Solitary Book Companions

Table of Contents

• Childhood and Long-lasting Friendships
• Friendship Challenges and Loneliness
• Friendship in Adulthood
• The Role of Books in Friendship
• Friendship and Personal Growth
• Friendship in School Days
• Perception of Friendship
• Celebrity and Friendship
• Friendship and Social Circles
• Friendship as a Support System
• Other

Childhood and Long-lasting Friendships

I've had the same friends since I was in kindergarten.

I have never - I have never let go of my childhood contacts. My best friends from childhood are still my best friends.

I have the same group of friends I've had since I was three.

When I was 18, there were 50 people that I called my friends. Today, there are only three, but I'm glad to have those three. If you have three people that you can really call your friends, then you truly have it made.

I have the same group of friends I’ve had since I was three.

I've stayed friends with the boys I've known since I was 10.

I don't remember everything about my life, but I'm very fortunate to have a group of friends I can rely on - they fill in the blanks.

All of my close friends have been in my life for years. My best friends are all people I met in grade school, going back as far as 3rd grade.

I have the same friends I had before I turned a singer or an actor.

I have had a close-knit group of friends since I was a kid; they are my friends.

I have seen celebrities whose friends change as they become more successful, but my friends haven't changed over 30 years. I've still got some of the friends I had when I was 14 and I see them regularly with their families.

All of us became real close friends. My best friends aren't from high school or college. They're from the YMCA and from that noon running group. The runs, the jokes, the stories ... you become a family, and you don't want to miss out.

Friendship Challenges and Loneliness

I had a certain talent for friendship, but I never had any friends, either because they never appeared, or because the friendship I had imagined was a mistake made by my dreams. I always lived an isolated life, which became more and more isolated the more I came to know myself.

I looked forward to making friends at school, but I had come late and friendships had already been formed. I couldn’t find my way into their world. They seemed to have a secret code I couldn’t decipher.

I had no friends who would call upon me and break the monotony of my daily existence.

I was told so many times when I was a kid, 'I can't be friends with you, you're too intense, you're too sad all the time.' I really thought that when I made the first album that everyone would understand me, all the people who weren't my friends would become my friends.

I do have a close circle of friends and I am very fortunate to have them as friends. I feel very close to them I think friends are everything in life after your family. You come across lots of people all the time but you only make very few friends and you have to be true to them otherwise what's the point in life?

It was a small ceremony; I’ve never had many friends. The truth is I just don’t like many people, not really. Everyone you meet is inevitably flawed. Once I know someone well enough to see all the cracks and blemishes, I don’t really want to spend time with them anymore.

I didn’t have a whole lot of friends anyway, so I didn’t feel abandoned so much as reminded.

I was in my early 30s, and I longed for real friendships and real relationships, and I started asking myself why I didn't have that. I had a couple of male friends, but every time I would hang out with them, it felt like there was something keeping us apart.

In high school, I felt pressure to fit in with groups and with people who didn't actually want to be my friend. That's something I learned moving forward into adulthood: to keep the people around me people who love me for exactly who I am.

In two years, I spent all my money on cars, watches, boots, discos, restaurants, and friends who, in reality, were not friends at all. For a boy like me, who grew up in a poor neighbourhood and without money, it was dangerous.

I pushed away a lot of friendships.

No one ever told you how hard it was to make friends as an adult. But it was hard. Real hard.

Friendship in Adulthood

I've maintained old friendships, like with people I knew in the nineteen-seventies, but have lost the knack for meeting new people. This has a lot to do with my writing schedule. I don't want to be disturbed, and the willingness to be disturbed is, I think, part of being a good friend.

There's something really interesting about having those close friends that you've had incredible times with but growing up and away from them. The underlying tensions, the shifting in the group dynamic, the little lies you tell to big yourself up: it's something that happens to us all.

I don't know if I've ever been in a clique. The older I've gotten, the more I've realized what a true friend really is. So my friendship circle has changed a bit.

No one ever told you how hard it was to make friends as an adult. But it was hard. Real hard.

I was in my early 30s, and I longed for real friendships and real relationships, and I started asking myself why I didn't have that. I had a couple of male friends, but every time I would hang out with them, it felt like there was something keeping us apart.

I never had a huge circle of friends, so I really just tried to cherish and not take for granted the close friends I did have, who were really supportive and understanding.

I grew up with a very small, select group of friends that I kept my whole life.

I have had a close-knit group of friends since I was a kid; they are my friends.

Millions of years ago, our brains became wired to remember about 150 people as 'close friends.'

No matter where you are in your life, whatever set of people you’re with, it all still breaks down like high school does. You have your social cliques, you have the people you get along with, the people you don’t and the people you’re ambivalent about. All of the dynamics are still here.

I was desperate for a friend, and I used to lie in bed at night thinking about what it would be like. My younger brothers and sisters had friends, and I used to watch them playing to try to work out what they did and how friendship worked.

I pushed away a lot of friendships.

The Role of Books in Friendship

Still, when I think of early friendships, I think not of people but of books. Books were my friends, and more often than not, the characters in the books were my imaginary friends, who stepped out of the pages and walked wth me to school or sat in bed with me, talking when I was meant to be asleep. What I mean is reading was my friends. And also I mean that I learned about friendship - patience, slowness, listening, care - from reading and from reading about friendship between people.

I was desperate for a friend, and I used to lie in bed at night thinking about what it would be like. My younger brothers and sisters had friends, and I used to watch them playing to try to work out what they did and how friendship worked.

I was never really good at making friends. I liked reading; I liked walking in the woods; I liked being alone.

That was one of the reasons I became a writer – I never really had that many friends. I would read a lot, and listen to music. And that was my life.

That was one of the reasons I became a writer - I never really had that many friends. I would read a lot, and listen to music. And that was my life.

My body was the friend that people tolerated so they could hang out with the rest of me.

I've maintained old friendships, like with people I knew in the nineteen-seventies, but have lost the knack for meeting new people. This has a lot to do with my writing schedule. I don't want to be disturbed, and the willingness to be disturbed is, I think, part of being a good friend.

I've never been pressed to be friends with everyone or be popular, even in school - I've always done my own thing.

Friendship and Personal Growth

I never had that many friends growing up so I learned to be okay with just me.

I didn't have many friends; I might not have had any friends. But it all turned out good in the end, because when you aren't popular and you don't have a social life, it gives you more time to focus on your future.

Around the time I graduated from high school, I decided better to underachieve and have friendship than to overachieve and be alone.

I didn't have that many friends my first few years of high school. It was very cliquey and I'm super shy, so it was hard to make friends.

In high school, I felt pressure to fit in with groups and with people who didn't actually want to be my friend. That's something I learned moving forward into adulthood: to keep the people around me people who love me for exactly who I am.

In two years, I spent all my money on cars, watches, boots, discos, restaurants, and friends who, in reality, were not friends at all. For a boy like me, who grew up in a poor neighbourhood and without money, it was dangerous.

I’ve never been the type of guy that had a lot of friends or was part of the cool group.

My mom and I have always been really close. She’s always been the friend that was always there. There were times when, in middle school and junior high, I didn’t have a lot of friends. But my mom was always my friend. Always.

I never had a huge circle of friends, so I really just tried to cherish and not take for granted the close friends I did have, who were really supportive and understanding.

I pushed away a lot of friendships.

Friends came on the road, came on tour, came in my music videos; I got in the studio with them. I'm a really loyal person, and I don't have a really large group of friends, but the people I hang out with I really, really care about, and they continue to be a part of my life.

Friendship in School Days

I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12 - Jesus, did you?

They were not my friends, after all. They were just the people I went to school with.

I wasn't in school often enough to really belong to a 'clique,' but my friends all studied hard and got pretty good grades. They were good people with self-respect. I still like to be friends with people I admire something about; I really believe that we become like the people we're surrounded by, so I choose my friends carefully!

I didn't have that many friends my first few years of high school. It was very cliquey and I'm super shy, so it was hard to make friends.

I didn’t have that many friends my first few years of high school. It was very cliquey and I’m super shy, so it was hard to make friends.

In high school, I was friends with everybody. I had my core group of friends, but I could flow through different social groups pretty easily.

In high school and college, I did not have any Christian friends except my best friend Sarah, who I actually 'brought to Jesus.'

I had a couple friends from all the different cliques in school, but my true friends were my gymnastics teammates. I grew up competing with them for ten years.

I, at high school, had a very select group of friends. I am still pretty tight with them now. I definitely have a lot more friends than I remember when I go back home!

I had friends, but I was always a bit weird.

Having friends was really important, wasn’t it? Even if sometimes they did stuff which upset you?

Perception of Friendship

I was tired of pretending that I was someone else just to get along with people, just for the sake of having friendships.

No, friends were like clothes: fine while they lasted but eventually they wore thin or you grew out of them.

Do you ever feel like you're not even friends with sme of your friends?

Another funny thing about having friends was that they expected things of you. they made you want to not be a terrible, awful, execrable person. They made you feel worse when you were one. It was a lot easier not to have any friends.

It was a small ceremony; I’ve never had many friends. The truth is I just don’t like many people, not really. Everyone you meet is inevitably flawed. Once I know someone well enough to see all the cracks and blemishes, I don’t really want to spend time with them anymore.

Do you ever feel like you’re not even friends with sme of your friends?

I never felt sorry for the people in 'Friends' though. They had enormous wealth and they were very funny, creative people who gave a lot of people happiness.

I had very few friends. There was nobody I could trust. I left home when I was fifteen. I lived in Washington Square Park.

I've never been pressed to be friends with everyone or be popular, even in school - I've always done my own thing.

I've always made friends with people who have either money or influence and it's something that I've struggled to let go of because I've been so needy in the past.

I was in my early 30s, and I longed for real friendships and real relationships, and I started asking myself why I didn't have that. I had a couple of male friends, but every time I would hang out with them, it felt like there was something keeping us apart.

Celebrity and Friendship

I was lucky. I always had really great friends in my personal life, people always just knew who I was. It wasn't until I was in show business where that sort of changed or shifted at first. I have always had a great support network. I have had a lot of really wonderful, close friends.

I'm really lucky to have a lot of friends in fashion. I don't know if that's common, but I just get along with a lot of people. My really close friends are Ireland Baldwin, Kendall Jenner, Lily Aldridge and Devon Windsor.

I have only a couple friends, but I've known them since, like, you know, fourth grade or something. I've never changed anything about my little group of friends. I think if you're just smart, and you have the friends who care about you most, that's really all that matters.

It seems like there's more, but Friends was always a high- pressure environment because it was successful from day one. So I'm kind of used to it.

I wasn't friends with a lot of 35-year-old men who understood me.

I was lucky. I always had really great friends in my personal life, people always just knew who I was. It wasn’t until I was in show business where that sort of changed or shifted at first. I have always had a great support network. I have had a lot of really wonderful, close friends.

My mom and I have always been really close. She’s always been the friend that was always there. There were times when, in middle school and junior high, I didn’t have a lot of friends. But my mom was always my friend. Always.

I've always made friends with people who have either money or influence and it's something that I've struggled to let go of because I've been so needy in the past.

There have been times when people who weren't my friends all of a sudden became my friend. I won't allow them to use me, but I have been pretty lucky to have friends who have supported me and who I have known since I was 12. They are still the same and they don't treat me any different.

Friends came on the road, came on tour, came in my music videos; I got in the studio with them. I'm a really loyal person, and I don't have a really large group of friends, but the people I hang out with I really, really care about, and they continue to be a part of my life.

In two years, I spent all my money on cars, watches, boots, discos, restaurants, and friends who, in reality, were not friends at all. For a boy like me, who grew up in a poor neighbourhood and without money, it was dangerous.

Friendship and Social Circles

All my friends I've known since I was really little.

I was friends with all different people and all different groups. And that led me to being friends with a few people who didnt even go to my school. Now I have the most amazing collection of friends of all ethnic backgrounds and upbringing and financial backgrounds.

A lot of people that I've had around me have been my closest friends since junior high, back when we were exchanging each other's clothes, staying at each other's houses. That was before I had anything.

Well, my life hasn't really changed... I've been homeschooled for a long time. So that helped a lot because of shooting and stuff. But, I have had friends who I've been friends with for years and years and they are my true friends, you know?

I do have many of the same friends I grew up with. Most I've known since we were three or four years old! I have made new friends as well.

I loved my new friends, but they were just that: new. I was still rushing around to find more, more, more to bring into my orbit, things that could fill the hole inside that came from having lost touch with old friends and lacking a solid emotional foundation underneath me.

I was friends with all different people and all different groups. And that led me to being friends with a few people who didn't even go to my school. Now I have the most amazing collection of friends of all ethnic backgrounds and upbringing and financial backgrounds.

Where I came from had a lot of friends. A big social circle.

In high school, I was friends with everybody. I had my core group of friends, but I could flow through different social groups pretty easily.

I have a very small group of friends that I've had - the three of them - for the majority of my life.

I had very few friends. There was nobody I could trust. I left home when I was fifteen. I lived in Washington Square Park.

Friends came on the road, came on tour, came in my music videos; I got in the studio with them. I'm a really loyal person, and I don't have a really large group of friends, but the people I hang out with I really, really care about, and they continue to be a part of my life.

Friendship as a Support System

There was just Mavis and me, but it never seemed lonely because we never stopped talking. I could have an argument, in earnest, about who was the best “Kid” in the Hall, without having to explain who they were. One friend with whom you have a lot in common is better than three with whom you struggle to find things to talk about. We never needed best friend gear because I guess with real friends you don’t have to make it official. It just is.

I do have a close circle of friends and I am very fortunate to have them as friends. I feel very close to them I think friends are everything in life after your family. You come across lots of people all the time but you only make very few friends and you have to be true to them otherwise what's the point in life?

Friendships are the main reason why I'm still active. The group is not the same as it was. The composition has changed because of age and injuries.

All of us became real close friends. My best friends aren't from high school or college. They're from the YMCA and from that noon running group. The runs, the jokes, the stories ... you become a family, and you don't want to miss out.

I was lucky. I always had really great friends in my personal life, people always just knew who I was. It wasn’t until I was in show business where that sort of changed or shifted at first. I have always had a great support network. I have had a lot of really wonderful, close friends.

There have been times when people who weren't my friends all of a sudden became my friend. I won't allow them to use me, but I have been pretty lucky to have friends who have supported me and who I have known since I was 12. They are still the same and they don't treat me any different.

Friends came on the road, came on tour, came in my music videos; I got in the studio with them. I'm a really loyal person, and I don't have a really large group of friends, but the people I hang out with I really, really care about, and they continue to be a part of my life.

I don't remember everything about my life, but I'm very fortunate to have a group of friends I can rely on - they fill in the blanks.

Depressing thought: my friends were the girls I ate lunch with, all buddies from kindergarten who knew one another so well we weren’t sure if we even liked one another anymore.

I’d say that on ‘Friends’ my character was the guy bouncing around the room. I’m no longer that guy, necessarily, in my life. I used to be. But I’m not now.

I had a lot of friends be kind of standoffish after I became a Christian.

My mom and dad never really had friends, never went on vacations. We stayed home. And I see a similarity there: A general anxiety runs pretty deep.

Other

Having friends was really important, wasn't it? Even if sometimes they did stuff which upset you?

Acquaintances were willing to enter into the warmest of friendships and share my problems as though they were relatives. It was all very flattering, but my nature does not respond to such intimacy. I like friends as I like music - when I am in the mood. Such freedom, however, was at the price of occasional loneliness.

Having friends was weird . . . but in a good way.

Most of my friendships had faded over the last year because I’d isolated myself and hidden from the embarrassment of my daily life.

I always thought it was normal not to have friends around.

I knew there were a lot of friends out there, and I wanted to be with them.

I always had good friends, but I did not feel like a cool girl, ever.

I've never been the type of guy that had a lot of friends or was part of the cool group.

We live in different cities. But we started -- and most people don't know this -- when we were 9 years old. It's been amazing, the things that we've accomplished. There just comes a point where you have to challenge yourself and try new things. ... But we're still best friends.

Actually, my friendships are changing because my friends have kids, so that's a new aspect to the material. Not just that I don't want to have kids, it's that I'm having a hard time relating to people I know.

I have lots of friends. I mix with all sorts of people, of all generations.

I was an intimate sort of child who never spoke up in groups. I preferred close friends.

It is a little weird. All those guys are my friends, some of my best friends. I grew up with them since I was 10 years old.

It's kind of weird, because most of those guys I grew up with, and some of them were my best friends.

My best friends are still the ones I first attached myself to when I went to school because, all of a sudden, I was leaving the rather pampered and occasionally very annoying world of having three older sisters to go to a male-dominated world.

I've never had a huge circle of friends. I can't spread myself that thin and go 100 million miles an hour all the time. I choose to give truly of myself, entirely of myself, to the people I choose to do that with, and I can't do that with everyone.

I had my group of friends, you know, like my real group of friends, and then I had, like, party friends.

I'd say that on 'Friends' my character was the guy bouncing around the room. I'm no longer that guy, necessarily, in my life. I used to be. But I'm not now.

Basically I have, like, five really close friends - girls and guys. I like being friends with both because you can do different things with both.

I still have a lot of my friends from high school. You just know who is there for you for real, and who is trying to get something out of you.

I was lucky, because of Student Council, my classes, sports and social life, there were different people I had friendships with.

I find it not hard to make friends, but it's definitely different when I go somewhere like summer camp and everyone already knows that I'm in 'Hunger Games'... My life is still pretty normal, and I still have some really great friends.

I've always been someone with a small circle of friends. Each stretch of my life has been defined by one person who was just my person. We became inseparable for a certain number of years, and that time was our season, just the two of us making our way through life.

All my closest friends are the ones I made while in college or who knew me growing up. They keep me grounded, and I adore that about them.

I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a clique. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized what a true friend really is. So my friendship circle has changed a bit.

I do have many of the same friends I grew up with. Most I’ve known since we were three or four years old! I have made new friends as well.

When I hear about people who’ve had the same friends since kindergarten, I can’t imagine what that must be like.

When I was 18, there were 50 people that I called my friends. Today, there are only three, but I’m glad to have those three. If you have three people that you can really call your friends, then you truly have it made.

I’m still a little girl in Hawaii, I have the same friends I had when I was a kid who love me for who I am – not what I do. I never got caught up in the club scene or took wrong roads.

A lot of people that I’ve had around me have been my closest friends since junior high, back when we were exchanging each other’s clothes, staying at each other’s houses. That was before I had anything.

I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12 – Jesus, did you?

I always pined for the guys who didn't know I existed. Looking back now, the friendships are what mattered. My best friend is still a girl I met in junior high.

I was friends with everybody. I never stuck to one clique.

As for my 'real life,' yes, I do have friends who are different from me, and I find it refreshing being around them.

I haven't had groupies. I had admirers, but not groupies. But I've always been, you know, courted into the friend zone.

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