There is nothing worth the wear of winning, but laughter and the love of friends.
James BoswellRead
A companion loves some agreeable qualities which a man may possess, but a friend loves the man himself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True friendship goes beyond superficial qualities and embraces the entire person.
This quote by James Boswell emphasizes the distinction between companionship and true friendship. While a companion may appreciate certain agreeable traits in a person, a true friend values and loves the individual for who they are in their entirety, including their flaws and imperfections.
Themes
FriendshipLoveCompanionshipQualitiesAcceptance
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of genuine relationships, you might quote this to highlight the difference between friends and mere acquaintances.
More from James Boswell
All quotes βHe who has provoked the lash of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.
James BoswellRead
Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed.
James BoswellRead
Wine makes a man better pleased with himself. I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others. Sometimes it does. But the danger is, that while a man grows better pleased with himself, he may be growing less pleasing to others. Wine gives a man nothing. It neither gives him knowledge nor wit; it only animates a man, and enables him to bring out what a dread of the company has presented.
James BoswellRead
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And much more am I sorrier for my good knights' loss than for the loss of my fair queen; for queens I might have enough, but such a fellowship of good knights shall never be together in no company.
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One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession.
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