Quotes on Friendship
Friendship in Austen is a serious test of character — often more revealing than courtship. Isabella Thorpe's instant, extravagant declarations of eternal friendship are a warning label; Anne Elliot's quiet loyalty and Mrs. Smith's cheerfulness in poverty are the real thing. Austen consistently uses the difference between performed and genuine friendship as a character test running parallel to her more famous romantic plots — Isabella's protestations of devotion to Catherine Morland evaporate the moment a wealthier prospect appears, while Elizabeth Bennet's friendship with Charlotte Lucas survives real disagreement about how to live, because it's built on genuine regard rather than convenience. Austen's own deepest friendship was with her sister Cassandra, to whom most of her surviving letters are addressed, and the warmth and shorthand visible even in the fragments that survive suggests a real-life model for the loyal, undemonstrative friendships her more sympathetic characters practice.
“Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.”
“Business, you know, may bring you money, but friendship hardly ever does.”
“There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.”
“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature.”
“You have gained a new source of enjoyment, and it is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible.”