“My friends are my "estate." Forgive me then the avarice to hoard them.”

— Emily Dickinson, Letter to Samuel Bowles (August 1858 or 1859)

About Emily Dickinson

1830 – 1886

American poet who wrote nearly 1,800 poems, most of them unpublished in her lifetime, on nature, death, faith and the inner life.

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.”

“After great pain, a formal feeling comes.”

“I'm Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – Too?”

“It is easier to forgive an Enemy than to forgive a Friend.”

“A Father is a Treasure, a Brother a Comfort ; but a Friend is both.”

“All becoming and growing—all that guarantees a future—involves pain.”

“If you would keep your Secret from an enemy, tell it not to a friend.”

“Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.”

“The superior man thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of comfort.”