved it."

140. "The most memorable people in life will be the friends who loved you when you weren't very lovable." — Aidan Chambers

141. "There is nothing I wouldn't do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature." — Jane Austen, "Northanger Abbey"

142. "Friends are angels that lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly." — Lorraine K. Mitchell

143. "A friend who listens, doesn't judge, and somehow makes everything all right."

144. "You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing." — E.B. White, "Charlotte's Web"

145. "If you wanna find out who's a true friend, screw up or go through a challenging time ... then see who sticks around." — Karen Salmonsohn​

146. “The real test of friendship is can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple?” — Eugene Kennedy

147. "If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you." — A.A. Milne, "Winnie the Pooh"

148. “True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.” — David Tyson

149. "A true friend is someone who will always love you — the imperfect, the confused, the wrong you — because that is what people are supposed to do." — R. J. L.

150. “A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they’re not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they’re not so bad.” — Arnold H. Glasgow

151. “One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things they need no longer mention.” — Clifton Fadiman

152. “You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.” — Laurence J. Peter

153. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." — Anaïs Nin

154. "Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart." — Eleanor Roosevelt

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Kristine Soloman is the former Executive Editor of YourTango, the top website for relationships, love and wellness for women.