It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
As widowers proverbially marry again, so a man with the habit of friendship always finds new friends.
Interpretation
Friendship is a recurring theme in life, as those who value it naturally attract new friends over time.
This quote by George Santayana suggests that just as widowers often remarry, individuals who actively nurture the habit of friendship will continuously find new companions. It highlights the importance of maintaining an open heart and engaging socially, indicating that friendships evolve and grow, similar to romantic relationships, and that a mindset oriented towards connection invites further relationships.
In practice
During a speech about the importance of community, one might quote this to emphasize how friendships can help build connections.
It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
The working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession.
Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Loving friendships provide us with a space to experience the joy of community in a relationship where we learn to process all our issues, to cope with differences and conflict while staying connected.
Friends donβt spy; true friendship is about privacy, too.
We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
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