--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No empty handed man can lure a bird" description: "\"No empty handed man can lure a bird\" — Geoffrey Chaucer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_bird_no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird-1981_1981301.jpg" --- # No empty handed man can lure a bird ![“No empty handed man can lure a bird” quote by Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_bird_no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird-1981_1981301.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_bird_no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird-1981_1981301.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_bird_no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird-1981_1981301.jpg) > “No empty handed man can lure a bird” [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Only those who bring something to offer can attract others, like a bird needing bait. **In simple terms:** You need something to offer to attract. Key Takeaway Offer value to attract. Themes attraction value relationships Mood hopeful inspirational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - networking - dating - business negotiations Key Concepts reciprocity social exchange Questions to Reflect On - What can you offer to attract? - How does offering value change relationships? A Different Perspective If you lack something valuable, attraction fails. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [With empty hand no man can lure a hawk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/with-empty-hand-no-man-can-lure-a-hawk/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Time stoops to no man's lure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/time-stoops-to-no-man-s-lure/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [Marethyu stretched out his right hand and Aten took it in his. "Let me tell you this," the hook-handed man said. "We will meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/marethyu-stretched-out-his-right-hand-and-aten-took-it-in-his-let-me/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) > [With emptie hands men may no haukes lure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/with-emptie-hands-men-may-no-haukes-lure/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [I see cities as organisms, as living creatures. To me Madrid is a man and Barcelona is a woman. And it's a woman who's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/i-see-cities-as-organisms-as-living-creatures-to-me-madrid-is-a-man/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [Like buried treasures, the outposts of the universe have beckoned to the adventurous from immemorial times. Princes and potentates, political or industrial, equally with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ellery-hale/like-buried-treasures-the-outposts-of-the-universe-have-beckoned-to/) George Ellery Hale > [One cannot resist the lure of Africa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/one-cannot-resist-the-lure-of-africa/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Hark, I hear a robin calling! List, the wind is from the south! And the orchard-bloom is falling Sweet as kisses on the mouth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/hark-i-hear-a-robin-calling-list-the-wind-is-from-the-south-and-the/) [Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/) > [The lure of heady profits of the late 1990's spawned abuses and excesses. With strict enforcement and higher ethical standards, we must usher in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-lure-of-heady-profits-of-the-late-1990-s-spawned-abuses-and/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Example is a dangerous lure: where the wasp got through the gnat sticks fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-fontaine/example-is-a-dangerous-lure-where-the-wasp-got-through-the-gnat/) [Jean de La Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-fontaine/) > [By the time I was 10 or 12, I had discovered the lure of the romance genre - and the dusty copy of 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-maclean/by-the-time-i-was-10-or-12-i-had-discovered-the-lure-of-the-romance/) [Sarah MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-maclean/) > [The lure in art collecting and its financial rewards, not counting for a moment its aesthetic, cultural and intellectual rewards, is like the trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/the-lure-in-art-collecting-and-its-financial-rewards-not-counting-for/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [I read actual physical books and have thus far avoided the electronic lure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-read-actual-physical-books-and-have-thus-far-avoided-the-electronic/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Weakness is an irresistible lure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/weakness-is-an-irresistible-lure/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/here-i-encounter-the-most-popular-fallacy-of-our-times-it-is-not/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) ## More by Geoffrey Chaucer > [Drunkenness is the very sepulcher Of man's wit and his discretion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/drunkenness-is-the-very-sepulcher-of-man-s-wit-and-his-discretion/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Whoso will pray, he must fast and be clean, And fat his soul, and make his body lean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/whoso-will-pray-he-must-fast-and-be-clean-and-fat-his-soul-and-make/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“The man who has no wife is no cuckold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/the-man-who-has-no-wife-is-no-cuckold/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [One eare it heard, at the other out it went.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/one-eare-it-heard-at-the-other-out-it-went/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [The handsome gifts that fate and nature lend us Most often are the very ones that end us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/the-handsome-gifts-that-fate-and-nature-lend-us-most-often-are-the/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Patience is a conquering virtue. The learned say that, if it not desert you, It vanquishes what force can never reach; Why answer back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/patience-is-a-conquering-virtue-the-learned-say-that-if-it-not-desert/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“This Nicholas anon leet fle a fart As greet as it had been a thonder-dent, That with the strook he was almoost yblent; And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/this-nicholas-anon-leet-fle-a-fart-as-greet-as-it-had-been-a-thonder/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [A whetstone is no carving instrument, And yet it maketh sharp the carving tool; And if you see my efforts wrongly spent, Eschew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/a-whetstone-is-no-carving-instrument-and-yet-it-maketh-sharp-the/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“In general, my liege lady,’ he began, ‘Women desire to have dominion Over their husbands, and their lovers too; They want to have mastery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/in-general-my-liege-lady-he-began-women-desire-to-have-dominion-over/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“Till we be roten, kan we not be rypen?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/till-we-be-roten-kan-we-not-be-rypen/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Venus me yaf my lust, my like rousnesse, And Mars yaf me my sturdy hardinesse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/venus-me-yaf-my-lust-my-like-rousnesse-and-mars-yaf-me-my-sturdy/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“For sondry scoles maken sotile clerkis; Womman of manye scoles half a clerk is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/for-sondry-scoles-maken-sotile-clerkis-womman-of-manye-scoles-half-a/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [For God's love, take things patiently, have sense, Think! We are prisoners and shall always be. Fortune has given us this adversity, Some wicked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/for-god-s-love-take-things-patiently-have-sense-think-we-are/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/whan-that-aprill-with-his-shoures-soote-the-droghte-of-march-hath/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Forbid us something, and that thing we desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/forbid-us-something-and-that-thing-we-desire/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) [Explore all 217 Geoffrey Chaucer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No empty handed man can lure a bird", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Geoffrey Chaucer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_bird_no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird-1981_1981301.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_bird_no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird-1981_1981301.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_bird_no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird-1981_1981301.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No empty handed man can lure a bird” — Geoffrey Chaucer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No empty handed man can lure...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/no-empty-handed-man-can-lure-a-bird/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```