The language of friendship is not words but meanings, says Henry David Thoreau

As we celebrate the International Day of Friendship, proclaimed by the United Nations, it is essential to know the meaning and purpose of friendship, Friendship has been defined by wikipedia.org as an interpersonal relationship or an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love and liking, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment.

The language of friendship is not words but meanings, says Henry David Thoreau. But one would require words to understand friendship nevertheless. Here are some quotes to clarify the meaning of friendship.

§ A friend is a present you give yourself. -- Robert Louis Stevenson 
§ A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else.-- Len Wein 
§ Advice from your friends in like the weather, some of it is good, some of it is bad. -Anonymous
§ Good friends are good for your health.-Irwin Sarason
§ Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with." -- Mark Twain 
§ It is not what you give your friend, but what you are willing to give him that determines the quality of friendship. -- Mary Dixon Thayer
§ It's the ones you can call up at 4:00 a.m. that really matter.-- Marlene Dietrich
§ Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends whom we choose.-- Tehyi Hsieh 
§ Love is rarer than genius itself. And friendship is rarer than love.-- Charles Peguy 
§ No man is useless while he has a friend.-- Robert Louis Stevenson 
§ Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty. -- Sicilian Proverb
§ The language of friendship is not words but meanings. -- Henry David Thoreau
§ There can be no Friendship where there is no Freedom. -- William Penn 
§ True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation. -- George Washington
§ You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people, than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. -- Bernard Meltzer 
§ You cannot be friends upon any other terms than upon the terms of equality. -- Woodrow Wilson