--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of the strange things about…" description: "\"One of the strange things about friendship is that time together isn't cancelled out by time apart. One doesn't erase the other or balance it on some i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/614/michael-robotham-7931_balance_one-of-the-strange-things-about-friendsh_1463383.jpg" --- # One of the strange things about friendship is that time… ![“One of the strange things about friendship is that time together isn't cancelled out by time apart. One doesn't erase the other or balance it on some invisible scale. You can spend a few hours with someone and they will change your life, or you can spend a lifetime with a person and remain…” quote by Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/614/michael-robotham-7931_balance_one-of-the-strange-things-about-friendsh_1463383.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/614/michael-robotham-7931_balance_one-of-the-strange-things-about-friendsh_1463383.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/614/michael-robotham-7931_balance_one-of-the-strange-things-about-friendsh_1463383.jpg) > “One of the strange things about friendship is that time together isn't cancelled out by time apart. One doesn't erase the other or balance it on some invisible scale. You can spend a few hours with someone and they will change your life, or you can spend a lifetime with a person and remain unchanged.” [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Friendship's impact is not measured by shared time versus separation; brief encounters can be transformative, while long ones may leave one unchanged. **In simple terms:** Time together doesn't cancel time apart; brief moments can change you. Key Takeaway Value quality over quantity in friendships. Themes friendship impact time connection Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meeting new people - long-term relationships - reflecting on past friendships Key Concepts psychology human relationships meaning Questions to Reflect On - What moments have reshaped you unexpectedly? - How do you assess the depth of a friendship? A Different Perspective Not all friendships are deep; some may remain superficial despite duration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) [Change your life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-your-life/) [Changing your life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-your-life/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time apart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-apart/) [Time together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-together/) ## Related quotes > [“Time together and time apart, didn't every relationship need both?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-pierce/time-together-and-time-apart-didn-t-every-relationship-need-both/) [M. Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-pierce/) > [“Time together is so much more pleasant for the time apart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donita-k-paul/time-together-is-so-much-more-pleasant-for-the-time-apart/) [Donita K. Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donita-k-paul/) > [When you work as actors in this business, you spend a lot of time apart. That's why a lot of marriages fail. It's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-kodjoe/when-you-work-as-actors-in-this-business-you-spend-a-lot-of-time/) [Boris Kodjoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-kodjoe/) > [A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. Friendship isn't a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-friend-is-one-of-the-nicest-things-you-can-have-and-one-of-the-best-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The most important things in a friendship didn't have to be said out loud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elise-broach/the-most-important-things-in-a-friendship-didn-t-have-to-be-said-out/) [Elise Broach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elise-broach/) > [“Don't mistake me, Treasure. I can offer you many things, but friendship ain't one of them. Now, for once in your life, be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kady-cross/don-t-mistake-me-treasure-i-can-offer-you-many-things-but-friendship/) [Kady Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kady-cross/) > [“Don't mistake me Treasure. I can offer many things, but friendship aint one of them. Now for once in your life be a sensible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kady-cross/don-t-mistake-me-treasure-i-can-offer-many-things-but-friendship-aint/) [Kady Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kady-cross/) > [“…it was but one of the things that made friendship with me an ambivalent enterprise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/it-was-but-one-of-the-things-that-made-friendship-with-me-an/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“Books! And cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery and —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/books-and-cleverness-there-are-more-important-things-friendship-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I enjoy the time passing. 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You can't pick and choose when you want to be nice to someone because if you push someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/friendship-is-a-full-time-job-you-can-t-pick-and-choose-when-you-want/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Friendship is a full-time job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-russell/friendship-is-a-full-time-job/) [Bill Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-russell/) > [Friendship, on the other hand, serves a great host of different purposes all at the same time. In whatever direction you turn, it still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/friendship-on-the-other-hand-serves-a-great-host-of-different/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) ## More by Michael Robotham > [“Here you can shoot the bad guys,' a mercenary says in Baghdad. 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They expect me to face autumns and winters like that and bitch-slap them down; make them come to heel.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/everyone-thinks-i-m-so-strong-they-expect-me-to-face-autumns-and/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) > [“We need the darkness to appreciate the light, and the bumps along the road to stop us falling asleep at the wheel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/we-need-the-darkness-to-appreciate-the-light-and-the-bumps-along-the/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) > [Why do our parents have the ability to make us feel like children even when our hair is graying and we have a mortgage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/why-do-our-parents-have-the-ability-to-make-us-feel-like-children/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) > [“Truth is a matter of semantics, whether we like it or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/truth-is-a-matter-of-semantics-whether-we-like-it-or-not/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) > [“I've discovered the secret of revenge. 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That's what separates us from the other animals. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/it-was-the-most-important-moment-in-human-history-the-telling-of-the/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) [Explore all 82 Michael Robotham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) ## More Balance quotes > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. 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I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [she got a reputation for an easy smile and a sharp tongue, and using one to balance the other, she seemed friendly but distant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/she-got-a-reputation-for-an-easy-smile-and-a-sharp-tongue-and-using/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales for others, if not always for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/life-s-unfairness-is-not-irrevocable-we-can-help-balance-the-scales/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [“We don't need to strive towards balance, we rather need to work on the obstacles that are preventing the natural flow of balance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-alebraheem/we-don-t-need-to-strive-towards-balance-we-rather-need-to-work-on-the/) [A.A. Alebraheem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-alebraheem/) > [I think that kind of balance comes with the process of growing together as a band, the Little Dragon. We love to write, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukimi-nagano/i-think-that-kind-of-balance-comes-with-the-process-of-growing/) [Yukimi Nagano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukimi-nagano/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. 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Five hundred miles an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanni/when-it-comes-down-to-music-i-have-no-balance-i-am-100-percent-it-is/) [Yanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanni/) [Browse all 5,166 Balance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One of the strange things about friendship is that time together isn't cancelled out by time apart. One doesn't erase the other or balance it on some invisible scale. 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