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To wish to escape from solitude is cowardice. Friendship is not to be sought, not to be dreamed, not to be desired; it is to be exercised (it is a virtue).

— Simone Weil Simone Weil : An Anthology (1986)

Désirer échapper à la solitude est une lâcheté. L'amitié ne se recherche pas, ne se rêve pas, ne se désire pas ; elle s'exerce (c'est une vertu).

Original text (French)

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Art is the symbol of the two noblest human efforts: to construct and to refrain from destruction.

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An imaginary perfection is automatically at the same level as I who imagine it — neither higher nor lower.

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth, a trusted friend is the best relative, Nibbana is the greatest bliss.

Gautama Buddha

Not for the body, but for the heart; companion and company are needed.

Sanu Sharma

Flowers are lovely; love is flower-like;
Friendship is a sheltering tree;
Oh the joys that came down shower-like,
Of friendship, love, and liberty,
Ere I was old!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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.

Anaïs Nin Diary entries (1914)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Simone Weil (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.