Casual friends makes you go by, but have no meaning. Close friends are the best, but be careful, you may find disappointment in good friends as you do in love relationships.

I think it totally depends on the type of friend you plan to be.

A few really close friends. No question.

A few real good close friends.

I prefer a few really good friends. I use the friends of the few really good friend as my casual friends.

We come into this universe alone.
The society created a herd mentality so that we could survive togther- there born groups which then led to friends- to partners and so on so on.
Friends are living souls that help you get on with your daily life-
ex living alone in the woods you quickly make freinds with the critters around you, the bird that comes every morning to sing you melodies ,the beaver that looks at you and then go ons with his work, the fox that shoot cross your front lawn, the surrounding become your freinds
So friends can mean a lot of things to differnet people
How you define casual and close ? Sometime casual freinds do things that are of a close freind nature type are they then become from casual to close
Yes it nice to have friends -depending on the circumstances and surrounding you are in.

I prefer to go for quality than quantity... Granted that's gotten fairly lonely lately..All of my close friends live 2000 miles away..Also I've bounced around a lot lately so making new friends has been a challenge.

I have reached the point in life where I believe the word friend is a relative term, and not qualified by an adjective;

Depends on one's personality. I am a loner - I don't like being smothered with someone checking up on me all the time - so I appreciate having several casual friends who I can call on to do stuff - and vice versa. - just when I feel like having company.

Close friends. Casual friends are a dime a dozen, and easily replaced. People you can trust, on the other hand...

I have a lot of casual friends and a few close ones, like most people do.
Both are important.

Very close ones, your going to get casual ones anyway

The latter, and damned few of those.

for me, quality over quantity, always been like that.

I think this varies from person to person. Some people are introverted and prefer a few close friends, while others are extraverted and thrive on casual friendships. I'm strongly introverted, to the point that I tend to keep some distance even with my closest friends.

False. They're not mutually exclusive and these kinds of things are not one-size-fits-all.

I'm a very few, very close kind of person. But I don't pretend to assume that what works for me is necessarily good for everyone--or anyone--else. My recommendation would be "You decide."

Few and close.

quality over quantity

I pretty much don't do friends, I have acquaintances, and "kids" people I partly raised. I get on well with people at work, they would probably all call me a friend, but they know almost nothing about me and I keep it that way. I am the issue, not them.

Both.

Few/Close

That is strictly a personal decision.

I have both. Do I have to choose?

If you have a few close friends the casual part is covered because you can be casual with anyone.

Sometimes though you need mates, people that know and get you. Someone that can give you a hug or tell you you're wrong about something.

'Casual'friends/acquaintances are akin to fallen leaves in that they are easily blown around by the prevailing breezes, True and Close, Trusted Friends are like pure Diamonds, rich, rare, hard to find and should be cherished.