Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence…

“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence…”

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence; true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks and adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

Year: 1783
Context: Letter to Bushrod Washington
Shortlink: http://fq1.us/gn

Notations:

Keywords: appelation, confidence, courteous to all, intimate with few, plant of slow growth, shocks and adversity, true friendship, well tried