(Birch Trees in Autumn, woodcut by Carl Thiemann, 


1881-1966, German artist)

“Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence. I could and would not live if I were alone upon the earth, and cut off from the remembrance of my fellow-creatures. It is not that a man has occasion often to fall back upon the kindness of his friends; perhaps he may never experience the necessity of doing so; but they stand there as a solid and impregnable bulwark against all the evils of life.”

~ Sidney Smith (1771-1845), English essayist