People who are good listeners validate other people’s feelings,It shows that what they’re saying makes sense.

Real friends naturally boost your self-esteem and in turn, helping out a good friend [in this way] can help you feel better about yourself as well.

Real friends identify them in a mindful manner not to be spiteful, but for accountability’s sake. “They’re able to point out some of the negative things you’re doing in addition to the positive,” Rowney says. “They really support you on both sides.”

A real friend stays present in the moment by paying attention to your needs along with theirs.

How many times have you tried to have a conversation with someone, only for that person to turn the topic back to him or herself? Somehow the venting moments and the catch-up sessions aren’t quite as fulfilling. Conversations with real friends aren’t one-sided.

Being able to have an open, two-way dialogue with someone improves the chances that the relationship is going to be stronger.

It’s one thing to have friends who provide support during times of success. But genuine friends are there through all of our peaks and valleys — the grief, the joy, the failures and everything in between.

To be able to know someone enough and to trust them enough to even allow them to support you through tough times is a sign of real friendships, the people who are in your life like that are about as close to family as you can get.

Genuine friends can sense duress — and thereby assist in making better decisions, Rowney says. And even when we’re not looking for advice, their presence alone can calm us. One 2011 study found that just spending time with a best friend can help beat stress.

While genuine friends celebrate our every accomplishment, they also remind us of our roots. Good friends will keep you in check to some degree and not let your head get oversized, they know the deep-down, base version of you. So not only will they support you when you succeed,but they remind you of where you came from.

Close friends always step up and take the initiative — even if it’s something the other person may not want to hear. Supportiveness is crucial in friendships.

Honesty isn’t always an easy thing, but it’s important to your bond. Swallowing that pill and being the best friend you can by being open with them always works out better.

Real friends understand, and because they understand they are capable of forgiving.

Rowney says real friends not only stick with us as we grow, but they also make us want to be better versions of ourselves. Friends aren’t just confidants, but role models. Their kindness and other attributes, genuine friends bring out the best in us — which is one of the greatest gifts they could ever give.

Much like with family members, you can go extended stretches of weeks or months without talking and hanging out consistently, yet there’s no doubts about your relationship. Schedules get busy, circumstances arise, but your friendship remains fully intact.

Rarely do you discover anything about what’s going on with them on social networks. You don’t need Facebook to tell you it’s their birthday, or Instagram to see who they were with and where they went last night.

They don’t let you do anything stupid – at least not by yourself.

During the lowest of lows, they don’t give up on you even if you’ve given up on yourself.

There are silences, but they don’t feel the least bit uncomfortable or awkward. If you can sit down and shut up with a person, never feeling obligated to fill that hushed void, you’ve got a special connection. 

True friends make you want to be a better person, just because they make you feel happy, positive and remind you just how amazing you are. They enhance your life and make you want to strive to be the best you can be. True friends look for the good in the bad, not the bad in every situation.

A true friend will always be honest, no matter how hard the situation is. Sure, not everybody is brutally honest, but true friends will tell you if they hear your boyfriend is cheating on you, they will tell you that you have lipstick on your teeth and most importantly, they won’t lie to you about the little things.

One of the biggest indicators of true friendship is if the other person allows you to be yourself, with no judgement. If they’re putting you down about the way you look, act, think or behave, chances are they’re not true friends and want to change you to suit their agenda.

Some people fall off the grid or stop hanging out with their friends once they are in a relationship. Real friends try to balance it out and make time for you.

Real friends are basically free therapists. They will sit you down when you’re upset, listen to you explain your problem and give their honest advice on how to help you, whereas fake friends ignore your problems and focus on themselves.

True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island… to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.

True friends bring out the best in you. They make your life sweeter with their words, their presence, their actions, and behaviors. They enhance you, they enhance your life, and they make you want to become a better person.

True friends inspire you to live your life to your full potential, to be better, not bitter, and to constantly look for the good in the bad, and the beautiful in the ugly.  Always remember, true friends, make you better, not bitter…

Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself – and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That’s what real love amounts to – letting a person be what he really is.

Your true friends, the people who truly love you, will never try convince you that you should be anything other than yourself. They give you the permission to just be. To be yourself, unapologetically, loving you for you, and not for who they think you should be. True friends give you permission to be yourself.

True friends rekindle your inner spirit by constantly reminding you of who you truly are underneath it all. Because they because they can see beyond all your insecurities, they will constantly remind you of who you truly are underneath it all, helping you tap into your inner beauty, wisdom, greatness, and power.

True friends will help you to live your life from a place of truth, light, love and integrity, no longer from a place of fear and doubt.

When I have sat at home with this God-given talent for music for a long time, somebody approaches me out of the blue and asks me to play for them. It's almost as though there's a force somewhere which is saying 'no sittin' around, out you go!

If we are going to have a bicameral parliament, I think there should always be a reserved place for people whose background and experience are critical to the welfare of the nation.

I will not say the fact that there are no European Union observers at an election means that it will not be fair and free.

When youre hiding behind a character all the time as soon as you have to be yourself you feel kind of terrified.

I want to tell a story and shape it all the way through to the end.

We have a huge family history with Singapore because we have the duty-free shops in the airports. It's a very industrious city. It's beautiful, and Singaporeans have this wonderful desire for, and love of, luxury goods. You can see how well thought out and planned the city is with the best boutiques.

My personal style is relaxed.

A rich man and his money are not so easily parted. Me, I have seen a well-known millionaire turn out a tramful of people to seek for a dropped halfpenny.

In undergraduate school, I chose a career path that always leads to certain unemployment: I majored in politics and public affairs with a double-minor in philosophy and history.

Classical music requires an immense amount of concentration, and I don't know if I would've been that committed to that particular life.

Guard yourself and your conscience no one else will and know that a bad decision at the right time can destroy you far more surely than any bullet

Children are supposed to help hold a marriage together. They do this in a number of ways. For instance they demand so much attention that a husband and wife concentrating on their children fail to notice each others faults.

I usually write when I'm in a great place. When I'm depressed, I don't usually write. So I take all of when I'm depressed and throw it into when I'm feeling good. Weird, I guess.

But today, I feel the genuine warmth, the affection, and although I may joke about it, I am touched.

I find that nonfiction writers are the likeliest to turn out interesting novels.

I think everything in life comes in threes: heartbreak and all that. You've got to do the full round in order to learn.

Divine does not tempt us to see whats in our hearts it tempts us so we could see whats in our hearts.

I archive a lot of my clothes and have them wrapped up and in boxes. I call them 'little tombs' and keep them in a storage space... I would never get rid of the dress I wore on the night I won my Oscar. When I die, someone can have it, but not a minute before!