• “True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.” – Charles Caleb Cotton
• “Trouble is a sieve through which we sift our acquaintances. Those too big to pass through are our friends.” – Arlene Francis
• “Friendship makes prosperity more brilliant, and lightens adversity by dividing and sharing it.” – Cicero
• “Thoughtfulness is to a friendship what sunshine is to a garden.” – Anonymous
• “Being with you is like walking on a very clear morning – definitely the sensation of belonging there.” – E.B. White

• “Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable.” – Louisa May Alcott
• “With true friends…even water drunk together is sweet enough.” – Chinese proverb
• “The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.” – William Blake
• “No road is long with good company.” – Turkish proverb
• “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge
• “Depth of friendship does not depend on length of acquaintance.” – Sir Rabindranath Tagore

The quotes in my 2008 page-a-day calendar are decidedly more sentimental that the fun, off-the-cuff ones from spirited women in my 2007 version. Still, I like having them here on my blog to kick around.

• “And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have re-written mine by being my friend…” – Elphaba in Wicked (not from the calendar, but I heart the song this line comes from)
• “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
• “The most beautiful discovery two friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” – Elizabeth Foley
• “Constant use will not wear ragged the fabric of friendship.” – Dorothy Parker
• “When friends ask, there is no tomorrow.” – proverb
• “The language of friendship is not words, but meanings.” – Henry David Thoreau

• “I rather like my stumblings. Sometimes, they lead me to some pretty great places.” – Jennifer Aniston
• “It is a simple fact that all of us use the techniques of acting to achieve whatever ends we seek….Acting serves as the quintessential social lubricant and a device for protecting our interests and gaining advantage in every aspect of life.” – Marlon Brando
• “Elegance is good taste plus a dash of daring.” – Carmel Snow
• “Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.” – Janet Lane
• “It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.” – Lucille Ball

After getting used to having a daily quote to look forward to, I bought another one of those page-a-day calendars. Instead of offering a female perspective, this calendar provides sentimental nuggets about friendship, some quite cheesy. Here are some only borderline-cheesy thoughts:

• “Friendship isn’t a big thing – it’s a million little things.” – Anonymous
• “A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “When someone tells you the truth, lets you think for yourself, experience your own emotions, he is treating you as a true equal. As a friend.” – Whitney Otto
• “True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable.” – Dave Tyson Gentry
• “Friendship is like a bank account: you cannot continue to draw on it without making deposits.” – Anonymous
• “I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.” – Robert Brault

• “The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her.” – Marcelene Cox
• “Personally, I like two types of men – domestic and foreign.” – Mae West
• “Your dresses should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to show you’re a lady.” – Edith Head
• “If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.” – Catherine Aird
• “Man has his will – but woman has her way.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
• “There is a good deal to be said for blushing, if one can do it at the proper moment.” – Oscar Wilde

• “A true friend is someone who is there for you when they would rather by someplace else.” – Len Wein
• “Friendship is one of the sweetest joys in life. Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend.” – Charles H. Spurgeon
• “A single rose can be my garden…a single friend, my world.” – Leo Buscaglia
• “The essence of true friendship is to make allowance for another’s little lapses.” – David Storey
• “We want people to feel with us more than to act for us.” – George Eliot