--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We would call no one a lobster without…" description: "\"“We would call no one a lobster without good and sufficient claws.”\" — O. Henry" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/o-henry-3281_claws_we-would-call-no-one-a-lobster-without-g_2796450.jpg" --- # We would call no one a lobster without good and sufficient… ![“We would call no one a lobster without good and sufficient claws.” quote by O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/o-henry-3281_claws_we-would-call-no-one-a-lobster-without-g_2796450.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/o-henry-3281_claws_we-would-call-no-one-a-lobster-without-g_2796450.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/o-henry-3281_claws_we-would-call-no-one-a-lobster-without-g_2796450.jpg) > ““We would call no one a lobster without good and sufficient claws.”” [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A metaphor that those lacking essential traits (claws) cannot claim a certain status (lobster). **In simple terms:** Without necessary qualities, you can't be something. Key Takeaway Develop the needed skills before claiming a role. Themes skill identity metaphor self-awareness Mood analytical thought‑provoking Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - job interview - team leadership - personal branding - sports selection - academic admission Key Concepts ability qualifications self-perception Questions to Reflect On - What 'claws" do you need for your goals? - Can you succeed without them? A Different Perspective May imply exclusion of those unable to develop traits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [I'm fairly adventurous with my eating. I've tried kangaroo, and Moreton Bay bugs, which are a kind of lobster, are so good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-o-driscoll/i-m-fairly-adventurous-with-my-eating-i-ve-tried-kangaroo-and-moreton/) [Brian O'Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-o-driscoll/) > [On New York's Palm restaurant: Their steaks are often good, but the lobsters-with claws the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger's forearms-are as glazed and tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/on-new-york-s-palm-restaurant-their-steaks-are-often-good-but-the/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [Every animal on the planet attracts mates with the goal of reproduction. Frogs swell their bodies. Male gorillas beat their chests. Have you ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/every-animal-on-the-planet-attracts-mates-with-the-goal-of/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-is-not-a-bad-fellow-though-an-absolute-imbecile-in-his-profession/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I went into a restaurant one night and ordered lobster, and the waiter brought me one with a claw missing. I called him over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-mcguire/i-went-into-a-restaurant-one-night-and-ordered-lobster-and-the-waiter/) [Al McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-mcguire/) > [Leo waited while the fish centaur put away his supplies. Aphros's lobster-claw horns kept swimming around in his thick hair, and Leo had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/leo-waited-while-the-fish-centaur-put-away-his-supplies-aphros-s/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Even his hair was bigger—a massive globe of blue-black frizz so thick that his lobster-claw horns appeared to be drowning as they tried to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/even-his-hair-was-bigger-a-massive-globe-of-blue-black-frizz-so-thick/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Each of us, when our day's work is done, must seek our ideal, whether it be love or pinochle or lobster à la Newburg,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/each-of-us-when-our-day-s-work-is-done-must-seek-our-ideal-whether-it/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [I'm a big fish eater. Salmon - I love salmon. My sister loves Chinese food and sushi and all that. I'm not as big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-fanning/i-m-a-big-fish-eater-salmon-i-love-salmon-my-sister-loves-chinese/) [Elle Fanning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-fanning/) > [“I look like a lobster, don’t I?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-tozer/i-look-like-a-lobster-don-t-i/) [Gabrielle Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-tozer/) > [“Honestly,’ she said when they were out of Bruce’s earshot, ‘he’s as bad in the kitchen as you are. What do you people do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-pascal/honestly-she-said-when-they-were-out-of-bruce-s-earshot-he-s-as-bad/) [Francine Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-pascal/) > [“Lobster-both-ways is popular tonight. The preparation is easy enough. Take a two-pound lobster. Kill it with a sharp chef’s knife straight between the eyes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/lobster-both-ways-is-popular-tonight-the-preparation-is-easy-enough/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) > [“Waking up Thursday morning to another dreary day and the sense of being physically stuffed, they focused on FISH. While Charlotte interviewed the postmaster…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-delinsky/waking-up-thursday-morning-to-another-dreary-day-and-the-sense-of/) [Barbara Delinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-delinsky/) > [“Whenever the wife wants to do drugs, she thinks about Sartre. One bad trip and then a giant lobster followed him around for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-offill/whenever-the-wife-wants-to-do-drugs-she-thinks-about-sartre-one-bad/) [Jenny Offill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-offill/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) ## More by O. Henry > [He seemed to be made of sunshine and blood-red tissue and clear weather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/he-seemed-to-be-made-of-sunshine-and-blood-red-tissue-and-clear/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [My advice to you, if you should ever be in a hold up, is to line up with the cowards and save your bravery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/my-advice-to-you-if-you-should-ever-be-in-a-hold-up-is-to-line-up/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [“It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/it-did-not-exactly-beggar-description-but-it-certainly-had-that-word/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Fortune is a prize to be won. Adventure is the road to it. Chance is what may lurk in the shadows at the roadside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/fortune-is-a-prize-to-be-won-adventure-is-the-road-to-it-chance-is/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [She plucked from my lapel the invisible strand of lint (the universal act of woman to proclaim ownership).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/she-plucked-from-my-lapel-the-invisible-strand-of-lint-the-universal/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [There is no well defined boundary line between honesty and dishonesty. The frontiers of one blend with the outside limits of the other, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/there-is-no-well-defined-boundary-line-between-honesty-and-dishonesty/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [All great men have declared that they owe their sucess to the aid and encouragement of some brilliant woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/all-great-men-have-declared-that-they-owe-their-sucess-to-the-aid-and/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Those whom we first love we seldom marry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/those-whom-we-first-love-we-seldom-marry/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/young-artists-must-pave-their-way-to-art-by-drawing-pictures-for/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [A good story is like a bitter pill, with the sugar coating inside of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/a-good-story-is-like-a-bitter-pill-with-the-sugar-coating-inside-of-it/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [I've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lamp posts and newspaper stands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/i-ve-got-some-of-my-best-yarns-from-park-benches-lamp-posts-and/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [There are stories in everything. I've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/there-are-stories-in-everything-i-ve-got-some-of-my-best-yarns-from/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [I never have time to read now. I did all my reading before I was twenty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/i-never-have-time-to-read-now-i-did-all-my-reading-before-i-was-twenty/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Bride knoweth bride at the glance of an eye. And between them swiftly passes comfort and meaning in a language that man and widows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/bride-knoweth-bride-at-the-glance-of-an-eye-and-between-them-swiftly/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [No friendship is an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/no-friendship-is-an-accident/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) [Explore all 135 O. Henry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) ## More Claws quotes > [When the Batman TV series was taken to the silver screen, one of America's favourite sweethearts would don the mask and claws of Catwoman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eartha-kitt/when-the-batman-tv-series-was-taken-to-the-silver-screen-one-of/) [Eartha Kitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eartha-kitt/) > [Of course, when we got home, we found that Dagda had peed on my down comforter. He had also eaten part of Mom's maidenhair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-tiernan/of-course-when-we-got-home-we-found-that-dagda-had-peed-on-my-down/) [Cate Tiernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-tiernan/) > [If thou art of elephant-strength or of lion-claw, still peace is, in my opinion, better than strife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saadi/if-thou-art-of-elephant-strength-or-of-lion-claw-still-peace-is-in-my/) [Saadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saadi/) > [Fear God, and offend not the Prince nor his laws, and keep thyself out of the magistrate's claws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-tusser/fear-god-and-offend-not-the-prince-nor-his-laws-and-keep-thyself-out/) [Thomas Tusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-tusser/) > [Losing is the bane and bugbear of every professional athlete's existence, but in baseball the monster seems to hang closer than in other sports,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/losing-is-the-bane-and-bugbear-of-every-professional-athlete-s/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [Sometimes to go forward you've got to go to the depths of your own personal despair and claw yourself back. From that point, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-strachan/sometimes-to-go-forward-you-ve-got-to-go-to-the-depths-of-your-own/) [Gordon Strachan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-strachan/) > [Science is not a body of facts. Science is a state of mind. It is a way of viewing the world, of facing reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-angier/science-is-not-a-body-of-facts-science-is-a-state-of-mind-it-is-a-way/) [Natalie Angier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-angier/) > [“He let out a soft, lethal laugh that raked claws down her temper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/he-let-out-a-soft-lethal-laugh-that-raked-claws-down-her-temper/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The temptation is to stay inside; to subside into the kind of recluse whom neighborhood children regard with derision and little awe; to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-temptation-is-to-stay-inside-to-subside-into-the-kind-of-recluse/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Every bird which flies has the thread of the infinite in its claw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/every-bird-which-flies-has-the-thread-of-the-infinite-in-its-claw/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“So...I suggest you try and get control over your more unusual nature, see if you can't coax those claws away, and I'll try very,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-griffin/so-i-suggest-you-try-and-get-control-over-your-more-unusual-nature/) [Kate Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-griffin/) > [“This Kitten Has Claws”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-smith/this-kitten-has-claws/) [L.J. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-smith/) > [As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/as-far-as-history-goes-i-am-dead-if-there-is-something-beyond-i-shall/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [This is a fierce bad rabbit; look at his savage whiskers, and his claws and his turned-up tail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrix-potter/this-is-a-fierce-bad-rabbit-look-at-his-savage-whiskers-and-his-claws/) [Beatrix Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrix-potter/) > [If the basic human nature was aggressive, we would have been born with animal claws & huge teeth -- but ours are very short,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/if-the-basic-human-nature-was-aggressive-we-would-have-been-born-with/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) Browse all 275 Claws quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We would call no one a lobster without good and sufficient claws.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "O. 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