Monday, October 09, 2006

May I Quote You on That?

One of my all-time favorite quotes is by George Eliot (pseudonym for Mary Ann Evans): "Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words."

At least I thought the quote was Eliot's. Seems a very similar quote is attributed to Dinah Maria Mulock Craik. Ms. Craik and Ms. Eliot lived in roughly the same time period, so the mystery continues as to who wrote what first. However, Ms. Craik's is a larger version and, after all these years, I think I've come to like the lines attributed to her even better than what I had thought was the original. Her quote is:

Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and then with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

Doesn't that perfectly describe your close friends? You don't have the "uh oh. How will they take that?" moments because you can trust they know your heart. You are able to talk to each other freely without cumbersome clarifiers and disclaimers. I earnestly strive to be that kind of friend. I know I am blessed with that kind of relationship with my hubby and a few girlfriends who are that kind of friend.

Reminds me a lot of a biblical mandate: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 comment:

RosieBoo said...

I hope I'm "that kind of friend" to you because you are definitely "that kind of friend" to me!