Thoreau writes in his journal:
Society affects to estimate men by their talents, but really feels and knows them by their characters. What a man does, compared with what he is, is but a small part. To require that our friend possess a certain skill is not to be satisfied till he is something less than our friend.
Friendship should be great promise, a perennial springtime.
I can conceive how the life of the gods may be dull and tame, if it is not disappointed and insatiate.