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  ...When Heaven has taken from us some object of our love, how sweet is it to have a bosom whereon to recline our heads, and into which we may pour the torrent of our tears! Grief, with such a comfort, is almost a luxury! In a life where we are perpetually exposed to want and accident, yours is a wonderful proposition, to insulate ourselves, to retire from all aid, and to wrap ourselves in the mantle of self-sufficiency! For assuredly nobody will care for him, who cares for nobody. But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine.   I will recur for proof to the days we have lately passed. On these, indeed, the sun shone brightly! How gay did the face of nature appear! Hills, valleys, chateaux, gardens, rivers, every object wore its liveliest hue! Whence did they borrow it? From the presence of our charming companion. They were pleasing, because she seemed pleased. Alone, the scene would have been dull and insipid: the participation of it with her gave it relish. Let the gloomy monk, sequestered from the world, seek...   Jefferson, Thomas

Source: President THOMAS JEFFERSON, letter to Maria Cosway, October 12, 1786.The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, vol. 10, pp. 44950 . · Excerpt from Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 · This quote is about friends and friendship · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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