My 37 French Quotes About Friendship

If you’ve come across my article, it’s because you’re looking for a quote.

As you know, my name is Christine and I’m going to start with my French quotes about Paris.

But in this article, you’ll find my 37 French quotes about friendship.

Happy reading!

— Christine

Read Also : 21 French Quotes About Travel

French quotes about friendship

Here is my list of 37 French quotes about friendship:

French Quotes about Friendship from famous French figures

1- “La vraie amitié est comme la santé parfaite, on n’en connait la valeur que lorsqu’on l’a perdue.” – Charles De Gaulle – French statesman

English translation: True friendship is like perfect health; you don’t know its value until you’ve lost it.

My personal interpretation: Charles is simply saying that we recognize the value of friendship when we lose it, comparing it to the value of health for man.

2- “Chaque ami représente un monde en nous, un monde qui n’est peut-être né qu’à leur arrivée, et c’est seulement par cette rencontre qu’un nouveau monde est né.” – Anais Nin – writer

English translation: Each friend represents a world within us, a world that was perhaps only born when they arrived, and it is only through this encounter that a new world is born.

My personal interpretation : For Anais, friendships bring something extra to our lives. Every friendship should represent a new life for us.

3- “L’amitié est l’esprit, un esprit qui se double par l’échange.” – Victor Hugo- writer

English translation: Friendship is spirit, a spirit that doubles itself through exchange.

My personal interpretation : In this quotation, this thinker defines friendship as a spirit characterized by reciprocal exchange.

4-“L’amitié est un commerce où l’on perd lorsqu’on compte.” – Madame de Sévigné – writer

English translation: Friendship is a trade in which one loses when one counts.

My personal interpretation : Madame de Sévigné’s quotation is a warning. She doesn’t believe in making comparisons or weighing up friendships.

5- “L’amitié qui peut finir n’a jamais commencé” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – writer

English translation : Friendship that can end has never begun.

My personal interpretation : I understand from this quote that a good friendship has no end. If a friendship already ends, it means it wasn’t sincere and true.

6- “Il n’y a pas de plaisir comparable à celui de rencontrer un vieil ami, sauf peut-être celui de se faire un nouvel ami” – François de La Rochefoucauld – writer

English translation: There is no pleasure comparable to that of meeting an old friend, except perhaps that of making a new friend.

My personal interpretation : This French thinker is simply saying that meeting up with an old friend is more pleasurable than making a new one.

7- “La vie sans ami est comme un ciel sans soleil” – Voltaire – writer

English translation : Life without friends is like a sky without sunshine.

My personal interpretation : For Voltaire, it’s impossible to have a life without friends. Like the sun for the sky, a friend is indispensable in the life of a human being.

8- “L’amitié est la similitude des âmes.” – Alphonse de Lamartine – writer

English translation : Friendship is the similarity of souls

My personal interpretation : For the poet Alphonse de Lamartine, this quote enabled him to say that friendship finds its existence as soon as the minds of two or more people converge.

9- “Rien n’est plus commun que le nom, rien n’est plus rare que la chose.”– Jean de La Fontaine – writer

English translation: Nothing is more common than the name, nothing more rare than the thing.

My personal interpretation: This French writer makes a distinction between names and things. He thinks that nouns are common and can be found everywhere, whereas things or acts are unique.

10- “L’amitié ne consiste pas seulement à voir les mêmes personnes régulièrement. C’est un engagement, une promesse, de la confiance, c’est être capable de se réjouir du bonheur de l’autre.” – Philippe Besson – writer

English translation: Friendship isn’t just about seeing the same people regularly. It’s a commitment, a promise, trust, it’s being able to rejoice in each other’s happiness.

My personal interpretation : For thinker Philippe, friendship isn’t just about meeting people, it’s about more than that. For it to be true, friends must be happy for each other, trust each other and be able to really help each other.

11- “L’amitié double les joies et réduit de moitié les peines” – François de La Rochefoucauld – writer

English translation: Friendship doubles joys and halves sorrows.

My personal interpretation : François’ quotation gives value to friendship, because for him, friendship must be a feeling that gives joy.

12- “Dans l’adversité de nos meilleurs amis, nous trouvons quelque chose qui ne nous déplaît pas.” – La Rochefoucauld – writer

English translation: “In the adversity of our best friends, we find something that does not displease us.

My personal interpretation: With this quote, French writer François de La Rochefoucauld shows just how difficult human relationships can be, especially when it comes to close friends.

13- ”Il est plus honteux de se défier de ses amis que d’en être trompé.”– François de La Rochefoucauld – writer

English translation: It is more shameful to distrust one’s friends than to be deceived by them

My personal interpretation : With this quote, François expresses his thought that it is better to be distrustful of one’s friends than to be deceived or betrayed by them in return.

14- “L’ami est l’auxiliaire de l’âme.” – Voltaire – writer

English translation: The friend is the helper of the soul.

My personal interpretation : For Voltaire, there’s no difference between soul and friend. Both can have the same meaning and play the same role.

15- “Il n’est pas d’amitié qui résiste à une question indiscrète.” – Jules Renard – writer

English translation: There is no friendship that resists an indiscreet question.

My personal interpretation : With this quote, this French writer highlights the importance of respecting the privacy of our friends

16- “L’amitié, c’est presque toujours l’union de deux solitudes.” – Marcel Proust – writer

English translation: Friendship is almost always the union of two solitudes.

My personal interpretation : For this writer, friendship exists when two people feel isolated from each other.

17- “Il n’y a pas d’amis : il n’y a que des moments d’amitié.” – Jules Renard – writer

English translation: There are no friends: there are only moments of friendship.

My personal interpretation : For Renard, there is no such thing as a sincere friendship. Friends only live moments of friendship, because they always come to an end.

18- “L’ami est celui qui vous laisse faire tout ce que vous voulez sans jamais vous le reprocher.” – Alexandre Dumas – writer

English translation: The friend is the one who lets you do whatever you want without ever reproaching you.

My personal interpretation : True friendship for him is being accepted by the other without opposition.

19- “L’amitié, c’est un nom sacré, c’est une chose sainte. Elle ne se voit pas, elle ne se touche pas. Elle est comme le nuage qui se forme dans l’azur et y flotte.” – Victor Hugo-writer

English translation: Friendship is a sacred name, a holy thing. You can’t see it, you can’t touch it. It is like the cloud that forms in the azure and floats there.

My personal interpretation : With this quote, Victor highlights the value of friendship. For him, it must be respected.

20- “Aimer, ce n’est pas se regarder l’un l’autre, c’est regarder ensemble dans la même direction. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – writer

English translation: To love is not to look at each other, it’s to look together in the same direction.

My personal interpretation : With this expression, Antoine wants to make it clear that the word “to love” means to walk in the same direction.

21- “L’amitié est une forme d’égalité comparable à la justice. Chacun rend à l’autre des bienfaits semblables à ceux qu’il a reçus.” – Montesquieu – writer

English translation: Friendship is a form of equality comparable to justice. Each returns to the other benefits similar to those he has received.

My personal interpretation : For Montesquieu, friendship must be a reciprocal relationship in which one must return the benefits to one’s partner.

22- “Une amitié fondée sur le commerce est préférable à un commerce fondé sur l’amitié.” – Montaigne – writer

English translation: A friendship founded on trade is preferable to a trade founded on friendship.

My personal interpretation : This thinking emphasizes friendship based on trade. For this thinker, a friendship based on trade is no longer a friendship but an association.

23- “La première loi de l’amitié, c’est qu’elle soit cultivée.” – Voltaire – writer

English translation: The first law of friendship is that it should be cultivated.

My personal interpretation : For Voltaire, friendship is only desirable when it’s cultivated

24- “Rien ne ressemble à une âme comme une autre âme ; l’ami véritable est donc une autre nous-même.” – Pierre Corneille – writer

English translation: Nothing resembles a soul like another soul; the true friend is therefore another ourselves.

My personal interpretation: This quote highlights the importance of maintenance in a friendship. A friendship must be nurtured or cultivated on both sides.

25- “L’amitié est le vin de la vie.”” – Charles Baudelaire – writer

English translation: Friendship is the wine of life.

My personal interpretation: There’s no life without friendship. For him, it’s the essence of life.

26- “On ne saurait aller loin dans l’amitié, si l’on n’est pas disposé à se pardonner les uns aux autres les petits défauts.” – Jean de La Bruyère – writer

English translation: One cannot go far in friendship, if one is not willing to forgive one another’s little faults.

My personal interpretation : For Jean de La Bruyère, friendship cannot exist without mutual forgiveness.

27- L’amitié, comme l’amour, demande beaucoup d’efforts, d’attention, de constance, elle exige surtout de savoir offrir ce que l’on a de plus cher dans la vie : du temps!” – Catherine Deneuve – actress

English translation : Friendship, like love, demands a great deal of effort, attention and constancy, and above all it requires the ability to offer what is most precious in life: time!

My personal interpretation : For Catherine, friendship requires all kinds of attention to follow through.

28- “La vraie amitié n’a point d’âge, point de temps, point de lieu : elle a du coeur.”” – Jean-Paul Malfatti – polyphonic musician

English translation : True friendship has no age, no time, no place: it has heart.

My personal interpretation: Jean-Paul expresses himself in this quote by saying that friendship itself has no age, time or place limits. It is based solely on the sincerity of the heart.

French Quotes about Friendship from famous French figures:

29- “Je ne serai pas vraiment mort tant que j’aurai un ami.”” – Albert Einstein – physicist

English translation: I won’t really be dead until I have a friend.

My personal interpretation : With this thought, Albert Einstein expresses his conception of friendship as the source of life.

30- Un ami est celui qui connaît la chanson de votre cœur et peut la chanter quand vous avez oublié les paroles.” – C.S. Lewis – writer

English translation: A friend is one who knows the song of your heart and can sing it when you’ve forgotten the words.

My personal interpretation: Lewis clarifies what a friend knows. For him, a true friend is one who knows the other well and can bring him back to order when he loses his way.

31- “L’amitié n’est pas une récompense pour notre capacité à charmer les autres, mais le cadeau de ceux qui peuvent voir au-delà de notre apparence.” – Khalil Gibran – poet, writer and artist

English translation: Friendship is not a reward for our ability to charm others, but the gift of those who can see beyond our appearance.

My personal interpretation : True friendship, according to Khalil, is not based on looks. It goes beyond the physical, because for him it’s a precious gift, and it’s wise to look beyond appearance to maintain a friendship.

32- “Il n’y a pas d’étrangers ici ; Seulement des amis que vous n’avez pas encore rencontrés” – William Butler Yeats – poet

English translation: There are no strangers here; Only friends you have not yet met.

My personal interpretation: For this thinker, there are no strangers in this world and we can all be friends.

33- “Dans la douceur de l’amitié, qu’il y ait le rire et le partage des plaisirs. Car dans la rosée des petites choses, le cœur trouve son matin et se rafraîchit.”” – Khalil Gibran – poet

English translation: In the sweetness of friendship, let there be laughter and the sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of small things, the heart finds its morning and refreshes itself.

My personal interpretation : According to Khalil, a true friendship is not based on looks. It goes beyond the physical, because for him it’s a precious gift, and it’s wise to look beyond appearance to maintain a friendship.

34- Beaucoup de gens vont entrer et sortir de votre vie, mais seuls les vrais amis laisseront des empreintes dans votre cœur.”” – Eleanor Roosevelt – political figure

English translation: Many people will come in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

My personal interpretation: True friendships are the ones that leave their mark.

35- “Un vrai ami est celui qui entre quand le reste du monde sort” – Walter Winchell – journalist, speaker and actor

English translation: A true friend is one who enters when the rest of the world leaves.

My personal interpretation: A true friend is one who stays in spite of everything

36- “L’amitié est le seul ciment qui tiendra le monde ensemble.” – Woodrow Wilson – Historian

English translation: Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together

My personal interpretation : For Woodrow, friendship is the only thing that can keep human relations alive.

37- “L’amitié est née à ce moment précis où l’on dit à une autre personne : ‘Quoi? Toi aussi? Je pensais que j’étais le seul.’” – C.S. Lewis – writer

English translation : Friendship is born at that precise moment when you say to another person, ‘What? You too? I thought I was the only one.

My personal interpretation : For Lewis, friendship is also born from our experiences, because we all live the same realities.

That’s it, folks!

I’m at the end of my proposals. I hope you’ve enjoyed them and will put them to good use.

— Christine

People also ask about French quotes about friendship:

What is a famous quote about friendship?

The most famous quote about friendship, according to my choice, is:

“True friendship is when it is confused with family.” – François Mitterrand

What are beautiful French words for friendship?

The best French words for friendship are :

• fraternity
• fellowship
• sympathy
• friendliness

What are popular French quotes?

Popular quotes in French are :

• ”The left is a waiting room for fascism.’‘ – Léo Ferré
• “Life isn’t about waiting for storms to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” – Seneca
• ”Love makes time pass, time makes love pass.” – Pierre Reverdy

What is the most famous French saying?

The most famous French saying is:

”If you want something done right, do it yourself.” – Jean Palaprat – Bruyes et Palaprat