"I've got many close friends, but there's an awful lot about friendship that is not demonstrative in my case"
About this Quote
The phrasing does quiet rhetorical work. “Many close friends” is the credential; “an awful lot” is the hedge, a soft confession that also functions as preemption. If you’ve ever felt slighted by Christopher’s coolness, he’s telling you: don’t read absence of overt affection as absence of allegiance. That’s classic diplomatic messaging, applied to personal life: trust the substance, not the signal.
The subtext is that demonstrativeness can be dangerous in his world. Statecraft runs on discretion; emotion is data that can be exploited. For a figure shaped by Cold War caution and the institutional culture of the State Department, intimacy is safest when it’s procedural - shown through consistency, loyalty, and private attention rather than public warmth. He frames this not as a flaw but as a temperament, almost a professional hazard.
In an era that increasingly equates authenticity with visibility, the quote reads like a defense of the unfashionable friend: the one who won’t emote on cue, but shows up when it counts.
Quote Details
| Topic | Friendship |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Christopher, Warren. (2026, January 18). I've got many close friends, but there's an awful lot about friendship that is not demonstrative in my case. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-got-many-close-friends-but-theres-an-awful-5902/
Chicago Style
Christopher, Warren. "I've got many close friends, but there's an awful lot about friendship that is not demonstrative in my case." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-got-many-close-friends-but-theres-an-awful-5902/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I've got many close friends, but there's an awful lot about friendship that is not demonstrative in my case." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-got-many-close-friends-but-theres-an-awful-5902/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.






