My friend is one who takes me for what I am. A stranger takes me for something else than what I am.... What men call social virtues, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a litter which lie close together to keep each other warm. It brings men together in crowds and mobs in bar-rooms and elsewhere, but it does not deserve the name of virtue.


The Writings of Henry David Thoreau (ed. 1892)


My friend is one who takes me for what I am. A stranger takes me for something else than what I am.... What men call social virtues, good fellowship, ...

My friend is one who takes me for what I am. A stranger takes me for something else than what I am.... What men call social virtues, good fellowship, ...

My friend is one who takes me for what I am. A stranger takes me for something else than what I am.... What men call social virtues, good fellowship, ...

My friend is one who takes me for what I am. A stranger takes me for something else than what I am.... What men call social virtues, good fellowship, ...