I hate the giving of the hand unless the whole man accompanies it.
Interpretation
Emerson emphasizes the importance of genuine connection over superficial gestures.
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that true expressions of friendship or camaraderie require more than just physical gestures, such as a handshake. He implies that for a connection to be meaningful, it must involve the entirety of a person—emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually—rather than just a mere outward display of friendship.
In practice
In a speech about meaningful relationships, one could use this quote to highlight the value of true connection.
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?
It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam," said Frodo, "and I could not have borne that." "Not as certain as being left behind," said Sam. "But I am going to Mordor." "I know that well enough, Mr. Frodo. Of course you are. And I'm coming with you.
Meeting Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing him was like drinking it.
I still have friends from primary school. And my two best girlfriends are from secondary school. I don't have to explain anything to them. I don't have to apologize for anything. They know. There's no judgment in any way.
Success is meaningless if you can't sleep at night because of harsh things said, petty secrets sharpened against hard and stony regret, just waiting to be plunged into the soft underbelly of a 'friendship.'
Is there any pleasure in anger? Yes, if the fire of my anger appeases the ashes of my friends.
We tiptoed around each other like heartbreaking new friends.
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