Volume 1 — Definitions of "A Friend."
Reading edition
The first person who comes in when the whole world has gone out.
A bank of credit on which we can draw supplies of confidence, counsel, sympathy, help, and love.
One who combines for you alike the pleasures and benefits of society and solitude.
A jewel whose luster the strong acids of poverty and misfortune cannot dim.
One who multiplies joys, divides griefs, and whose honesty is inviolable.
One who loves the truth and you, and will tell the truth in spite of you.
The Triple Alliance of the three great powers, Love, Sympathy, and Help.
A watch which beats true for all time, and never "runs down."
A permanent fortification when one's affairs are in a state of siege.
One who to himself is true, and therefore must be so to you.
A balancing pole to him who walks across the tight-rope of life.
The link in life's long chain that bears the greatest strain.
A harbor of refuge from the stormy waves of adversity.
One who considers my need before my deservings.
The jewel that shines brightest in the darkness.
A stimulant to the nobler side of our nature.
A volume of sympathy bound in cloth.
A diamond in the ring of acquaintance.
A star of hope in the cloud of adversity.
One truer to me than I am to myself.
Friendship, one soul in two bodies.
An insurance against misanthropy.
A link of gold in the chain of life.
One who understands our silence.
The essence of pure devotion.
The sunshine of calamity.
A second right hand.
As a result of offering a prize for the best original definition of "A Friend," several years ago, London Tit-Bits came into possession of thousands from all parts of the world. From these the foregoing were selected as the most striking. The prize was awarded to the first.