Poverty is the test of civility and the touchstone of friendship.

Hard times show you who was actually a friend. When you have nothing to offer, the people who stay are staying for reasons unconnected to advantage, and the ones who drift off were attached to something other than you. It is a brutal way to find out and nobody would choose it. The information, once you have it, is more reliable than anything you could learn in good times.

If you are in a lean stretch, keep a quiet note of who turned up. And if somebody you know is having one, be the person who calls without being asked, because presence costs little and is remembered for decades.