This continuation page contains additional source-backed quotations not shown in the initial 50-quotation overview. Return to the topic guide and browse collection.
“Our chief want in life, is, somebody who shall make us do what we can.”
Useful companionship can draw out capacities that remain dormant alone; encouragement matters most when it helps another person actually exercise what they can do.
The Conduct of Life; Emerson presents another person’s demanding encouragement as a form of service that calls forth unrealized ability.
“Above the highest sphere we meet Unseen, unknown; and greet as Angels greet.”
The speaker imagines mutual fidelity as capable of overcoming physical distance, placing emotional constancy beyond ordinary measures of space and absence.
“To Lucasta, Going Beyond the Seas,” published in Lucasta (1649) and represented by Project Gutenberg #703. The poem uses seventeenth-century spiritual and cosmological imagery to describe separation and fidelity; the claim is lyric metaphor.
“I could not love thee, Dear, so much, Loved I not Honour more.”
The speaker paradoxically claims that his devotion to honor—including leaving for war—is part of what makes his love worthy rather than evidence that love is weaker.
“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars,” published in Lucasta (1649) and represented by Project Gutenberg #703. The lyric is Cavalier-era poetry spoken from a martial honor code; it is not a modern recommendation about relationships or war.
“But esteem rises from a higher source, the merit of the soul.”
Indiana distinguishes esteem from surface attraction by grounding lasting regard in inward character rather than external advantages.
The Conscious Lovers, represented in Project Gutenberg #55922, Indiana speaking to Bevil Jr. The play was first performed and published in 1722. The sentence is fictional character dialogue and is therefore preserved under Indiana’s local dramatic voice rather than flattened into Steele autobiography.
“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;”
Mutual regard includes both affection and deliberate respect, emphasizing how people treat one another rather than only what they feel privately.
Romans 12:10 in the King James Version, in a sequence of instructions about sincere love, generosity, patience, and shared responsibility.
“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.”
Individual strength and group strength reinforce one another when responsibility runs in both directions.
“The Law of the Jungle,” in The Second Jungle Book.
“Whither thou goest, I will go.”
The promise expresses loyalty through shared direction: love is shown by choosing to accompany another person into an uncertain future.
Ruth 1:16 in the King James Version; Ruth’s pledge to Naomi.
“Alas! they had been friends in youth; But whispering tongues can poison truth;”
Coleridge summarizes how rumor and hostile speech can turn an old friendship into estrangement even when the original bond was genuine.
Christabel, Part II, reviewed against the scan-backed 1816 first-edition transcription on Wikisource. The narrator's 'friends in youth / whispering tongues' stanza explains the broken friendship of Sir Leoline and Lord Roland; the passage is Romantic narrative poetry about estrangement, not empirical relationship research.
“Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been,—who can tell?”
Jewett closes Sylvia’s choice by leaving open what human companionship she may have sacrificed when she protected the heron and its woodland life.
“A White Heron,” represented in Project Gutenberg #74980. The narrator asks this after Sylvia refuses to reveal the heron’s nesting place to a likable young hunter; the question preserves the story’s tension between human attachment, loyalty to nature and irreversible choice.
“There was no end either to her stories or her kindness.”
The narrator joins generosity and storytelling in one portrait, suggesting that attention, memory and hospitality can be experienced together as forms of kindness.
Deephaven, represented within Project Gutenberg #15985, Deephaven and Selected Stories & Sketches. The first-person visiting narrator is characterizing a local woman after extended conversation; it is fictional/regional narration rather than Jewett autobiography.
“the growth of true friendship may be a lifelong affair.”
The narrator distinguishes immediate attraction from friendship that deepens slowly through sustained familiarity, experience and shared life.
The Country of the Pointed Firs, opening chapter, represented by Project Gutenberg #367. This is first-person literary narration about the narrator’s return to Dunnet Landing; the lower-case opening is preserved because the quotation is a clause excerpted from a longer sentence.
“Regard him as loyal, and you will make him loyal.”
Seneca suggests that suspicion can become self-reinforcing: treating a chosen friend as trustworthy helps create the conditions for candid, reciprocal friendship rather than teaching defensiveness from the outset.
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 3, Richard M. Gummere translation. Seneca immediately contrasts this with people who fear deception so strongly that their suspicions help teach others to deceive them.
“It is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.”
Seneca rejects both unguarded disclosure to everyone and suspicion of everyone. Choosing confidants carefully differs from refusing all intimacy; the letter argues for judgment before friendship and trust within it.
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 3, section 4, Richard M. Gummere translation. The sentence follows a contrast between people who disclose private worries to strangers and those who cannot confide even in close friends; it is not a demand to trust every person equally.
“When friendship is settled, you must trust; before friendship is formed, you must pass judgment.”
Seneca separates two stages that are often confused: evaluate carefully before admitting someone into close friendship, then stop treating an accepted friend as though the relationship were still permanently on trial.
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 3, “On True and False Friendship,” Richard M. Gummere translation.
“A friend loves you, of course; but one who loves you is not in every case your friend.”
Affection alone does not define friendship; durable friendship also involves character, trust, and a shared way of relating.
Letter 35 distinguishes friendship from affection while Seneca urges Lucilius toward moral progress.
“Nay, rather they are men.”
The short correction rejects reducing people to social roles and insists on recognizing the person before the status assigned to them.
Letter 47 repeatedly answers social labels by emphasizing the common humanity of enslaved people.
“Respect means love, and love and fear cannot be mingled.”
Seneca separates genuine respect from intimidation: a relationship governed by fear cannot provide the same moral bond as voluntary regard.
Letter 47, on master and slave, argues for humane treatment grounded in shared humanity.
“He that has much in common with a fellow-man will have all things in common with a friend.”
Friendship grows from shared humanity and becomes deeper when common concerns are treated as mutual rather than strictly private.
Letter 48 discusses friendship, shared interests, and philosophy’s obligations to other people.
“Have confidence in yourself, and believe that you are proceeding on the right path.”
Seneca makes self-confidence a condition of steadiness: tranquility depends partly on trusting a course that has been examined rather than continually surrendering judgment to outside pressure.
Of Peace of Mind, section II, Aubrey Stewart translation in Minor Dialogues Together with the Dialogue on Clemency (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and the complete Wikisource transcription. Seneca tells Serenus to have confidence in himself and believe he is proceeding on the right path while defining the steady condition he calls peace of mind.
“To what do we trust for safety, if not in mutual good offices one to another?”
The question connects human safety to reciprocal acts of assistance: people rely on one another because no individual can secure every need alone. In the argument, gratitude helps preserve these shared bonds.
On Benefits (De Beneficiis), Book IV, section 18, Aubrey Stewart English translation (1887). This is Seneca’s rhetorical question in an argument that ingratitude weakens human association; it is historical Stoic moral philosophy, not an empirical public-safety claim.
“Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness the best riches; trust is the best of relationships, Nirvana the highest happiness.”
The verse ranks contentment above possession by calling it the best form of wealth, linking well-being with enoughness, trustworthy relationship, and spiritual liberation.
Dhammapada 204, Max Müller translation; the final reference to Nirvana makes the verse explicitly Buddhist rather than a purely secular maxim.
“First keep thyself in peace, and then shalt thou be able to be a peacemaker towards others.”
The devotional instruction makes inward steadiness prior to outward peacemaking: a person who is internally ruled by agitation will struggle to reduce conflict in relationships around them.
The Imitation of Christ, Book II, Chapter III, “Of the good, peaceable man,” William Benham translation, Project Gutenberg #1653.
“Those things which a man cannot amend in himself or in others, he ought patiently to bear, until God shall otherwise ordain.”
The devotional advice separates attempted correction from patient endurance: when a fault cannot presently be changed, continued struggle to control it may need to give way to forbearance.
The Imitation of Christ, Book I, Chapter XVI, “Of bearing with the faults of others,” William Benham translation, Project Gutenberg #1653. The chapter advises patiently bearing what cannot presently be amended while also urging prayer and mutual forbearance; it remains Christian devotional counsel rather than permission to tolerate preventable harm.
“You did not come, And marching Time drew on, and wore me numb.”
Absence becomes more painful as time continues, with the missed meeting represented not as a single moment but as a prolonged experience of disappointed expectation.
“A Broken Appointment,” Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), Project Gutenberg #3168. The poem's speaker addresses an absent person; the line is retained as dramatic lyric context.
“How great my grief, my joys how few, Since first it was my fate to know thee!”
The speaker measures a relationship by the imbalance between grief and joy, making recollection itself the structure through which attachment and loss are assessed.
“How Great My Grief,” Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), Project Gutenberg #3168. It is a dramatic lyric statement and is not automatically read as direct autobiography.
“We stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod.”
A drained winter landscape mirrors the emotional coldness of a failing relationship, with pale sun, dead leaves and barren ground shaping the poem's remembered scene.
‘Neutral Tones,’ in Wessex Poems and Other Verses, Project Gutenberg #3167. ‘We stood by a pond that winter day’ opens Hardy's four-stanza dramatic lyric, whose drained winter landscape becomes part of the speaker's memory of a failed relationship. The landscape is poetic imagery, not evidence that winter or particular natural scenes cause sadness.
“Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves.”
The speaker remembers a painful relationship through the landscape that surrounded it, showing how later experience can fuse emotional lessons with particular natural images.
“Neutral Tones,” Wessex Poems and Other Verses; Project Gutenberg #3167. The statement belongs to the poem's speaker and should not be treated as Hardy's universal doctrine that love deceives.
“A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.”
Irving uses comic exaggeration to portray how an unchecked habit of sharp speech can harden rather than soften over time.
Rip Van Winkle, Project Gutenberg #64636. The narrator applies this satirical and strongly gendered sentence to Dame Van Winkle during Rip’s unhappy marriage; it is period literary characterization, not a universal claim about women or relationships.
“I never forgot her; but the pang of remembrance lost its worst bitterness, little by little.”
Franklin Blake says distance and new experience reduced the sharpest pain of remembering Rachel without erasing the attachment itself.
The Moonstone, Project Gutenberg #155. Franklin Blake narrates his attempt to recover after leaving England; the sentence continues by explaining the effects of time, distance and novelty. This is fictional reflection, not clinical guidance.
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Love is described as complicated rather than frictionless, which makes the line a durable reminder against idealizing relationships.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I, Scene 1; Lysander says this to Hermia while describing the obstacles that repeatedly frustrate lovers. Verified in the scan-backed 1918 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Willard Higley Durham; direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act I transcription.
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
The advice combines generosity with judgment: goodwill can be broad while trust remains selective.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act I, Scene 1; the Countess of Roussillon gives Bertram the counsel “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio (folio spelling “Loue all, trust a few, Doe wrong to none”); direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act I transcription.
“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”
Listening broadly while speaking selectively is presented as a practical discipline for judgment, relationships, and self-control.
Act 1, Scene 3; Polonius advises Laertes before his departure.
“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!”
The image captures the particular hurt of care being answered by ingratitude within a close family bond.
King Lear, Act I, Scene IV, reviewed against the scan-backed First Folio facsimile. Lear's serpent's-tooth line occurs inside his curse against Goneril after the reduction of his retinue; it is angry dramatic speech, not a neutral rule about children or family relationships.
“How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”
The image recognizes that wounds and complicated situations change gradually rather than instantly, but the dramatic context warns against automatically treating a persuasive maxim as trustworthy advice.
Othello, commonly numbered Act II, Scene III in modern editions. In the represented 1910 First Folio facsimile the continuous Cyprus scene is routed as Act II, Scene II; Iago says 'How poore are they that haue not Patience? / What wound did euer heale but by degrees?' while manipulating Roderigo. The edition-specific scene-number difference is preserved explicitly.
“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
Jealousy is described as self-consuming because it feeds on suspicion while tormenting the person who carries it.
Othello, Act III, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed First Folio facsimile. Iago's green-eyed-monster image is manipulative fictional dialogue used while cultivating Othello's jealousy; it is not Shakespeare's direct psychological diagnosis or clinical evidence.
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!”
Romeo’s first reaction to Juliet turns visual beauty into illumination, showing how admiration changes the way the surrounding scene is perceived.
Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”
The line questions whether labels and inherited identities should determine the value or reality of the person beneath them.
Act 2, Scene 2; Juliet separates Romeo from the social meaning of his family name.
“It is twice blest: it blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”
Mercy is described as reciprocal in effect: it helps the recipient, but it also changes the moral character of the person who chooses to give it.
The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1; Portia explains why mercy benefits both sides.
“Hope is a lover's staff; walk hence with that And manage it against despairing thoughts.”
Proteus describes hope as a walking staff for a lover who has been forced away from the person he loves: it offers something to lean on while facing separation. His advice is complicated by his own disloyalty to Valentine.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act III, Scene 1: Proteus speaks to Valentine after the Duke banishes him. Although the words sound encouraging in isolation, Proteus has secretly betrayed Valentine’s plan. The MIT play transcription supplies the displayed public-domain wording and scene; this is fictional dialogue rather than Shakespeare’s personal confession.
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Love is treated as an appetite that can be intensified through beauty, sensation, and repeated emotional stimulation.
Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene 1, Orsino; 1922 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by George Henry Nettleton, printed page 1 / Wikisource scan leaf 13. “If music be the food of love, play on” opens Orsino’s attempt to use excess music to surfeit and extinguish his appetite for love. It remains fictional dramatic speech shaped by Orsino’s self-dramatizing desire, not Shakespeare speaking autobiographically or a modern psychological claim about music and emotion.
“I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.”
Sebastian responds to Antonio’s costly loyalty with repeated thanks while also admitting that words alone are an inadequate repayment for practical care.
Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene 3, Sebastian; 1922 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by George Henry Nettleton, printed page 56 / Wikisource scan leaf 68. Sebastian tells Antonio, “I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks,” after Antonio explains that concern for Sebastian’s safety drove him onward despite danger in Illyria. It remains fictional gratitude dialogue tied to Antonio’s costly loyalty, not Shakespeare autobiography.
