A friend, therefore, is a sort of paradox in nature. I who alone am, I who see nothing in nature whose existence I can affirm with equal evidence to my own, behold now the semblance of my being, in all its height, variety, and curiosity, reiterated in a foreign form; so that a friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.
Interpretation
A friend reflects our own existence and individuality in a unique way.
In this quote, Emerson suggests that a friend embodies a paradoxical relationship where one person can witness their own essence and complexity through another. It highlights the profound connection between friends, as each serves as a mirror revealing the nuances of one's identity and humanity, making friendship one of the greatest creations of nature.
In practice
In a speech about the value of companionship and understanding, this quote can be used to emphasize the depth of friendship.
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?
But sometimes it's like you just meet someone and you just know that you're totally connected, and this person is, like, your brother - or your sister. Even if they don't, like, recognize it, you feel it. And in a lot of ways it don't matter if they do or they don't see that for what it is - all you can do is put the feeling out there. That's your duty. Then you just wait and see what comes back to you. That's the deal.
Among true and real friends, all is common; and were ignorance and envy and superstition banished from the world, all mankind would be friend.
In high seas or in low seas, I'm gonna be your friend... I'm gonna be your friend. In high tide or in low tide, I'll be by your side... I'll be by your side.
Looking back, I am grateful for so many friends who helped me in my youth to gain a testimony of the restored Church of Jesus Christ. First, I exercised simple faith in their testimonies, and then I received the divine witness of the Spirit to my mind and to my heart.
The loss of a friend is like that of a limb; time may heal the anguish of the wound, but the loss cannot be repaired.
It is well there is no one without fault; for he would not have a friend in the world. He would seem to belong to s different species.
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