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About this quote

What does it mean?
It highlights the irony that friends are often only truly appreciated or noticed when you are suffering.
In plain terms
You tend to focus on your friends when you are in trouble.
What can you take from it?
Appreciate friends in good times, not just bad ones.

Where it applies

  • reflecting on relationships
  • navigating hard times

Putting it to work

  • value friends early
  • avoid transactional views

Questions to consider

  • Who supports you when things are going well?
  • Do you only reach out when you need help?

Another view

It overlooks friends who support you regardless of your situation.

More from Ambrose Bierce

  1. Bacchus, n. A convenient deity invented by the ancients as an excuse for getting drunk.

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  2. Barometer, n. An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having.

    Permalink to quote #15
  3. Brain, n. An apparatus with which we think what we think.

    Permalink to quote #17

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