I wanted to write a book about female friendship, because it's a

The Welsh novelist and actress Ruth Jones, known for her warmth, humor, and profound understanding of the human heart, once said: “I wanted to write a book about female friendship, because it's a constant that goes right through to the end of our days. Over time, romantic love changes and often becomes something different, but friendship stays pretty much the same.” Within this reflection lies a timeless truth—one that transcends gender or age—that friendship is the quiet, enduring river that flows beneath the storms and seasons of life. Romantic love may blaze like fire, fierce and consuming, but friendship is the steady light that never flickers, the flame that warms without demanding, and the bond that deepens with time rather than fading from it.

The meaning of Jones’s words reaches into the very fabric of human experience. Romantic love is, by its nature, bound to transformation—it shifts as passion cools, as people change, as life reshapes them. Yet friendship, especially between women as she observes, endures with a sacred constancy. It is built not on possession but on understanding; not on desire, but on loyalty. Friendship asks no vows, yet holds the heart with a gentler, surer strength. It is love without condition, intimacy without fear, and companionship without the need to prove. Where romance may burn, friendship glows; where passion may fade, friendship matures.

The origin of this insight lies in the quiet observation of human nature itself. Through history, poets and philosophers have sung of friendship as one of life’s highest virtues. Aristotle called it “a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” Cicero wrote that friendship is “the purest form of affection.” And Jones, through the lens of the modern world, continues that lineage—showing that amid the noise of fleeting romance, friendship is the enduring song. In her novels, she captures the beauty of ordinary connections: women who stand by one another through heartbreak, illness, laughter, and age. Her words remind us that while romance may define chapters of life, friendship defines its whole.

History itself bears witness to this truth. Consider the bond between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok, two women whose friendship outlasted scandal, politics, and time. Their letters reveal affection, vulnerability, and strength—proof that friendship, particularly between women, can become a fortress against loneliness and judgment. In another age, we might recall the companionship of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, whose friendship sustained Woolf through darkness and inspired her creativity. These stories are echoes of what Ruth Jones speaks of: that in the end, it is friendship that remains when all else changes—when beauty fades, when lovers part, when the world turns cold.

Jones’s reflection is also a meditation on constancy—that rare and precious quality in a transient world. Friendship endures not because it is without conflict, but because it is built upon forgiveness and familiarity. It survives the silences, the distances, the years. It does not demand daily proof of devotion; it lives quietly, waiting, ready. Romantic love often seeks validation; friendship offers presence. And when age has dimmed passion’s fire, it is friendship that still walks beside us, hand in hand, steady as the morning sun.

There is also something profoundly spiritual in her view. Friendship teaches the soul humility and patience. It does not consume—it nurtures. It asks not “What can you give me?” but “How can I stand with you?” In that giving, friendship becomes the most enduring form of love, unbound by the body or circumstance. It is the love that holds a mother and daughter, that binds sisters of the heart, that unites those who have shared laughter and grief alike. In this way, Jones’s observation is not simply about women—it is about the divine permanence of genuine connection in a world of fleeting desires.

The lesson, then, is clear: cherish your friendships, for they are the anchors of your soul. Nurture them with honesty, patience, and gratitude. Speak when needed, listen when asked, and forgive often. Celebrate the friends who have seen your beginnings and will witness your endings, for they are the witnesses of your life’s truth. Romantic love may dazzle, but friendship sustains.

And so, let Ruth Jones’s words be carried as wisdom for the ages: romantic love may change its shape, but friendship endures as the truest reflection of the heart’s constancy. When youth fades and passions quiet, it is friendship that will still sit beside you in silence, knowing your story without need of words. Cultivate it, honor it, and it will walk with you—faithfully—until the end of your days.