To help a friend in need is easy, but to give him your time is not always opportune.

From My Autobiography: “Much nonsense has been written about my profound melancholy and loneliness. Perhaps I have never needed too many friends — celebrity attracts them indiscriminately. To help a friend in need is easy, but to give him your time is not always opportune. At the height of my popularity, friends and acquaintances crowded in upon me excessively. And, being both extrovert and introvert, when the latter prevailed I would have to get away from it all. This might account for those articles written about my being elusive, lonely and incapable of true friendship. This is nonsense. I have one or two very good friends who brighten my horizon, and when I am with them I usually have an enjoyable time.” Related quote from “A Comedian Sees the World”, Part II: “One cannot find time to see all one’s friends, and I cannot make too many plans ahead. So there is only one thing left. If I do not wish to offend them I must pack up and leave.”