They weren't wearing insignia.
Even the best of friends need time apart.
Get away from the crowd when you can. Keep yourself to yourself, if only for a few hours daily.
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.
Never read a book through merely because you have begun it.
Intimacy is being seen and known as the person you truly are.
I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people who are convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another.