Time draweth wrinkles in a fair face, but addeth fresh colors to a fast friend, which neither heat, nor cold, nor misery, nor place, nor destiny, can alter or diminish
Interpretation
Time may change our appearance, but true friendship deepens and endures regardless of circumstances.
This quote by John Lyly highlights the contrasting effects of time on physical beauty and deep human connections. While our faces may develop wrinkles as we age, the bonds we form with true friends only become stronger, enriched by shared experiences and resilience against life's adversities. True friendship is not swayed by external conditions or the passage of time; it remains constant and vibrant.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of enduring friendships.
A heat full of coldness, a sweet full of bitterness, a pain full of pleasantness, which maketh thoughts have eyes and hearts ears, bred by desire, nursed by delight, weaned by jealousy, kill'd by dissembling, buried by ingratitude, and this is love.
I'm so happy because today I found my friends - they're in my head.
I never could get on with representative individuals but people who existed on their own account and with whom it might therefore be possible to be friends.
To make a point of declaring friendship is to cheapen it. For men's emotions are very rarely put into words successfully.
I get by with a little help from my friends.
But listen to me first and swear an oath to use all your eloquence and strength to look after me and protect me.
All things are in common among friends.
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