Your thoughts on this quote on friendship?

Question

"One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible" (Henry Brooks Adams).

Answer 1

Why, I totally agree!

There is only one problem- we misunderstand the meaning of the word “friend”. I too, many times mix in my mind an acquaintance and a friend. My way of defying a friend is by another quote: “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies”/ Aristotle.

Oh and speaking of quotes: “A true friend- knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees you spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities”.

You can’t have more than only one friend like that, can you?

Answer 2

It depends on what is meant by friends. I do think it is possible to have three very close friends. You can also have close friends and friends that you love but are not as close as you would like. You can have acquaintance friends. You can have friends in passing and you can have Friends at work but you don't associate with outside of work..

There are many levels of friendship and therefore I think the statement is not clear.

Answer 3

I disagree on the point that it is impossible to have more than three friends.

I think what it is saying is that you can only have close friendships with a limited amount of people because of how much is assumed those people have to do to keep the friendship strong.  I think friendship is defined more by how we feel in our heart about a person and less by how much time we spend with them, how much we do for them, and things like this.