Happy National Best Friend Day! 101 Quotes To Show Your BFF How Much Their Friendship Means to You

Having a best friend is one of the most beautiful gifts in life. Whether you bond over your sense of humor, work-life, family things, or everything in between, sometimes it's hard to put into words what your BFF means to you.

These 101 best friend quotes will remind you how good it is to have such an amazing friendship—and what it's like to be a best friend to someone else. Here are 101 quotes about best friends to celebrate your friendship!

Best Friend Quotes

1. “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” — Walter Winchell

2. “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” — Oprah Winfrey

3. “If you live to be a hundred, I hope I live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.” — Winnie the Pooh

4. “Things are never quite as scary when you’ve got a best friend.” — Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

5. “Real friendship is when your friend comes over to your house and then you both just take a nap.” — Anonymous

6. “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'”
– C.S. Lewis

7. “Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.” – Thomas J. Watson

8. “Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.”― Elie Wiesel

9. “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” – Muhammad Ali

10. “A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.” – Arnold H. Glasgow

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11. “Some people go to priests. Others to poetry. I to my friends.”—Virginia Woolf

12. "Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you." — Misty Copeland

13. “There are three things that grow more precious with age; old wood to burn, old books to read and old friends to enjoy.” — Henry Ford

14. “The love that comes from friendship is the underlying facet of a happy life.” – Chelsea Handler

15. "As much as a BFF can make you go WTF, there's no denying we'd be a little less rich without them." — Gossip Girl

16. “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

17. “A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.” – Elbert Hubbard

18. “A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world.” – Leo Buscaglia

19. “One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.” – Euripides

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20.  “For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” — Audrey Hepburn

21. “One’s friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.”– George Santayana

22. “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemingway

23.  “Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I’m glad for that.”– Ally Condie

24. “There’s not a word yet for old friends who’ve just met.” – Jim Henson

25. "Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything." — Muhammad Ali

26. “Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”- Albert Camus

27. “[The greatest gift in life] is the gift of friendship, and I have received it; the greatest healing therapy is friendship.”  — Hubert Humphrey

28. “Never leave a friend behind. Friends are all we have to get us through this life—and they are the only things from this world that we could hope to see in the next.” — Dean Koontz

29. “Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.” — Richard Bach

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30. “And what is a friend? More than a father, more than a brother: a traveling companion, with him, you can conquer the impossible, even if you must lose it later. Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.” ― Elie Wiesel, The Gates of the Forest

31. “A good friend is a connection to life—a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.” — Lois Wyse, Women Make the Best Friends: A Celebration

32. “Friendship’s the wine of life.” — Edward Young, Night Thoughts

33. “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” – Albert Schweitzer

34. “A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden.” — Anonymous

35. “True friends are those rare people who come to find you in dark places and lead you back to the light.” — Anonymous

36. “Friendship isn’t about who you’ve known the longest. It’s about who walked into your life, said, “I’m here for you”, and proved it.” — Anonymous

37. “One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

38. “If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart… I'll always be with you.” – Winnie the Pooh

39. “That’s when I realized what a true friend was. Someone who would always love you—the imperfect you, the confused you, the wrong you—because that is what people are supposed to do.” — R. J. L.

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40. “The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing… not healing, not curing… that is a friend who cares.” – Henri Nouwen

41. “Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.” – Thomas Aquinas

42. “Every friendship goes through ups and downs. Dysfunctional patterns set in; external situations cause internal friction; you grow apart and then bounce back together.” – Mariella Frostrup

43. “Friendship is a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote the good and happiness of one another.” – Eustace Budgell

44. “When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands.” – Maria Shriver

45. “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” – Amy Poehler

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46. “You find out who your real friends are when you’re involved in a scandal.” – Elizabeth Taylor

47. “Friendship is a wildly underrated medication.” – Anna Deavere Smith

48. “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” – William Shakespeare

49. “Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation if you really are friendly with somebody. You can’t have too many friends because then you’re just not really friends.” – Truman Capote

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50. “Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them.” – Francesco Guicciardini

51. “The real test of friendship is: can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple?” – Eugene Kennedy

52. “Throughout life you will meet one person who is like no other. You could talk to this person for hours and never get bored, you could tell this person things and they will never judge you. This person is your soulmate, your best friend. Don’t ever let them go.” – Unknown

53. “The great thing about new friends is that they bring new energy to your soul.” – Shanna Rodriguez

54. “A friend is an emotional bond, just like friendship is a human experience.” – Simon Sinek

55. “A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success!” – Doug Larson

56. “True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.” – Henry David Thoreau

57. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin

58. “Real friendship, like real poetry, is extremely rare — and precious as a pearl.” – Tahar Ben Jelloun

59. “There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” ― Linda Grayson

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60. "I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff." — Jon Katz

61. "Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success." — Oscar Wilde

62. "Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over."—  Octavia Butler

63. "There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends. That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first; when you learn to live for others, they will live for you." — Paramahansa Yogananda

64. "The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away." — Barbara Kingsolver

65. "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

66. “Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.” – Khalil Gibran

67. "You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job." — Laurence J. Peter

68. "Every friendship travels at sometime through the black valley of despair. This tests every aspect of your affection. You lose the attraction and the magic. Your sense of each other darkens and your presence is sore. If you can come through this time, it can purify with your love, and falsity and need will fall away. It will bring you onto new ground where affection can grow again." — John O'Donohue

69. "The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

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70. "Friendship is like money, easier made than kept." – Samuel Butler

71. "Best friends don’t necessarily have to talk every day. They don’t even need to talk for weeks. But when they do, it’s like they never stopped talking." – Unknown

72. “You know what sucks about getting older? Your friends have known you for way too long. They’ve got too much on you. I want friends who still lie to me because they don’t want to hurt my feelings. I sadly kind of mean that.” – Nick Miller, New Girl

73. “We made a deal ages ago. Men, babies, it doesn’t matter…We’re soulmates.” – Samantha Jones, Sex and the City

74. “That’s how it goes, kids. The friends, neighbors, drinking buddies, and partners in crime you love so much when you’re young, as the years go by, you just lose touch. You will be shocked when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That’s why, when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it.” – Ted Mosby, How I Met Your Mother

75. “Friends joke with one another. ‘Hey, you’re poor. Hey, your momma’s dead.’ That’s what friends do.” – Michael Scott, The Office

76. “We’re sisters; you’re my family. What is you, is me. There’s nothing that you could ever say to make me let go.” – Blair Waldorf, Gossip Girl

77. "Lose one friend, lose all friends, lose yourself." Why? "Because nothing else seemed important." ― Boy Meets World

78. "I found out what the secret to life is—friends. Best friends." — Fried Green Tomatoes

79. “There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family.” — Unknown

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80. "Remember George, no man is a failure who has friends." — It's a Wonderful Life

81. "The human spirit is more powerful than any drug and that is what needs to be nourished with work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matter." — Awakenings

82. “I still have friends from primary school. And my two best girlfriends are from secondary school. I don’t have to explain anything to them. I don’t have to apologize for anything. They know. There’s no judgment in any way.” — Emma Watson

83. "Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend." ― Sarah Dessen

84. "A strong friendship doesn’t need daily conversation and doesn’t always need togetherness. As long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends will never part." – Unknown

85. "It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends." — Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

86. "Friendship — my definition — is built on two things. Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don’t have trust, the friendship will crumble." ― Stieg Larsson

87. "In my friend, I find a second self." – Isabel Norton

88. “In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” – Khalil Gibran

89. “It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.”– Marlene Dietrich

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90. “A good friend is like a four-leaf clover; hard to find and lucky to have.” – Irish Proverb

91. “True friends are like diamonds — bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style.” – Nicole Richie

92. “Best friend: the one that you can be mad at only for a short period of time because you have important stuff to tell them.” – Unknown

93. “We’ll be the old ladies causing trouble in the nursing home.” – Unknown

94. “Never let your best friends get lonely…keep disturbing them.” – Candlelight Publications

95. “A friend can tell you things you don’t want to tell yourself.” – Frances Ward Weller

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96. "True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable." — David Tyson

97. "Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer." — Ed Cunningham

98. "A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." — Bernard Meltzer

99. "Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." — Marcel Proust

100. "Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together." — Woodrow Wilson

101. “Friends are relatives you make for yourself.” — Eustache Deschamps

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Story by Jessica Vacco-Bolanos.