A few really close friends is the only way to go for me.
Casual friends won't have your back, and stick with you through thick and thin.
They probably won't even help you move.

Quality over quantity

I have both. Do I have to choose?

Beer and pizza?

I used 2 want lots of friends, now all I want is a few good ones I can always trust.

Very close ones, your going to get casual ones anyway

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.

Ihave a few really close friends. Have made some friends here. Met one. Hope to meet more.

A handful of long standing friends is best. They know where the bodies are buried; you don't have to explain anything. That said, I do like the thrill of meeting new people.

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.

The latter, and damned few of those.

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.

I would rather have a few really close friends.

Quality over quantity every time. Most casual friends are fairweather friends - they won't be there when you need them even if you have always been there for them.

I'd rather have a few really close friends, but can sometimes be harder to do, depending on one's circumstances.

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;

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