For all things, friendship excepted,
Are subject to fortune: love is but an
Eye-worm which only tickleth the head with
Hopes and wishes: friendship's the image of
Eternity, in which there is nothing
Movable-nothing mischievous. As much
Difference as there is between beauty
And virtue, bodies and shadows, colors
And life, so great odds is there between love
and friendship...
When adversities flow,
Then love ebbs; but friendship standeth stiffly
In storms. Time draweth wrinkles in a fair
Face, but addeth fresh colors to a fast
Friend, which neither heat, nor cold, nor mis'ry,
Nor place, nor destiny can alter or
Diminish. O Friendship! Of all things the
Most rare, and therefore most rare because most
Excellent; whose comforts in misery
Are always sweet, and whose consuels in
Prosperity are ever fortunate.
John Lyly
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