True friendship is like sound health, the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.

At the end of the day, there are very few people around you who truly want to see you peaceful, happy and content. Most of your friends only want to see you happy, peaceful and content, in ratio to their own happiness, peace and contentment. It's like, "Yeah, I want all your dreams to come true and I want to see you smile, but only for as much as I smile and only in proportion to how many of my own dreams come true." That's what people today call, "friendship" and "care". It's not really friendship and it's not really care. Then there's like one or two people who would celebrate your own happiness and success even if it's out of proportion to their own. And that's a real blessing right there, that's a real friendship.

A fine giornata ci sono poche persone intorno a voi che vogliono veramente vedervi sereni, felici e contenti. La maggior parte dei vostri amici vogliono vedervi felici, sereni e contenti solo in ragione delle loro felicità, pace e soddisfazione. Come a dire: “Certo, io voglio che tutti i tuoi sogni si avverino e voglio vederti sorridere, ma solo nella misura in cui io sorrido e solo in proporzione a quanti dei miei sogni si realizzeranno.” Questo è ciò che la gente oggi chiama "amicizia" e "preoccupazione". Non è veramente amicizia e non è veramente preoccupazione.
Poi ci sono una o due persone che festeggerebbero la vostra felicità e il vostro successo anche al di fuori di tale paragone.
E quella è proprio una benedizione, perché è vera amicizia.

The celebrated Galen said that employment was nature's physician. It is indeed so important to happiness that indolence is justly considered the parent of misery.

There is this difference between happiness and wisdom, that he that thinks himself the happiest man, really is so; but he who thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.

He who studies books alone will know how things ought to be, and he who studies men will know how they are.