He was one of those men who possess almost every gift, except the gift of the power to use them.
Charles KingsleyRead
It is only the great hearted who can be true friends. The mean and cowardly, Can never know what true friendship means.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True friendship requires courage and a noble heart; only those with great character can understand its value.
This quote emphasizes the importance of having a noble and courageous heart to form deep and meaningful friendships. According to Kingsley, only those who are brave and generous can truly appreciate what friendship entails, while those who are cowardly or mean-hearted will never grasp the essence of true companionship.
Themes
FriendshipLoyaltyCourageNobilityCharacter
In practice
Example use cases
Sharing this quote at a wedding toast to highlight the importance of true friendship.
More from Charles Kingsley
All quotes βBeauty is God's handwriting β a wayside sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank for it Him.
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Take comfort, and recollect however little you and I may know, God knows; He knows Himself and you and me and all things; and His mercy is over all His works.
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Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know.
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Do today's duty, fight to-day's temptation; and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.
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You must not talk about 'ain't and can't' when you speak of this great wonderful world round you, of which the wisest man knows only the very smallest corner, and is, as the great Sir Isaac Newton said, only a child picking up pebbles on the shore of a boundless ocean.
Charles KingsleyRead
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