I do then with my friends as I do with my books. I would have them where I can find them, but I seldom use them.
Interpretation
Friendship is valued for its availability, even if not frequently utilized.
In this quote, Emerson uses a comparison between friends and books to express the nature of his relationships. He appreciates having friends nearby and easily accessible but acknowledges that he does not engage with them often, highlighting a tendency to take friendships for granted while still valuing their presence in his life.
In practice
In a speech about maintaining connections, one could quote Emerson to emphasize the importance of having friends nearby.
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?
Adversity shows whether we have friends, or only the shadows of friends.
A friend is one with whom you are comfortable, to whom you are loyal, through whom you are blessed, and for whom you are grateful.
Here's a toast to the roast that good fellowship lends, with the sparkle of beer and wine; May its sentiment always be deeper, my friends, than the foam at the top of the stein. Then here's to the heartening wassail, wherever good fellows are found; Be its master instead of its vassal, and order the glasses around.
Labor and trouble one can always get through alone, but it takes two to be glad.
Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen.
Since we don't know where we're going, we have to stick together in case someone gets there.
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