A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.
Interpretation
A true friend allows you to be open and honest without fear of judgment.
This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes the importance of sincerity and open communication in friendship. A genuine friend provides a safe space where one can express thoughts and feelings freely, fostering a deeper and more authentic connection that goes beyond superficial interactions.
In practice
During a speech about the value of friendships at a community event.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
When I do retire, I will miss the trips with the team, the jokes with my teammates, the habits: having breakfast with them, playing with them, all the little things.
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.
I do not believe in communism any more than you do but there is nothing wrong with the Communists in this country. Several of the best friends I have got are Communists.
Dogs are easier to love than people; they're certainly more dependable. Once they love you, that's it. A true friend in life is a dog.
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends.
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