There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true

“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” — thus spoke Thomas Aquinas, the great philosopher-theologian of the Middle Ages, whose mind reached toward heaven even as his heart remained deeply human. In these words, he speaks not as a scholar lost in abstract thought, but as a man who understood the soul’s longing for communion. For friendship, to Aquinas, was not a mere comfort of life, but a reflection of divine love itself — the most sacred bond that can exist between mortal beings. To prize true friendship, he said, is to honor what is most eternal in man.

Aquinas lived in a world of monasteries, candlelight, and contemplation — a world where men sought the infinite through prayer and reason. Yet even amid his towering studies of God and virtue, he paused to exalt friendship, placing it among the highest earthly blessings. In his Summa Theologica, he wrote that friendship is “the greatest of all external goods,” for it joins souls in mutual goodness. Wealth, power, and pleasure may dazzle for a season, but they fade like mist before the dawn. True friendship, however, endures, because it is founded not upon gain, but upon love — the kind that wills the good of another as one’s own.

To prize friendship is to recognize it as a treasure greater than gold, for it cannot be bought or bartered. The soul does not choose a friend for utility, but because it sees in another soul something of itself — a likeness of spirit, a harmony of virtue. Such a bond is rare, for it is not born of chance, but of character. The wise, said Aquinas, are cautious in choosing their friends, for false friendship — founded on pleasure, or pride, or advantage — withers when tested. But the true friend, once found, becomes a second self. They share our joys without envy, our sorrows without judgment, and our silences without discomfort.

History bears witness to such friendship in many noble hearts. Recall the tale of David and Jonathan, from the ancient scriptures. Jonathan, son of King Saul, knew that David was chosen by God to succeed his father — yet rather than envy him, he loved him as his own soul. When his father sought David’s life, Jonathan risked his own to warn and protect him. Their friendship was not of convenience but of pure devotion — so strong that even death could not sever it. Here was the very essence of Aquinas’s truth: that true friendship is sacred, born of love that seeks no reward but the other’s good.

To call friendship “the most prized thing on earth” is to remind us that no crown or kingdom, no treasure or triumph, can equal the comfort of one loyal heart. When fortune smiles, the false friends gather; but when adversity strikes, only the true remain. In times of darkness, a friend becomes light; in despair, they are hope. Aquinas, who devoted his life to understanding divine love, saw in human friendship its earthly mirror — a taste of heaven’s own harmony. To love a friend faithfully, and to be loved in return, is to live as close to the divine as mortal hearts can reach.

Yet, as all great truths demand, this one also asks something of us. To have a true friend, one must be a true friend — constant in loyalty, humble in forgiveness, generous in understanding. Many prize friendship in word but neglect it in deed. They forget that love, to endure, must be tended like a flame. Write to your friends. Visit them when the world forgets them. Speak truth, even when it wounds, and forgive quickly when wronged. These are the small acts that feed the roots of friendship, keeping them alive through every season.

Let this, then, be the lesson: treasure friendship not as an ornament, but as a sacred bond — a covenant of souls. In your wealth, remember your friends; in your sorrow, seek them; and in your strength, protect them. For all else fades — beauty, youth, fame, and glory — but a true friend remains a beacon through the years, steady as the stars.

Thus spoke Thomas Aquinas, and thus it remains: of all gifts that life bestows, true friendship is the greatest to be prized, for it alone unites the human with the divine. To love and be loved in truth — that is the crown of mortal life, the echo of eternity in the hearts of men.