Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great. When you are seeking to bring big plans to fruition it is important with whom you regularly associate. Hang out with friends who are like-minded and who are also designing purpose-filled lives. Similarly be that kind of friend for your friends.
– Mark Twain
Image: “friendship” by mollydot via Flickr.
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too. Read More
So lovely and true! Thanks for sharing this quote. It comes at a good time.
Thanks, Dana. I love these words by Mark Twain and they are apt for defining a good friendship.
Such a great reminder!
Agreed, Christine. It definitely pushes you to evaluate your friendships.
Wonderful words! Thanks for sharing .
Yes. “Small people always do that…” So true. Thanks for sharing this.
This was actually a whole conversation on the school playground today. I suppose someone felt belittled and realized she had let herself feel that way. And that she needed to hang out with us, because we lift her up!
By the way, did you take that photo?
Friendship at any stage is hard to navigate.
I wish I could say that I took this photo, but it is from Flickr. The link is at the bottom of the post.
What a great quote!
It reminds me of how Maryann McCullough described our very supportive Wise Women Write group a few years ago: “More like a bra than a girdle.” I’ve saved her quote and used it to judge the writing support teams I’ve had since then. Are they squeezing me to be something I’m not, or are they lifting me up? I think its a great way to evaluate any of our relationships 🙂
I love that wisdom, Windy. It is a out-of-the-box to decide if a relationship is working. Thank you.