Slim looked through George and beyond him. “Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”
– John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men, Chapter 2. Slim on the rarity of friendship and how the fear of other people stops people from building friendships with one another. This is why the friendship between George and Lennie is so special.