Old Friends Quotes

“Some people seem to fade away but then when they are truly gone, it's like they didn't fade away at all.”
― Bob Dylan, Chronicles, Volume One

“A woman or man of value doesn’t love you because of what he or she wants you to be or do for them. He or she loves you because your combined souls understand one another, complements each other, and make sense above any other person in this world. You each share a part of their soul's mirror and see each other’s light reflected in it clearly. You can easily speak from the heart and feel safe doing so. Both of you have been traveling a parallel road your entire life. Without each other's presence, you feel like an old friend or family member was lost. It bothers you, not because you have given it too much meaning, but because God did. This is the type of person you don't have to fight for because you can't get rid of them and your heart doesn't want them to leave anyways.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“While they talked they remembered the years of their youth, and each thought of the other as he had been at another time.”
― John Williams, Stoner

“It's the worst part of seeing old friends: when your rose-colored memories become undone by reality.”
― Brad Meltzer, The Inner Circle

“The thing is that it could never again feel natural to talk to her”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“I need a name for this ink ... A name for the feeling you get when you see someone again. After many years. Someone lost to you. Or so you thought. And you remember them a certain way. In your mind, they never age. But then suddenly, there they are. Older. Changed by time. Different, but exactly the same.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, Stepsister

“We wander in our thousands over the
face of the earth, the illustrious and the obscure, earning beyond the
seas our fame, our money, or only a crust of bread; but it seems to me
that for each of us going home must be like going to render an account.
We return to face our superiors, our kindred, our friends--those whom we
obey, and those whom we love; but even they who have neither, the most
free, lonely, irresponsible and bereft of ties,--even those for whom
home holds no dear face, no familiar voice,--even they have to meet the
spirit that dwells within the land, under its sky, in its air, in its
valleys, and on its rises, in its fields, in its waters and its trees--a
mute friend, judge, and inspirer.”
― Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim

“Breezy days
deserve the union
of two old friends.”
― Sanober Khan, A touch, a tear, a tempest

“Some people won't dog-ear the pages. Others won't place the book facedown, pages splayed. Some won't dare make a mark in the margin. Get over it. Books exist to impart their worlds to you, not to be beautiful objects to save for some other day. We implore you to fold, crack, and scribble on your books whenever the desire takes you. Underline the good bits, exclaim "YES!" and "NO!" in the margins. Invite others to inscribe and date the frontispiece. Draw pictures, jot down phone numbers and Web addresses, make journal entries, draft letters to friends or world leaders. Scribble down ideas for a novel of your own, sketch bridges you want to build, dresses you want to design. Stick postcards and pressed flowers between the pages.

When next you open the book, you'll be able to find the bits that made you think, laugh, and cry the first time around. And you'll remember that you picked up that coffee stain in the cafe where you also picked up that handsome waiter. Favorite books should be naked, faded, torn, their pages spilling out. Love them like a friend, or at least a favorite toy. Let them wrinkle and age along with you.”
― Ella Berthoud & Susan Elderkin

“They waited awhile before lighting the candles; the gloom allowed the past to slip cozily into the present. But the memories were of a time that was gone and didn't overshadow the present. But the memories were vivid, and they made the freinds feel both young and old...When Chrsitanne finally lit the candles and they saw one another clearly again, she was happy to see in the old faces of the others the young faces they had come across in their memories. we store our youth wihtin us, we can go back to it and find ourselves in it, but it is past--melancholy filled their hearsts, and sympahty, for one another and for themsleves.”
― Bernhard Schlink

“It does seem so pleasant to talk with an old acquaintance that knows what you know. I see so many of these new folks nowadays, that seem to have neither past nor future. Conversation's got to have some root in the past, or else you've got to explain every remark you make, an' it wears a person out.”
― Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs

“We wander in our thousands over the
face of the earth, the illustrious and the obscure, earning beyond the
seas our fame, our money, or only a crust of bread; but it seems to me
that for each of us going home must be like going to render an account.”
― Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim

“Harriet had long ago discovered that one could not like people any the better, merely because they were ill, or dead—still less because one had once liked them very much.”
― Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night

“Reunions are the first day of school all over again. Time casts away familiarity and replaces it with warm confusion. Seeing how the years have frayed the friends of our youth reminds us that we too have irrevocably changed and can never return to a state of innocence again.”
― Stewart Stafford

“The only thing old about you is our friendship, which makes us ancient...”
― Nanette L. Avery

“The wind taught me never to forget old friends, by blowing them back to me.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson

“»Vielleicht ist es ein Fehler, daß wir uns nicht erst als Greise kennen gelernt haben« sagte sie zu sich selbst und hatte die schwermütige Vorstellung zweier Nebelbänke, die am Abend zur Erde sinken. »Sie sind nicht so schön wie der strahlende Mittag,« dachte sie »aber was kümmert es diese zwei formlosen Grauen, wie die Menschen sie empfinden! Ihre Stunde ist gekommen und sie ist so weich wie die glühendste Stunde!«”
― Robert Musil, The Man Without Qualities

“The degree of our intellectual growth is inversely proportional to the number of people with whom we are still close friends.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“A few signs of Love ... getting the cherry in a drink, the prize in the Cracker Jack box, and the window seat...”
― Nanette L. Avery

“We would never become friends with most if not all of the people with whom we have been friends for many years, if we had met them only a few weeks ago.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“I loved that kite, that cinnamon hound. We were old friends. I had soared and laughed with that kite. It got me out on the perimeter. I felt I had failed it somehow, and Rune too, even though he would’ve offered the string to Leer, just as I had. Thinking it over I became a bit less angry, and more proud of the kite itself: it had refused to be flown by Leer one moment longer. It broke the line and caught the next gust out of town. A perilous beautiful move, choosing to throw yourself at the future, even if it means one day coming down in the sea.”
― Leif Enger, Virgil Wander

“Well, naturally. Keir is descended from my line. Our virility is unmatched."
Westcliff tried to look severe. "You realize, Kingston, that my first grandchild has been sired by your illegitimate offspring."
"Yes, yes, who cares about legitimacy. This child will be magnificent. With my looks and your brains..."
"It could have my looks and your brains," Westcliff pointed out.
"Don't be such a pessimist. Bring the brandy bottle over here, and we'll start making plans."
And the two old friends grinned at each other as they clinked their glasses.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Disguise

“The Commander of the British cruiser Cardiff, who happened to be an old friend, got wind of Olga's presence in town and invited her to his ship. After tea on board, the grand duchess was tactfully presented with a length of navy-blue cloth, enough to make clothing for the four members of her family, and she was relieved that they could be respectable again.”
― John Curtis Perry, The Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga

“...they all talked to each other like they were sparring partners. Pretty words masking sharp-edged insults.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

“Age is an imaginary number.”
― Carol L. Covin, Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers

“Life is short. Normalize checking on friends. Call at least 50 old friends you've not met or seen in about 5 years time. Smile with them before ending the call. But be aware that after checking on 50, at least 5 of them will call you back to ask for a loan. I advice, make money.”
― Israelmore Ayivor

“Each of the volumes in the collection felt to Joanna like old friends, all the cracks and blemishes well known and forgiven, and save for the book Abe had died with, she knew the story behind each one.”
― Emma Törzs, Ink Blood Sister Scribe

“Ever since I arrived here, I've had this feeling that we're just pretending to still be friends. Reenacting the friendship the way it used to be, when we were actually close”
― Alison Espach, The Wedding People

“There is no greater remedy for the heart, nor sweeter comedy for the soul, than the company of an old friend.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya, Safa Tempo: Poems New & Selected

“With old friends, life is always richer.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya