"Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love, and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence. If I lived under the burning sun of the equator, it would be a pleasure to me to think that there were many human beings on the other side of the world who regarded and respected me; I could and would not live if I were alone upon the earth, and cut off from the remembrance of my fellow-creatures. It is not that a man has occasion often to fall back upon the kindness of his friends; perhaps he may never experience the necessity of doing so; but we are governed by our imaginations, and they stand there as a solid and impregnable bulwark against all the evils of life."
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Philosophers from EnglandAnglicans from the United KingdomPeople from LondonCritics from the United KingdomClergy from England
Original Language: English
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Sources
Vol. I, ch. 6, "Of Friendship", p. 178
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_Smith
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Sydney Smith
Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English clergyman, critic, philosopher and wit.
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