my biography hello friends

How to Write a Biography: A 7-Step Guide [+Template]

From time to time, nonfiction authors become so captivated by a particular figure from either the present or the past, that they feel compelled to write an entire book about their life. Whether casting them as heroes or villains, there is an interesting quality in their humanity that compels these authors to revisit their life paths and write their story.

However, portraying someone’s life on paper in a comprehensive and engaging way requires solid preparation. If you’re looking to write a biography yourself, in this post we’ll share a step-by-step blueprint that you can follow. 

How to write a biography: 

1. Seek permission when possible 

2. research your subject thoroughly, 3. do interviews and visit locations, 4. organize your findings, 5. identify a central thesis, 6. write it using narrative elements, 7. get feedback and polish the text.

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While you technically don’t need permission to write about public figures (or deceased ones), that doesn't guarantee their legal team won't pursue legal action against you. Author Kitty Kelley was sued by Frank Sinatra before she even started to write His Way , a biography that paints Ol Blue Eyes in a controversial light. (Kelley ended up winning the lawsuit, however).  

Whenever feasible, advise the subject’s representatives of your intentions. If all goes according to plan, you’ll get a green light to proceed, or potentially an offer to collaborate. It's a matter of common sense; if someone were to write a book about you, you would likely want to know about it well prior to publication. So, make a sincere effort to reach out to their PR staff to negotiate an agreement or at least a mutual understanding of the scope of your project. 

At the same time, make sure that you still retain editorial control over the project, and not end up writing a puff piece that treats its protagonist like a saint or hero. No biography can ever be entirely objective, but you should always strive for a portrayal that closely aligns with facts and reality.

If you can’t get an answer from your subject, or you’re asked not to proceed forward, you can still accept the potential repercussions and write an unauthorized biography . The “rebellious act” of publishing without consent indeed makes for great marketing, though it’ll likely bring more headaches with it too. 

✋ Please note that, like other nonfiction books, if you intend to release your biography with a publishing house , you can put together a book proposal to send to them before you even write the book. If they like it enough, they might pay you an advance to write it.  

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Once you’ve settled (or not) the permission part, it’s time to dive deep into your character’s story.  

Deep and thorough research skills are the cornerstone of every biographer worth their salt. To paint a vivid and accurate portrait of someone's life, you’ll have to gather qualitative information from a wide range of reliable sources. 

Start with the information already available, from books on your subject to archival documents, then collect new ones firsthand by interviewing people or traveling to locations. 

Browse the web and library archives

Put your researcher hat on and start consuming any piece on your subject you can find, from their Wikipedia page to news articles, interviews, TV and radio appearances, YouTube videos, podcasts, books, magazines, and any other media outlets they may have been featured in. 

Establish a system to orderly collect the information you find 一 even seemingly insignificant details can prove valuable during the writing process, so be sure to save them. 

Depending on their era, you may find most of the information readily available online, or you may need to search through university libraries for older references. 

For his landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow spent untold hours at Columbia University’s library , reading through the Hamilton family papers, visiting the New York Historical Society, as well as interviewing the archivist of the New York Stock Exchange, and so on. The research process took years, but it certainly paid off. Chernow discovered that Hamilton created the first five securities originally traded on Wall Street. This finding, among others, revealed his significant contributions to shaping the current American financial and political systems, a legacy previously often overshadowed by other founding fathers. Today Alexander Hamilton is one of the best-selling biographies of all time, and it has become a cultural phenomenon with its own dedicated musical. 

Besides reading documents about your subject, research can help you understand the world that your subject lived in. 

Try to understand their time and social environment

Many biographies show how their protagonists have had a profound impact on society through their philosophical, artistic, or scientific contributions. But at the same time, it’s worth it as a biographer to make an effort to understand how their societal and historical context influenced their life’s path and work.

An interesting example is Stephen Greenblatt’s Will in the World . Finding himself limited by a lack of verified detail surrounding William Shakespeare's personal life, Greenblatt, instead, employs literary interpretation and imaginative reenactments to transport readers back to the Elizabethan era. The result is a vivid (though speculative) depiction of the playwright's life, enriching our understanding of his world.

Many readers enjoy biographies that transport them to a time and place, so exploring a historical period through the lens of a character can be entertaining in its own right. The Diary of Samuel Pepys became a classic not because people were enthralled by his life as an administrator, but rather from his meticulous and vivid documentation of everyday existence during the Restoration period.

Once you’ve gotten your hands on as many secondary sources as you can find, you’ll want to go hunting for stories first-hand from people who are (or were) close to your subject.

With all the material you’ve been through, by now you should already have a pretty good picture of your protagonist. But you’ll surely have some curiosities and missing dots in their character arc to figure out, which you can only get by interviewing primary sources.

Interview friends and associates

This part is more relevant if your subject is contemporary, and you can actually meet up or call with relatives, friends, colleagues, business partners, neighbors, or any other person related to them. 

In writing the popular biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson interviewed more than one hundred people, including Jobs’s family, colleagues, former college mates, business rivals, and the man himself.

🔍 Read other biographies to get a sense of what makes a great one. Check out our list of the 30 best biographies of all time , or take our 30-second quiz below for tips on which one you should read next. 

Which biography should you read next?

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When you conduct your interviews, make sure to record them with high quality audio you can revisit later. Then use tools like Otter.ai or Descript to transcribe them 一 it’ll save you countless hours. 

You can approach the interview with a specific set of questions, or follow your curiosity blindly, trying to uncover revealing stories and anecdotes about your subject. Whatever your method, author and biography editor Tom Bromley suggests that every interviewer arrives prepared, "Show that you’ve done your work. This will help to put the interviewee at ease, and get their best answers.” 

Bromley also places emphasis on the order in which you conduct interviews. “You may want to interview different members of the family or friends first, to get their perspective on something, and then go directly to the main interviewee. You'll be able to use that knowledge to ask sharper, more specific questions.” 

Finally, consider how much time you have with each interviewee. If you only have a 30-minute phone call with an important person, make it count by asking directly the most pressing questions you have. And, if you find a reliable source who is also particularly willing to help, conduct several interviews and ask them, if appropriate, to write a foreword as part of the book’s front matter .

Sometimes an important part of the process is packing your bags, getting on a plane, and personally visiting significant places in your character’s journey.

Visit significant places in their life

A place, whether that’s a city, a rural house, or a bodhi tree, can carry a particular energy that you can only truly experience by being there. In putting the pieces together about someone’s life, it may be useful to go visit where they grew up, or where other significant events of their lives happened. It will be easier to imagine what they experienced, and better tell their story. 

In researching The Lost City of Z , author David Grann embarked on a trek through the Amazon, retracing the steps of British explorer Percy Fawcett. This led Grann to develop new theories about the circumstances surrounding the explorer's disappearance.

Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with jaguars and anacondas to better understand your subject’s environment, but try to walk into their shoes as much as possible. 

Once you’ve researched your character enough, it’s time to put together all the puzzle pieces you collected so far. 

Take the bulk of notes, media, and other documents you’ve collected, and start to give them some order and structure. A simple way to do this is by creating a timeline. 

Create a chronological timeline

It helps to organize your notes chronologically 一 from childhood to the senior years, line up the most significant events of your subject’s life, including dates, places, names and other relevant bits. 

You should be able to divide their life into distinct periods, each with their unique events and significance. Based on that, you can start drafting an outline of the narrative you want to create.  

Draft a story outline 

Since a biography entails writing about a person’s entire life, it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can pick where you want to end the story, depending on how consequential the last years of your subject were. But the nature of the work will give you a starting character arc to work with. 

To outline the story then, you could turn to the popular Three-Act Structure , which divides the narrative in three main parts. In a nutshell, you’ll want to make sure to have the following:

• Act 1. Setup : Introduce the protagonist's background and the turning points that set them on a path to achieve a goal. 
• Act 2. Confrontation : Describe the challenges they encounter, both internal and external, and how they rise to them. Then..
• Act 3. Resolution : Reach a climactic point in their story in which they succeed (or fail), showing how they (and the world around them) have changed as a result. 

Only one question remains before you begin writing: what will be the main focus of your biography?

Think about why you’re so drawn to your subject to dedicate years of your life to recounting their own. What aspect of their life do you want to highlight? Is it their evil nature, artistic genius, or visionary mindset? And what evidence have you got to back that up? Find a central thesis or focus to weave as the main thread throughout your narrative. 

Or find a unique angle

If you don’t have a particular theme to explore, finding a distinct angle on your subject’s story can also help you distinguish your work from other biographies or existing works on the same subject.

Plenty of biographies have been published about The Beatles 一 many of which have different focuses and approaches: 

• Philip Norman's Shout is sometimes regarded as leaning more towards a pro-Lennon and anti-McCartney stance, offering insights into the band's inner dynamics. 
• Ian McDonald's Revolution in the Head closely examines their music track by track, shifting the focus back to McCartney as a primary creative force. 
• Craig Brown's One Two Three Four aims to capture their story through anecdotes, fan letters, diary entries, and interviews. 
• Mark Lewisohn's monumental three-volume biography, Tune In , stands as a testament to over a decade of meticulous research, chronicling every intricate detail of the Beatles' journey.

Finally, consider that biographies are often more than recounting the life of a person. Similar to how Dickens’ Great Expectations is not solely about a boy named Pip (but an examination and critique of Britain’s fickle, unforgiving class system), a biography should strive to illuminate a broader truth — be it social, political, or human — beyond the immediate subject of the book. 

Once you’ve identified your main focus or angle, it’s time to write a great story. 

While biographies are often highly informative, they do not have to be dry and purely expository in nature . You can play with storytelling elements to make it an engaging read. 

You could do that by thoroughly detailing the setting of the story , depicting the people involved in the story as fully-fledged characters , or using rising action and building to a climax when describing a particularly significant milestone of the subject’s life. 

One common way to make a biography interesting to read is starting on a strong foot…

Hook the reader from the start

Just because you're honoring your character's whole life doesn't mean you have to begin when they said their first word. Starting from the middle or end of their life can be more captivating as it introduces conflicts and stakes that shaped their journey.

When he wrote about Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild , author Jon Krakauer didn’t open his subject’s childhood and abusive family environment. Instead, the book begins with McCandless hitchhiking his way into the wilderness, and subsequently being discovered dead in an abandoned bus. By starting in medias res , Krakauer hooks the reader’s interest, before tracing back the causes and motivations that led McCandless to die alone in that bus in the first place.

You can bend the timeline to improve the reader’s reading experience throughout the rest of the story too…

Play with flashback 

While biographies tend to follow a chronological narrative, you can use flashbacks to tell brief stories or anecdotes when appropriate. For example, if you were telling the story of footballer Lionel Messi, before the climax of winning the World Cup with Argentina, you could recall when he was just 13 years old, giving an interview to a local newspaper, expressing his lifelong dream of playing for the national team. 

Used sparsely and intentionally, flashbacks can add more context to the story and keep the narrative interesting. Just like including dialogue does…

Reimagine conversations

Recreating conversations that your subject had with people around them is another effective way to color the story. Dialogue helps the reader imagine the story like a movie, providing a deeper sensory experience. 

One thing is trying to articulate the root of Steve Jobs’ obsession with product design, another would be to quote his father , teaching him how to build a fence when he was young: “You've got to make the back of the fence just as good looking as the front of the fence. Even though nobody will see it, you will know. And that will show that you're dedicated to making something perfect.”

Unlike memoirs and autobiographies, in which the author tells the story from their personal viewpoint and enjoys greater freedom to recall conversations, biographies require a commitment to facts. So, when recreating dialogue, try to quote directly from reliable sources like personal diaries, emails, and text messages. You could also use your interview scripts as an alternative to dialogue. As Tom Bromley suggests, “If you talk with a good amount of people, you can try to tell the story from their perspective, interweaving different segments and quoting the interviewees directly.”

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These are just some of the story elements you can use to make your biography more compelling. Once you’ve finished your manuscript, it’s a good idea to ask for feedback. 

If you’re going to self-publish your biography, you’ll have to polish it to professional standards. After leaving your work to rest for a while, look at it with fresh eyes and self-edit your manuscript eliminating passive voice, filler words, and redundant adverbs. 

Then, have a professional editor give you a general assessment. They’ll look at the structure and shape of your manuscript and tell you which parts need to be expanded on or cut. As someone who edited and commissioned several biographies, Tom Bromley points out that a professional “will look at the sources used and assess whether they back up the points made, or if more are needed. They would also look for context, and whether or not more background information is needed for the reader to understand the story fully. And they might check your facts, too.”  

In addition to structural editing, you may want to have someone copy-edit and proofread your work.

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Importantly, make sure to include a bibliography with a list of all the interviews, documents, and sources used in the writing process. You’ll have to compile it according to a manual of style, but you can easily create one by using tools like EasyBib . Once the text is nicely polished and typeset in your writing software , you can prepare for the publication process.  

In conclusion, by mixing storytelling elements with diligent research, you’ll be able to breathe life into a powerful biography that immerses readers in another individual’s life experience. Whether that’ll spark inspiration or controversy, remember you could have an important role in shaping their legacy 一 and that’s something not to take lightly. 

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Hello Friends: Stories from My Life and Blue Jays Baseball

Jerry howarth. ecw (baker & taylor, dist.), $26.95 (360p) isbn 978-1-77041-498-3.

Reviewed on: 01/10/2019

Genre: Nonfiction

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Hello, Friends!: Stories from My Life and Blue Jays Baseball Hardcover – Illustrated, March 5 2019

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An honest memoir about life, family, and baseball from the longtime, legendary Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcaster

For 36 years, Jerry Howarth ushered in eternal hope each spring and thrived in the drive of each fall as the voice of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1982, the lifelong avid sports fan joined Tom Cheek as full-time play-by-play radio announcer for the Blue Jays, and for the next 23 years, “Tom and Jerry” were the voices of the franchise. Jerry became part of the fabric of a nation and a team, covering historic moments like the rise of the Blue Jays through the 1980s that culminated in back-to-back World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993. His Hall of Fame–worthy broadcasting career has been nothing short of legendary. When Jerry retired in February 2018, the tributes poured in and made one thing perfectly clear: Toronto baseball would never be the same.

Howarth brings together thoughts on life, family, work, and baseball. Featuring stories about everyone from Dave Stieb, Jack Morris, Duane Ward, Roberto Alomar, and Joe Carter to John Gibbons, Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson, and the late Roy Halladay, Hello, Friends! is a must-read for sports fans everywhere.

• Print length 360 pages
• Language English
• Publisher ECW Press
• Publication date March 5 2019
• Dimensions 12.7 x 2.74 x 20.32 cm
• ISBN-10 1770414983
• ISBN-13 978-1770414983
• See all details

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Product description

From the back cover.

For 36 years, Jerry Howarth ushered in eternal hope each spring and thrived in the drive of each fall as the voice of the Toronto Blue Jays.

In 1982, the lifelong avid sports fan joined Tom Cheek as full-time play-by-play radio announcer for the Blue Jays, and for the next 23 years, “Tom and Jerry” were the voices of the franchise. Jerry became part of the fabric of a nation and a team, covering historic moments like the rise of the Blue Jays through the 1980s that culminated in back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993.

His Hall of Fame–worthy broadcasting career has been nothing short of legendary. When Jerry retired in February 2018, the tributes poured in and made one thing perfectly clear: Toronto baseball would never be the same.

“There HE goes but here he stays. Fortunately, Jerry, Mary, and their boys came north to our country. That was truly a positive for the Blue Jays and baseball fans across Canada.” ― Brian Williams, O.C.

“Jerry’s known as one of the great guys in the game of baseball. I miss our daily back and forth, talking baseball and life, and, of course, ‘The Blue Jays are in flight.’” ― John Gibbons, former Blue Jays manager

“Whether it was Blue Jays closer Tom Henke saying ‘Hellllllo, friends!’ when Jerry Howarth walked down the aisle on a team charter, an opposing player near the batting cage, or a 12-year-old broadcasting his sandlot game to his buddies, ‘Hello, friends!’ became Howarth’s trademark. In fact, the two words are greeted with the same warmth and familiarity from coast to coast in Canada.” ― Bob Elliott, sports journalist

“For four years, I was privileged to sit alongside Jerry ― master storyteller, consummate professional, exemplary broadcaster. Now fans can pull up a chair and enjoy the excerpts from my partner, mentor, and friend.” ― Joe Siddall, Blue Jays broadcaster

“Jerry Howarth is a Canadian national treasure and his story is tremendously inspiring. As joyful a person as I’ve ever met, Jerry made friends with millions of baseball fans during his long career and brought his warmth, humour, insights, and descriptions into their living rooms. Readers of his story will have a further opportunity to revel in his positive outlook on life as well as countless fascinating memories.” ― Eric Nadel, Texas Rangers radio broadcaster

Born in York, Pennsylvania, and raised in San Francisco, California, Jerry Howarth became a Canadian citizen in 1994. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife, Mary.

About the Author

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ ECW Press; Illustrated edition (March 5 2019)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 360 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1770414983
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1770414983
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 499 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 2.74 x 20.32 cm
• #31 in Baseball Biographies
• #68 in Baseball Essays & Writings (Books)
• #231 in Journalism (Books)

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Hello Friends!

By: dulcé sloan.

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WELCOME TO A COMEDIC TRIP THROUGH THE LIFE OF ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S MOST EXCITING COMEDIANS. MEET DULCÉ SLOAN, WHOSE LIFE HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY FILLED WITH LESSONS AND LAUGHTER. IN ADDITION TO DOING STAND-UP AROUND THE WORLD, DULCÉ IS A TRAINED ACTOR, SINGER, AND HAS BEEN A CORRESPONDENT ON  THE DAILY SHOW  ON COMEDY CENTRAL.

Dulcé Sloan’s first memoir is organized into essays from her life. From a childhood moving between cities, starting her own business selling toys at a Miami flea market, to being a Black kid in a predominately white school, she’s always used her masterful wit to challenge the status quo. Her purpose in comedy unfolded while navigating clubs and the set of  The Daily Show . Have you ever dated an adult who roller skated, or went out with a mechanic just to get free auto service? Yup, she’s got that story for you. Her stories are both wildly entertaining and culturally resonant.

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Home › Friendship Quotes

275 Friendship Quotes To Celebrate Your Friends

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What do you value most in a friend? These friendship quotes show how special great friends truly are.

Having great friends to share your life with is a gift like no other , and having a “best friend” is one of life’s most precious gifts.

A true friend is a companion who will be there for you no matter what. You can be 100% yourself around them with no judgement, and they’ll love and support you through thick and thin.

So whether you want to honor your friendships or just remember why you love your friends dearly, we hope you enjoy these amazing friendship quotes.

So share them with your best friends and make some new ones too. It’s always a good time to be a friend to someone who needs it.

Page Contents

Friendship Quotes

Friendship is a word, the very sight of which in print makes heart warm. Augustine Birrell

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity. Khalil Gibran

Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes. Friedrich Nietzsche

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit. Aristotle

Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together. Woodrow Wilson

Friendship is like money, easier made than kept. Samuel Butler

The real test of friendship is can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple? Eugene Kennedy

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything. Muhammad Ali

There are big ships and small ships. But the best ship of all is friendship. Unknown

Friendship is like a glass ornament, once it is broken it can rarely be put back together exactly the same way. Charles Kingsley

Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious. Thomas Aquinas

Friendship is delicate as a glass, once broken it can be fixed but there will always be cracks. Waqar Ahmed

Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow. Swedish Proverb

The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it. Hubert H. Humphrey

Every friendship travels at sometime through the black valley of despair. This tests every aspect of your affection. You lose the attraction and the magic. John O’Donohue

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant. Socrates

Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief. Marcus Tullius Cicero

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. Proverbs 27:9, ESV

Men kick friendship around like a football, but it doesn’t seem to crack. Women treat it like glass and it goes to pieces. Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Friendship is a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote the good and happiness of one another. Eustace Budgell

Constant use had not worn ragged the fabric of their friendship. Dorothy Parker

One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things they need no longer mention. Clifton Faidman

Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing. Ellie Weisel

A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship. Markus Zusak

Friendship isn’t about who you’ve known the longest, it’s about who walked in to your life, said ‘I’m here for you’ and PROVED it. Anonymous

Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation if you really are friendly with somebody. You can’t have too many friends because then you’re just not really friends. Truman Capote

Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship. Epicurus

There are no rules for friendship. It must be left to itself. We cannot force it any more than love. William Hazlitt

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. Henri Nouwen

Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. George Washington

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. Albert Schweitzer

We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over. Ray Bradbury

Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing. Elie Weisel

No matter how tired I am, I get dinner at least once a week with my girlfriends. Or have a sleepover. Otherwise my life is just all work. Jennifer Lawrence

Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation. Oscar Wilde

When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands. Maria Shriver

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship. Ralph Waldo Emerson

All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon the sand. Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The rules of friendship are tacit, unconscious; they are not rational. In business, though, you have to think rationally. Steven Pinker

Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world. John Evelyn

Friendship my definition is built on two things. Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don’t have trust, the friendship will crumble. Stieg Larsson

I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing. Katherine Mansfield

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. Khalil Gibran

Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil. Balthasar Gracian

A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth. Charles Darwin

Women’s friendships are like a renewable source of power. Jane Fonda

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘You too? I thought I was the only one.’ C.S. Lewis

Every friendship goes through ups and downs. Dysfunctional patterns set in; external situations cause internal friction; you grow apart and then bounce back together. Mariella Frostrup

Friendship’s the wine of life. Edward Young, Night Thoughts

If you can survive 11 days in cramped quarters with a friend and come out laughing, your friendship is the real deal. Oprah Winfrey

Friendship isn’t a big thing. It’s a million little things. Anonymous

Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives and remembering what one receives. Alexandre Dumas

Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you. Misty Copeland

Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I’m glad for that. Ally Condie

No road is long with good company. Turkish Proverb

Friend Quotes

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. Ed Cunningham

It’s the friends you can call up at 4am that matter. Marlene Dietrich

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. Anais Nin

In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends. John Churton Collins

I would rather walk with a friend in the dark than walk alone in the light. Helen Keller

A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you. Elbert Hubbard

A friend can tell you things you don’t want to tell yourself. Frances Ward Weller

Some people arrive and make such a beautiful impact on your life, you can barely remember what life was like without them. Anna Taylor

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes. Henry David Thoreau

Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart. Washington Irving

Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success. Oscar Wilde

I may not always be there with you, but I will always be there for you. Anonymous

A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow. Jim Morrison

Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life. Amy Poehler

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A friend is someone who makes it easy to believe in yourself. Heidi Wills

The great thing about new friends is that they bring new energy to your soul. Shanna Rodriguez

Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. Albert Camus

Some people go to priests, others to poetry, I to my friends. Virginia Woolf

A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside. Winnie the Pooh

I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don’t believe I deserved my friends. Walt Whitman

You’ve got a friend in me. Randy Newman, Toy Story

Friends should be like books , few, but hand-selected. C. J. Langenhoven

Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s greatest gifts. It involves many things, but above all the power of going out of one’s self and appreciating what is noble and loving in another. Thomas Hughes

Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends. Richard Bach

There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate. Linda Grayson

A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should. Anonymous

We come from homes far from perfect, so you end up almost parent and sibling to your friends – your own chosen family. There’s nothing like a really loyal, dependable, good friend. Nothing. Jennifer Aniston

One friend with whom you have a lot in common is better than three with whom you struggle to find things to talk about. Mindy Kaling

Silences make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts. Margaret Lee Runbeck, Answer Without Ceasing

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind. Buddha

I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better. Plutarch

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friends are the sailors who guide your rickety boat safely across the dangerous waters of life. Sare and Cate

Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years. Richard Bach

Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty. Sicilian Proverb

Friends are like stars, they come and go, but the ones that stay are the ones that glow. Roxy Quicksilver

Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness. Euripides

There is nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends. Sylvia Plath

I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Steven King, Stand by Me

Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose. Tennessee Williams

Friends are medicine for a wounded heart, and vitamins for a hopeful soul. Steve Maraboli

A friend is an emotional bond, just like friendship is a human experience. Simon Sinek

How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it. How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it. How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live ’em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em. Shel Silverstein

Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. Plautus

Never leave a friend behind. Friends are all we have to get us through this life–and they are the only things from this world that we could hope to see in the next. Dean Koontz

If you’re alone, I’ll be your shadow. If you want to cry, I’ll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I’ll be your pillow. If you need to be happy, I’ll be your smile. But anytime you need a friend, I’ll just be me. Unknown

I think if I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don’t walk away, don’t be distracted, don’t be too busy or tired, don’t take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff. John Katz

Sitting silently beside a friend who is hurting may be the best gift we can give. Unknown

A friend is someone who understand your past, believes in your future, and accepts you today just the way you are. Unknown

There are three things that grow more precious with age; old wood to burn, old books to read, and old friends to enjoy. Henry Ford

I have friends, I have associates, and I have friends. Shaquille O’Neal

I felt it shelter to speak to you. Emily Dickinson

Winning friends begins with friendliness. Dale Carnegie

A good friend is a connection to life — a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. Lois Wyse

A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails. Donna Roberts

There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one’s self, the very meaning of one’s soul. Edith Wharton

The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away. Barbara Kingsolver

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Dale Carnegie

We have been friends together in sunshine and in shade. Caroline Sheridan Norton

Some people arrive and make such a beautiful impact on your life, you can barely remember what life was like without them Anna Taylor

Friends confront each other sometimes, and sometimes the friendship lasts, and sometimes it doesn’t. Brooke Elliott

Good friends help you to find important things when you have lost them…your smile, your hope, and your courage. Doe Zantamata

Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand. Emily Kimbrough

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same. Flavia Weedn

Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them. Francesco Guicciardini

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend. Henry David Thoreau

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. George MacDonald

A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out. Grace Pulpit

I get by with a little help from my friends. The Beatles, With A Little Help from My Friends

Dear George, remember no man is a failure who has friends. Henry Travers, It’s a Wonderful Life

Ah, how good it feels! The hand of an old friend. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job. Laurence J. Peter

Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends. H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Do good to your friends to keep them, to your enemies to win them. Benjamin Franklin

The richest man is the one with the most powerful friends. Eli Wallach, The Godfather Part III

Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust

Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it’s all over. Octravia Butler

A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they’re not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they’re not so bad. Arnold H. Glasgow

There is nothing I wouldn’t do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling. Arthur Brisbane

If you have two friends in your lifetime, you’re lucky. If you have one good friend, you’re more than lucky. S.E. Hinton

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. Aristotle

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Fight for you. Respect you. Include you. Encourage you. Need you. Deserve you. Stand by you. Unknown

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. Douglas Pagels

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let’s face it, friends make life a lot more fun. Charles R. Swindoll

Friends: people who borrow my books and set wet glasses on them. Edwin Arlington Robinson

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing. Benjamin Franklin

Do not save your loving speeches for your friends till they are dead; do not write them on their tombstones, speak them rather now instead. Anna Cummins

Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. Ally Condie

Friends are like walls. Sometimes you lean on them, and sometimes it’s good just knowing they are there. Unknown

The only good thing about times of adversity is that you realize who your real friends and fans are – and the rest go away – which in my mind is an OK thing. Pete Wentz

Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends. Jacques Delille

Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find. William Shakespeare

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow. Alice Walker

I don’t know what I would have done so many times in my life if I hadn’t had my girlfriends. Reese Witherspoon

A friend in need is a pest. Vince Vaughan, Wedding Crashers

The best way to mend a broken heart is time and girlfriends. Gwenyth Paltrow

You find out who your real friends are when you’re involved in a scandal. Elizabeth Taylor

Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods. Aristotle

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar. Robert Brault

Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up. Thomas J. Watson

They make me stronger; they make me braver. Jane Fonda

Best Friend Quotes

Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies. Richelle Mead

A best friend is like a fourleaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have. Irish Proverb

Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend. Sarah Dessen

Things are never quite as scary when you have a best friend. Bill Waterston, Calvin and Hobbes

My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake. Aristotle

I think about my best friendship – which the Marnie-Hannah friendship in Girls is based on – as like a great romance of my young life. Lena Dunham

My best friend is me, and I take good care of me. Diane von Furstenberg

When a man’s best friend is his dog… That dog has a problem. Edward Abbey

She’s always there for me when I need her; She’s my best friend; she’s just my everything. Ashley Olsen

The best mirror is an old friend. George Herbert

What do you do with your best friend? You do nothing. Blake Lively

It’s not that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but it’s your best friends who are your diamonds. It’s your best friends who are supremely resilient, made under pressure and of astonishing value. They’re everlasting; they can cut glass if they need to. Gina Barreca

Best friends can turn a horrible day into one of the best days of your life. Nathaniel Richmond

I’ve known my best friend since I was a baby, and I don’t know what I would do without her. She is always straight with me and can make me laugh hysterically. Everyone should have someone like that in their life. Jasmine Guinness

That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours. Kristin Hannah

That was what a best friend did: hold up a mirror and show you your heart. Kristin Hannah

If we treated ourselves as well as we treated our best friend, can you imagine? Meghan Markle

A best friend is someone who makes you laugh even when you think you’ll never smile again. Anonymous

Picking a best friend who stands up for what she believes in, is true to herself and allows you to be yourself without judgement of how ‘cool’ you are? Well, now you’re picking a friend for life. Renee Olstead

You can’t describe your best friends in words. You can describe them with memories that you had with them. Saurabh Saini

A bosom friend an intimate friend, you know a really kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost soul. L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don’t say. Anonymous

The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you’ve had. Steven Wright

Ooh you’re the best friend that I ever had. I’ve been with you such a long time. You’re my sunshine and I want you to know. That my feelings are true. I really love you. Oh you’re my best friend. Queen, You’re My Best Friend

The biggest ingredient in a best friend is someone whose actions you respect and who you can truly be yourself around. Renee Olstead

Best friends don’t necessarily have to talk every day. They don’t even need to talk for weeks. But when they do, it’s like they never stopped talking. Anonymous

The biggest ingredient in a best friend is someone whose actions you respect and who you can truly be yourself around. Anonymous

Talking to your best friend is sometimes all the therapy you need. Anonymous

Best friend: someone you can only stay mad at for so long because you have important things to talk about. Anonymous

Best friend isn’t just a name. A best friend is someone who’s there for you, no matter what. You can trust them, with anything and everything. Best friends share tears and laughs, almost like their emotions are intertwined. Most importantly, you can always count on a best friend. Anonymous

Best friends? Well, I guess you could call us that but I think we are more like sisters . Anonymous

Nothing compares to the pain of a belly ache from laughing too hard with your best friend. Anonymous

You can always tell when two people are best friends because they are having more fun than it makes sense for them to be having. Anonymous

A good friend knows all your best stories, but a best friend has lived them with you. Anonymous

You know, real life doesn’t just suddenly resolve itself. You have to keep working at it. Democracy, marriage, friendship. You can’t just say, ‘She’s my best friend.’ That’s not a given, it’s a process. Viggo Mortensen

Yesterday brought the beginning, tomorrow brings the end, and somewhere in the middle we became the best of friends. Anonymous

When it hurts to look back, and you’re afraid to look ahead, you can look beside you and your best friend will be there. Anonymous

Are we going to be friends forever?’ Asked Piglet. ‘Even longer,’ Pooh answered. A. A. Milne

Oh, you’re the best friends anybody ever had. And it’s funny, but I feel as if I’d known you all the time, but I couldn’t have, could I? Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down. Oprah Winfrey

As much as a BFF can make you go WTF, there’s no denying we’d be a little less rich without them. Gossip Girl

True Friendship Quotes

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood. Seneca

True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance. Herny David Thoreau

True friends are like diamonds — bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style. Nicole Richie

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. Bernard Meltzer

True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable. David Tyson

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. Arnold H. Glasgow

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. Elisabeth Foley

A friend is someone who can see the truth and pain in you even when you are fooling everyone else. Anonymous

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. Eleanor Roosevelt

A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success. Doug Larson

True friendship is like sound health ; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost. Charles Caleb Colton

A strong friendship doesn’t need daily conversation and doesn’t always need togetherness. As long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends will never part. Anonymous

With friends like these, who needs enemies? Joey Adams

True friends don’t judge each other, they judge other people together. Emilie Saint-Genis

A true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart. Heather Pryor

One of the tasks of true friendship is to listen compassionately and creatively to the hidden silences. Often secrets are not revealed in words, they lie concealed in the silence between the words or in the depth of what is unsayable between two people. John O’Donohue

If you wanna find out who’s a true friend, screw up or go through a challenging time… Then see who sticks around. Karen Salmansohn

Only a true friend would be that truly honest. Shrek

True friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks. St. Jerome

It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

A true friend is someone who is there for you when he’d rather be anywhere else. Len Wein

Hold a true friend with both your hands. Nigerian Proverb

A true friend is someone who will always love you—the imperfect, the confused, the wrong you because that is what people are supposed to do. R.J.L.

True friendship resists time, distance, and silence. Isabel Allende

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. Walter Winchell

A good friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move a body. Steven J. Daniels

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. Thomas Aquinas

If you have one true friend you have more than your share. Thomas Fuller

A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. William Penn

Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer. Jean de la Fontaine

Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected. Charles Lamb

Did these friendship quotes remind you of your favorite friends?

However long its been since you were in touch, reach out and make their day by sharing one of these great friend quotes with them. And don’t forget to let us know your favorite in the comments below.

Quincy Seale

15 thoughts on “275 Friendship Quotes To Celebrate Your Friends”

It’s true. Friends never judge you. They always love you for who you are.

Fake friends always makes me stronger.

It’s always a good feeling having that one friend that is so close like family that truly understand you totally.

A truer friend pushes you and pushes you until you reach your goals or pushes you until you succeed.

Beautiful quotes, thank you.

One of the most outstanding collection of quotes on friendship I have had the good fortune of reading. Each one is unique and stands on its own. Well done!

Ultimately the bond of all companionship whether marriage or friendship is conversationB-) thats so true open up today

Friends are really very important in our life. Earlier I believed that friendship is nothing but just a jock. But later on I realised friendship when my friend helped me in my problems. Once I needed fees for my school, and parents didn’t had enough money. I asked three friends whom I believed useless, but all of them were ready to lend me money. And from the following time, i began to believe on friendship. It’s really important in life. Thank you for providing useful thoughts.

I have had a lot of fake friends , but one has made live up to all my goals and left me wanting more

Friendship plays an important role in the lives because there are some of the things that we don’t wanna share with someone from our family but we do share these things with our bestie. Thankfully Alhamdullilaah I am blessed with this enormous gift ?????? I love her toooo much even more than my own life May she live long May our beautiful Friendship remain forever and may Allah keep our Friendship away from any harm Ameen Sum Ameen

I just wanted to say that your website is the reason I started mine! I love reading your site daily. I think this is one of my favorites: “Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant.”

Frienship is the most beautiful thing in my life. if my friends was not there, then may be i was not so happy. all of my hapiness is due to my friends. i love you all my friends. be happy always. 🙂

I love everything that was put together about friends, thank you For putting it all together greatly appreciated it, can you send me more to my email ?

Friendship is very important for all of us because everything you are not share with your parents or family so you need at least one best friend who understands you and give a proper advice for any problem or you can share everything with them. Qoutes are very helpful to make the bond stronger between two frineds.

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Guest Essay

Saying Goodbye to My Brilliant Friend, the Poetry Critic Helen Vendler

By Roger Rosenblatt

The author, most recently, of “Cataract Blues: Running the Keyboard.”

One makes so few new friends in older age — I mean, real friends, the ones you bond with and hold dear, as if you’d known one another since childhood.

Old age often prevents, or at least tempers, such discoveries. The joy of suddenly finding someone of compatible tastes, politics, intellectual interests and sense of humor can be shadowed, if tacitly, by the inevitable prospect of loss.

I became friends with Helen Vendler — the legendary poetry critic who died last week — six years ago, after she came to a talk I gave at Harvard about my 1965-66 Fulbright year in Ireland. Our friendship was close at the outset and was fortified and deepened by many letters between us, by our writing.

Some critics gain notice by something new they discover in the literature they examine. Helen became the most important critic of the age by dealing with something old and basic — the fact that great poetry was, well, lovable. Her vast knowledge of it was not like anyone else’s, and she embraced the poets she admired with informed exuberance.

The evening we met, Helen and I huddled together for an hour, maybe two, speaking of the great Celtic scholar John Kelleher, under whom we had both studied; of Irish poetry; and of our families. Helen was born to cruelly restrictive Irish Catholic parents who would not think of her going to anything but a Catholic college. When Helen rebelled against them, she was effectively tossed out and never allowed to return home.

She told me all this at our very first meeting. And I told her the sorrows of my own life — the untimely death of my daughter, Amy, and the seven-plus years my wife, Ginny, and I spent helping to rear her three children. And I told Helen unhappy things about my own upbringing. The loneliness. I think we both sensed that we had found someone we could trust with our lives.

I never asked Helen why she had come to my talk in the first place, though I had recognized her immediately. After spending a life with English and American poetry — especially the poetry of Wallace Stevens — how could I not? The alert tilt of her head, the two parenthetical lines around the mouth that always seemed on the verge of saying something meaningful and the sad-kind-wise eyes of the most significant literary figure since Edmund Wilson.

And unlike Wilson, Helen was never compelled to show off. She knew as much about American writing as Wilson, and, I believe, loved it more.

It was that, even more than the breadth and depth of her learning, that set her apart. She was a poet who didn’t write poetry, but felt it like a poet, and thus knew the art form to the core of her being. Her method of “close reading,” studying a poem intently word by word, was her way of writing it in reverse.

Weeks before Helen’s death and what would have been her 91st birthday, we exchanged letters. I had sent her an essay I’d just written on the beauty of wonder, stemming from the wonder so many people felt upon viewing the total solar eclipse earlier this month. I often sent Helen things I wrote. Some she liked less than others, and she was never shy to say so. She liked the essay on wonder, though she said she was never a wonderer herself, but a “hopeless pragmatist,” not subject to miracles, except upon two occasions. One was the birth of her son, David, whom she mentioned in letters often. She loved David deeply, and both were happy when she moved from epic Cambridge to lyrical Laguna Niguel, Calif., to be near him, as she grew infirm.

Her second miracle, coincidentally, occurred when Seamus Heaney drove her to see a solar eclipse at Tintern Abbey. There, among the Welsh ruins, Helen had an astonishing experience, one that she described to me in a way that seemed almost to evoke Wordsworth:

I had of course read descriptions of the phenomena of a total eclipse, but no words could equal the total-body/total landscape effect; the ceasing of bird song; the inexorability of the dimming to a crescent and then to a corona; the total silence; the gradual salience of the stars; the iciness of the silhouette of the towers; the looming terror of the steely eclipse of all of nature. Now that quelled utterly any purely “scientific” interest. One became pure animal, only animal, no “thought-process” being even conceivable.

One who claims not to know wonders shows herself to be one.

She was so intent on the beauty of the poets she understood so deeply, she never could see why others found her appreciations remarkable. Once, when I sent her a note complimenting her on a wonderfully original observation she’d made in a recent article, she wrote: “So kind of you to encourage me. I always feel that everything I say would be obvious to anyone who can read, so am always amazed when someone praises something.”

Only an innocent of the highest order would say such a beautiful, preposterous thing. When recently the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded her the Gold Medal for Belle Lettres and Criticism, Helen was shocked.

“You could have floored me when I got the call,” she wrote to me, adding: “Perhaps I was chosen by the committee because of my advanced age; if so, I can’t complain. The quote that came to mind was Lowell’s ‘My head grizzled with the years’ gold garbage.’”

She was always doing that — attaching a quotation from poetry to a thought or experience of her own, as if she occupied the same room as all the great poets, living with them as closely as loved ones in a tenement.

Shelley called poets the “unacknowledged legislators of the world.” I never fully got that famous line. But if the legislators’ laws apply to feeling and conduct, I think he was onto something. If one reads poetry — ancient and modern — as deeply as Helen did, and stays with it, and lets it roll around in one’s head, the effect is transporting. You find yourself in a better realm of feeling and language. And nothing of the noisier outer world — not Donald Trump, not Taylor Swift — can get to you.

In our last exchange of letters, Helen told me about the death she was arranging for herself. I was brokenhearted to realize that I was losing someone who had given me and countless others so much thought and joy. Her last words to me were telling, though, and settled the matter as only practical, spiritual Helen could:

I feel not a whit sad at the fact of death, but massively sad at leaving friends behind, among whom you count dearly. I have always known what my true feelings are by whatever line of poetry rises unbidden to my mind on any occasion; to my genuine happiness, this time was a line from Herbert’s “Evensong,” in which God (always in Herbert, more like Jesus than Jehovah), says to the poet, “Henceforth repose; your work is done.”

She closed her letter as I closed my response. “Love and farewell.”

Roger Rosenblatt is the author, most recently, of “Cataract Blues: Running the Keyboard.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Grieving the loss of your mom: How to cope with grief on Mother's Day

Grief is normal. it is a part of life and it's ok to sit and feel these emotions, experts say..

Mother's Day is on Sunday May 12, but those grieving the loss of their mother or child may feel a lot of dread around this time of year.

"Mother's Day is not a universal celebration for everyone," said Sherry Cormier, an author and psychologist who specializes in bereavement.

She encourages people going through grief to be kind to themselves and provide what they need to make themselves feel comfortable this weekend.

She adds that feeling that loss and sorrow while others might be celebrating is okay.

"People move forward, they don't really move on," she said. "The grief is always part of you. That loss of your mom or your child always stays with you in your heart."

Mother's Day: To the single woman, past 35, who longs for a partner and kids on Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a 'trigger day'

According to the psychologist, Mother's Day can be a "trigger day."

These kinds of holidays or special occasions can be a trigger, meaning they cause an intense emotion that is usually negative.

"Things like Mother's Day or birthdays or anniversaries or holidays, for example, are hard," said Cormier.

She adds that it's best to have a plan on these kinds of days. Plan a day and schedule that will work best to help you cope and deal with your emotions, but be flexible.

The plan can include anything from a self-care day to spending time with friends and family to exercising and moving your body, but she recommends tuning in with yourself and staying flexible. The plan doesn't have to be the end-all-be-all for that day if it is no longer needed.

"I can't tell you how many people I've spoken with that have a plan for a trigger day, and then the day comes and they end up saying, 'You know what? I felt the worse the day before," she said.

Cormier suggests staying away from social media to avoid seeing posts about Mother's Day. She said it can help with trigger days because people are posting pictures with their moms or children and seeing that may do more harm than good.

"If you're already sitting there longing for your child whose passed or your mom who passed, and then you see all these pictures, that may make you feel worse," said Cormier.

Journal about your grief

Journaling for 10 to 15 minutes about your grief a few times a week is another helpful exercise, said Cormier.

"This can be very therapeutic just sitting down and writing," she said. "Just not even thinking, letting your body flow and writing about how you're feeling."

She adds that all one needs is a piece of paper and a writing utensil. However, it can also be done on a phone, computer or tablet. Cormier even said folks could draw their grief, but the point of the exercise is to sit with the grief and acknowledge it.

"If you're dreading Mother's Day, the first thing is to feel what you feel," said Cormier. "Feel what you feel, and that's dread, that's sadness, that's sorrow. That may be anger in some cases, so feel what you feel."

However, she warns that going over the time and writing about it for too long may cause the grief to become "all consuming."

Journaling validates the grief, but "you don't want the grief to take over your life," said Cormier.

Don't force someone to grieve in a certain way

Sometimes, people might try to help, but they do it by forcing their own beliefs and habits onto the person they're trying to help.

"Helping is a form of control" is a quote from Anne Lamott that Cormier said she loved.

Cormier said she does not, "under any circumstance," recommend people force those mourning a loss to grieve in a specific way.

"So often when we think we should 'help' one with grief, what we really mean by that is that we're trying to control the way that they grieve," said Cormier.

Everyone goes through loss differently, and how someone grieves, vents and gets support is entirely up to them, she said. What might work for one person may not work for another and forcing someone to grieve in a specific way is a form of coercion.

"We all find comfort and solace from different people," she said.

At the end of the day, grief is a normal feeling

Now, there are exceptions to this rule. If someone who is mourning says they are contemplating suicide or can possibly be a danger to themselves, it is ok to get involved and recommend calling the crisis hotline, a grief therapist or suicide counselor.

"If you feel like you're ever going to be in a crisis, go to your emergency room," said Cormier.

Helping a child grieve

Just like with adults, a grown-up can not force a child to grieve in a specific way or ignore the day to help them cope with their feelings.

"There are people who would rather avoid the day than acknowledge it, and they do it for good reason," said Vicki Jay, the CEO of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief . "They're trying to protect the child from having difficult feelings where we know that you can't hide it from them, so the best thing is to acknowledge the day and open conversation so that the child feels free to talk or not talk."

According to Jay, it's best to let the child take the lead in this situation.

 "Let the child help determine what that day looks like," said Jay.

The only one who really knows how the child is feeling is the child themself, and Jay advised that the grown-ups in their life give them the space to express their feelings.

"You may assume that it's really difficult for them, and that may or may not be true, and so what you wanna do is learn from them," said Jay.

She adds that children might start to deal with difficult feelings before Mother's Day.

"It starts when the child is at school, and everybody else is talking about Mother's Day or making Mother's Day cards or whatever it is," she said. "And so just holding that opportunity open to have discussions, you know and even just [asking] what was the best and worst thing that happened at school today may open the door."

She adds that enrolling a child into a peer support group may also help them cope with their feelings about death.

"We found that peer support is amazing because kids don't want to be different than any other kids," said Jay. "To find out you're not the only one, in this case, who doesn't have a mom is so, so very supportive."

Remember the people in between

Not everyone who is grieving their mom is doing so because she died.

"There are a lot of other situations that need to be recognized where kids, in particular, don't have moms for various reasons," said Vicki Jay, the CEO of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief.

Whether it is because the person is estranged from their parent or child or simply can't be with them because of other circumstances, they may be grieving on this day, too.

And this is not only true for children, but adults too.

"Maybe they never had a chance to be with their birth mom or know their mom," said Jay. "Maybe you know they live in separate situations where they never get to see their mom, and I think those kids often get overlooked because it's not in our face that somebody died, but that loss is huge to those kids."

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Hello, Friends!: Stories from My Life and Blue Jays Baseball Kindle Edition

An honest memoir about life, family, and baseball from the longtime, legendary Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcaster

For 36 years, Jerry Howarth ushered in eternal hope each spring and thrived in the drive of each fall as the voice of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1982, the lifelong avid sports fan joined Tom Cheek as full-time play-by-play radio announcer for the Blue Jays, and for the next 23 years, “Tom and Jerry” were the voices of the franchise. Jerry became part of the fabric of a nation and a team, covering historic moments like the rise of the Blue Jays through the 1980s that culminated in back-to-back World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993. His Hall of Fame–worthy broadcasting career has been nothing short of legendary. When Jerry retired in February 2018, the tributes poured in and made one thing perfectly clear: Toronto baseball would never be the same.

Howarth brings together thoughts on life, family, work, and baseball. Featuring stories about everyone from Dave Stieb, Jack Morris, Duane Ward, Roberto Alomar, and Joe Carter to John Gibbons, Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson, and the late Roy Halladay, Hello, Friends! is a must-read for sports fans everywhere.

• Print length 333 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher ECW Press
• Publication date March 5, 2019
• File size 7206 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

“Howarth’s book will entertain baseball aficionados and especially delight Blue Jays fans.” ― Publishers Weekly

“Jerry Howarth is a Canadian national treasure and his story is tremendously inspiring. As joyful a person as I've ever met, Jerry made friends with millions of baseball fans during his long career and brought his warmth, humor, insights and descriptions into their living rooms. Readers of his story will have a further opportunity to revel in his positive outlook on life as well as countless fascinating memories.” ― Eric Nadel, Texas Rangers radio broadcaster

“Whether it was Blue Jays closer Tom Henke saying ‘Hellllllo, friends!’ when Jerry Howarth walked down the aisle on a team charter, an opposing player near the batting cage, or a 12-year-old self-broadcasting his sandlot game to his buddies, ‘Hello, friends!’ became Howarth’s trade mark. In fact, the two words are greeted with the same warmth and familiarity from coast to coast in Canada.” ― Bob Elliott, sports journalist

“For four years I was privileged to sit alongside Jerry ― master storyteller, consummate professional, exemplary broadcaster. Now fans can pull up a chair and enjoy the excerpts from my partner, mentor, and friend.” ― Joe Siddall, Blue Jays broadcaster

“There HE goes but here he stays. Fortunately, Jerry and Mary and their boys came north to our country. That was truly a positive for the Blue Jays and baseball fans across Canada from coast to coast.” ― Brian Williams, Olympics commentator

From the Back Cover

About the author, excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., the bat flip.

October 14, 2015, will always be remembered for the bat flip and a cherished moment in my Blue Jays career at the microphone. Yes, that was the day that Jose Bautista in the 7th inning of the final and deciding game of the ALDS against Texas finished off one of the most famous and bizarre playoff innings in major league history. An inning that took a phenomenal 53 minutes to play.

Texas had taken the lead in the top of the inning on a throw back to the mound by catcher Russ Martin that hit the bat of Shin-Soo Choo in the batters’ box. Roughed Odor was allowed to score from third base after the ball was initially ruled a dead ball. Texas took a 3-2 lead. The crowd went berserk. In the bottom of the inning three softly hit ground balls amazingly led to three straight Texas errors loading the bases. It reminded me of the old adage in baseball: “ There ’ s no such thing as a routine ground ball. ”

With the infield drawn in, a little pop up out behind second base resulted in a force out at second as a run scored to tie the game 3-3 leaving runners at the corners. Up stepped Jose Bautista off right-handed reliever Sam Dyson. On the 1-1 pitch Bautista hit the biggest home run of his career. As the ball sailed toward deep left centre field I simply said: “Yes! (pause) Sir! (pause) THERE! (pause) SHE! (pause) GOES! ” The thunderous applause filled our crowd mic for a full 40 seconds. Bautista paused for a moment as he watched the ball fly over the wall. As the crowd erupted, Bautista then tossed his bat high over his shoulder toward the Rangers first base dugout. His famous – or infamous depending on which side you came down on – bat flip was the exclamation point.

People have asked me many times since, how I felt about Jose’s bat-flip. I tell them I feel exactly the same way former Blue Jays pitcher and later Arizona Diamondbacks General Manager Dave Stewart felt about it:

“ In today’s game, what Jose Bautista did, that’s acceptable. I’ve got to tell you, there’s no better professional than he is. There’s no better guy and no better teammate than he is. So I don’t think it was to show up the other side. I don’t believe that. I just think that’s how they play today, and displays of emotion when you do something great – especially on that platform in that moment – that’s just today’s game. ”

The season would end on a Friday night October 23 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City with a heart-breaking 4-3 loss in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. In that game Bautista hit two home runs and drove in all three runs. His two-run home run in the top of the 8th inning dramatically tied the game 3-3 only to see the Royals score a run in the bottom of the 8th and then hold on to win it in the 9th as the Blue Jays left runners at 2nd and 3rd.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07KBGZMMB
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ ECW Press (March 5, 2019)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 5, 2019
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 7206 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages
• #759 in Baseball Essays & Writings
• #1,114 in Baseball Biographies (Kindle Store)
• #1,257 in Sports Journalism

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Hello friends: jim nantz built a new backyard hole that is an homage to augusta national's 13th green, share this article.

Every home ought to have a backyard golf hole. At least that’s the way Jim Nantz looks at life.

When Nantz built his dream home at Pebble Beach several years ago, he created a replica of Pebble’s iconic par-3 seventh hole, which went viral thanks to his former CBS partner Nick Faldo posting video of his ace there during the 2018 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“The homage to Pebble Beach’s No. 7 made perfect sense given that from the perch of the tee across the Bay you can see the actual hole off in the distance,” Nantz said.

Nick Faldo celebrates making an ace at Jim Nantz’s backyard golf hole at his home in Pebble Beach. (@NickFaldo006)

Three years ago this summer, Nantz moved his family to a suburb of Nashville so he can spend less time on a plane and more time with his wife and two young children, daughter Finley and son Jameson.

That also meant the opportunity to build another backyard golf hole. He spent significant time plotting it out, modeling out different possibilities, including the sixth green at Riviera Country Club, before settling on an homage to the 13 th hole at Augusta National with a few twists of his own.

“It makes the backyard a playground,” he said, “not just for my kids but for me too.”

Nantz worked with architect Shane Whitcomb, who flew in from Arizona for site visits, and some of his favorite parts of the project consisted of figuring out the scale and drainage and the hidden truths of golf course architecture. To do so, they ripped up the back yard, hauled in a mountain of dirt, built a base, installed drainage pipes, cut out a replica of a creek bed – his version of Rae’s Creek – before they could shape the nooks and crannies and slopes and lay out the green.

Nantz decorated the property with 15 magnolia trees, an assortment of azaleas and pine straw wherever there isn’t green. Ultimately, his L-shaped backyard meant that the back right corridor was the best spot for the putting surface.

There are five tees in all – there was talk of building a tee off of the second-floor guest balcony but that plan got scratched. “It was an engineering nightmare,” he lamented.

Three of the five tees at Jim Nantz’s backyard golf hole. (Courtesy Jim Nantz)

Three tees represent the straight-away layup third shot that golfers would face at Augusta’s famed par-5 13 th hole. The one to the far left is hugging the Magnolia tree line, and a difficult spot for the back left hole location but a perfect spot to attack the back-right flag, Nantz said. There’s a straight on tee for the perfect layup and another to the right. Destined to be a crowd pleaser is an elevated shot from the former screened-in porch that has a retractable screen controlled by a remote that is about a 30-yard shot. How would you like to have your own version of a Topgolf hitting bay in your house with heaters in the ceiling and a bar under construction for the full experience?

“I told you, it had to be over-the-top. Come on, coming off the other one (at Pebble)? It had to be,” Nantz said.

The fifth option for a tee is located on the far side of his pool deck, hitting across the pool and over the pool house. It’s a full shot between 55-60 yards, which with the modified-distance almostGOLF balls he uses, is a full swing for Nantz with his 56-degree wedge.

The still-unnamed course (Nantz National has a nice ring to it, does it not?) has been in the works for more than two years. “I like to sit and let it marinate,” he said.

Nor is it completely finished as Nantz pointed out he’s still completing his Comfort Station, replete with a Margarita/Slurpee machine, a Soft-Serve ice cream machine and a hot dog roller/bun warmer.

“I’m getting the industrial version of all of these,” he said. “You get hungry and tired when you’re out playing.”

Indeed, you do.

Those aren’t the only bells and whistles. He’s got his own manual scoreboard in white and green with “Hello Friends” painted in big stencil lettering on top as well as a few directional signs, the type Bryson DeChambeau famously lifted over his shoulder at the Masters in April.

Directional sign at Jim Nantz’s backyard golf hole in Nashville. (Courtesy Jim Nantz)

On the leaderboard, his three kids are tied for the lead late on the second nine on Sunday with star-studded names like Woods, Nicklaus and Palmer giving chase. When friends of Jameson, Nantz’s youngest, have come over, he tells them that he’s got the edge because he still has the par-5 15 th to play.

“He’s so competitive he’s convinced himself he’s going to win this imaginary golf event,” Nantz said.

(Watch out, Jameson, for that Freddie Couples guys. He and your dad have been known to do a winner’s interview from Butler Cabin.) Nantz noted he’s got Faldo’s name already made for the scoreboard but not yet on display. Outdoor lighting will allow for night play or just to admire the beauty of it all. What do Nantz’s friends who have seen a sneak-peek of the hole have to say about his latest backyard project? “Nobody is surprised, let’s put it that way,” Nantz said. “They’ll say, ‘Of course, you are.’ ”

He’s had this vision for the hole in his head for a long time now. But bringing it to fruition has been a labor of love.

“I remember one time I asked Kevin Costner, what’s it like to be a director? Because I was blown away by what he did with “Dances with Wolves.” He told me, ‘The director sees the film in his head before they’ve shot anything and then you have to go through the process of getting everyone involved in the project to see what you’re seeing, to get them to do whatever their role might be to see that final product.’ How do you get them to see that final vision and dream? That applies to a lot of things in life. It’s about how you lead people whether you’re directing a movie, producing a TV show or building a backyard hole – you need people to see your vision,” Nantz said. “I knew what it was going to feel like, look like and sound like. That’s why every light, every fixture, every speaker, every azalea, every magnolia were all part of the overall vision before we even broke ground.”

Much like the Costner hit movie, “Field of Dreams,” Nantz has gone the distance. He’s outdone himself. Here’s a case that lives up to the saying, “Build it and they will come.”

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TikTok sensation Kimberly Nix dead at 31 years of age

Kimberley passed away in calgary, alberta, on may 8.

In a touching and deeply personal final message shared on TikTok, Dr. Kimberley Nix, known affectionately as Kim to her followers, revealed her poignant farewell to over 137,000 fans. 

At the young age of 31, after a brave battle with metastatic sarcoma, Kimberley passed away in Calgary, Alberta, on May 8.

Her final video, which quickly went viral with over 5.1 million views, was a powerful reminder of her courage and the profound impact she had on others.

In the video, Kimberley expressed, "My journey here is over and I can't thank each and every one of you enough. You have all made me so happy, and your comments and support are more than enough to have gotten anyone through anything!" 

@cancerpatientmd My journey here is over and i cant thank each and every one of you enough! You have all made me so happy and your comments and support are more than enough to have gotten anyone thriugh anything! If you wish, Please donate through my link in bio to sarcoma cancer research and follow my husband in his updates @LightestCheese 💕 #death #dying #palliative #sarcoma #undifferentiatedpleomorphicsarcoma #cancer #cancerpatient #md #resident #medschool ♬ original sound - Cancer Patient, MD

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She encouraged her followers to donate to sarcoma cancer research, showing her commitment to helping others even in her final moments.

Kimberley's farewell was filmed with grace and a sense of peace as she addressed her audience directly, "Hello followers, if you're seeing this clip, I have passed away peacefully." Clad in a red shirt, she held back tears while recounting the joys of her life, "Those who know me, know I love my pets, my husband, and makeup. And though being a doctor is a big part of my identity, those are the things that matter."

The TikTok sensation also reflected on the unexpected journey her life took after her diagnosis at the age of 28, during her final year of internal medicine core residency. 

Turning to social media as a platform to raise awareness about metastatic cancer, Kimberley shared her personal experiences, treatments, and the everyday joys that gave her strength. 

"I shared about love, joy, and gratitude because in this journey, I was grateful for the people and the little moments," she shared, highlighting the beauty in the simplicity of life's pleasures.

Kimberley's adventurous spirit shone through as she listed achievements from her bucket list, "I got to get engaged, get married, I went to New York City, and it was like Gossip Girl. 

I dined at Michelin star restaurants, went to Broadway, saw the mountains, San Francisco, and a winery." 

She expressed profound gratitude towards her supportive network of friends and family, especially her husband, Michael, who she described as the "love of [her] life."

Despite the sorrow of knowing they would not grow old together, Kimberley's overwhelming sentiment was one of gratitude and peace. "My only sadness about dying is that we won't get to grow old together. Everything else is totally bearable. That is the only thing that really matters," she reflected.

In her farewell, Kimberley also implored her followers to refrain from sending gifts, suggesting instead that they follow Michael, who would continue sharing updates after overcoming the initial stages of grief. 

With heartfelt thanks, she concluded, "I can't thank you enough, I will miss you TikTok. I love you all. Thank you for this amazing opportunity, I am in happy tears because I have found so much purpose at the end of my life."

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Opinion: Mother’s Day is painful for many of my clients. Here’s how we all can help.

Let’s celebrate the mothers in our lives while also mourning with those who mourn..

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The LDS Church History Museum, on Thursday, June 9, 2022.

Why do so many women dread Mother’s Day? What are we doing inadvertently, as a community, to perpetuate this pain? And what can we do about it?

Based on my 30 years of clinical experience working with women in Utah, I have a few ideas.

1. Stop defining women primarily by their motherhood status, and celebrate women as unique, multidimensional people.

Motherhood does not equal womanhood. While motherhood is a large and important part of many women’s lives, it is not the defining part of a woman’s identity. Focusing on motherhood as a primary definer of a woman’s value or worth neglects her multidimensional nature. Many mothers have also made incredible contributions outside of the home that may be overlooked when we define women by motherhood. Other women choose to be child-free or would like children and are unable to have them for a variety of reasons. Each woman is on a unique journey, contributing much good — that may or may not include bearing and raising children.

2. Encourage self-care instead of sharing stories that idealize self-sacrifice and self-neglect in mothers.

Mother’s Day tributes shared in church or on social media about “my angel mother” who “always did without” and “never complained a day in her life” and “always put others first” elevate self-sacrifice above any other characteristics. Most mothers want to be seen as real, messy, difficult and multi-faceted. Perpetuating the ideal that self-sacrifice is the defining feature of women only creates new generations of mothers who feel that their dreams and needs don’t matter. If you want to help reduce pain for women, encourage them to take good care of themselves, to explore their goals and dreams and do what you can to nurture and care for the women in your life who have nurtured you.

3. Rather than speaking platitudes of gratitude, notice and value the work they do and share the load in everyday home and family life.

Words of gratitude, cards, flowers and gifts on one special day are wonderful, however, what many women want is practical support in everyday life. Even when both partners are working full-time, women perform the bulk of unpaid work in family life. Much of the unpaid work is also invisible labor — work that is crucial to the functioning of society but often unseen and unacknowledged. If you want to honor the women in your life, start seeing the invisible work they do like planning and executing special events, signing up kids for activities, managing the family calendar, sending holiday cards, tracking what needs to be purchased at the grocery store. Express appreciation for this invisible work, and then decide to take over one of her invisible tasks to lighter her load. If you are a male partner, step up and be a partner in all areas of life as a way to celebrate the woman you love.

4. Avoid saying that all women are mothers. Recognize that some women are not mothers and that insisting that they are mothers may minimize their pain and loss.

Why do we never hear the phrase “All men are fathers?” Because they’re not. We don’t define men by their fatherhood status like we define women by motherhood. Many women long to be a mother, and the fact that they aren’t mothers is painful. Telling them they are mothers can further minimize the loss and pain of infertility, infant loss, death of a child, or not having a partner to have a child with. Acknowledge that not being a mother is painful for many women, grieve with them, and comfort them on Mother’s Day.

5. Don’t assume that all mother-child relationships are positive and nurturing. Recognize that many people have complex, painful, even estranged relationships with their own mother or children.

Relationships of all kinds can be fraught with conflict, abandonment, neglect and abuse. However, when your mother, or your child, is the perpetrator of your pain, Mother’s Day may bring up particularly intense emotions including guilt, grief, shame, rage and jealousy. We can be more sensitive to the variety of mother-child relationships, including individuals where the roles were reversed, and the child ended up caring for their mother. If you have a great relationship with your mother, honor her, while also being aware that not everyone shares your situation.

On Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate the mothers in our lives while also mourning with those who mourn.

(Photo courtesy of Dr. Julie Hanks) Dr. Julie Hanks

Dr. Julie Hanks is a licensed therapist and the owner of Wasatch Family Therapy.

The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here , and email us at [email protected] .

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