“ the only way to have a friend is to be one. ”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friendship (1841). copy citation
| Author | Ralph Waldo Emerson |
|---|---|
| Source | Friendship |
| Topic | reciprocity friendship |
| Date | 1841 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | in "Essays: First Series" |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Essays:_First_Series/Friendship |
Context
“There are innumerable degrees of folly and wisdom, and for you to say aught is to be frivolous. Wait, and thy heart shall speak. Wait until the necessary and everlasting overpowers you, until day and night avail themselves of your lips. The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one. You shall not come nearer a man by getting into his house. If unlike, his soul only flees the faster from you, and you shall never catch a true glance of his eye. We see the noble afar off, and they repel us; why should we intrude?”
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Meaning and analysis
