Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first.

Ustinov’s quip punctures the sentimental idea that friendship is always a pure reflection of preference or “best liking.” Instead, he frames friendship as partly contingent and historical: the people who become “friends” are often those who happened to be present early—through school, work, neighborhood, or circumstance—and who therefore accumulated shared experiences and loyalty. The humor lies in reducing a lofty ideal to timing and inertia, but the implication is not wholly cynical: it highlights how relationships are built through duration, familiarity, and repeated contact. The line also invites readers to reconsider how labels like “friend” can lag behind changing tastes and personalities over time.