--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We come to our own and would make friends…" description: "\"We come to our own and would make friends with matter, which the ambitious chatter of the schools would persuade us to despise. We can never part with ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/687/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_affinity_we-come-to-our-own-and-would-make-friend_2643590.jpg" --- # We come to our own and would make friends with matter… ![“We come to our own and would make friends with matter, which the ambitious chatter of the schools would persuade us to despise. We can never part with it; the mind loves its old home: as water to our thirst, so is rock, the ground, to our eyes, and hands, and feet. It is firm water: it is cold…” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/687/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_affinity_we-come-to-our-own-and-would-make-friend_2643590.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/687/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_affinity_we-come-to-our-own-and-would-make-friend_2643590.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/687/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_affinity_we-come-to-our-own-and-would-make-friend_2643590.jpg) > “We come to our own and would make friends with matter, which the ambitious chatter of the schools would persuade us to despise. We can never part with it; the mind loves its old home: as water to our thirst, so is rock, the ground, to our eyes, and hands, and feet. It is firm water: it is cold flame: what health, what affinity!” [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We are naturally attached to the physical world, and intellectual pursuits often try to distance us from it, yet our minds find comfort in familiar surroundings. **In simple terms:** We love familiar places and things, even when told to reject them. Key Takeaway Embrace both mind and matter. Themes nature attachment philosophy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily life - education - creative work - travel - urban living Key Concepts homeostasis affinity materialism Questions to Reflect On - How does familiarity shape your choices? - Can you balance comfort with curiosity? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on material comfort can hinder growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affinity/) [Ambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitious/) [Chatter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chatter/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Cold Flame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-flame-2289135/) [Despise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despise/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feet/) [Firm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firm/) [Flames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flames/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Hands and feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands-and-feet/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Matter Ambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter-ambitious-2289136/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-love/) [Old flame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-flame/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Thirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirst/) [Ur Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ur-eyes/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Water Thirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water-thirst-1247331/) ## Related quotes > [Not a visible enthusiasm but a hidden one, an excitement burning with a cold flame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/not-a-visible-enthusiasm-but-a-hidden-one-an-excitement-burning-with/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“You are ice and fire, The touch of you burns my hands like snow. 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Indeed the water I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-guzaldo/everyone-who-drinks-this-water-will-be-thirsty-again-but-whoever/) [Andrew Guzaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-guzaldo/) > [Revenge has no more quenching effect on emotions than salt water has on thirst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-weckler/revenge-has-no-more-quenching-effect-on-emotions-than-salt-water-has/) [Walter Weckler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-weckler/) > [“If he shall not lose his reward, who gives a cup of cold water to his thirst neighbor, what will not be the reward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/if-he-shall-not-lose-his-reward-who-gives-a-cup-of-cold-water-to-his/) [Thomas À Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [Don't seek the water; get thirst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/don-t-seek-the-water-get-thirst/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“It’s never the value of water but thirst, it’s never the value of life but death and it’s never about the friendship but trust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-never-the-value-of-water-but-thirst-it-s-never-the-value-of-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't hang a dismal picture on the wall, and do not daub with sables and glooms in your conversation. 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When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life only avails, not the having lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-only-avails-not-the-having-lived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I am; therefore, I had nothing better to do than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-therefore-i-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-to-think/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Explore all 4,802 Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More Affinity quotes > [I have an affinity with the Leicester community and want the best for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-morrison/i-have-an-affinity-with-the-leicester-community-and-want-the-best-for/) [Mark Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-morrison/) > [There certainly is an affinity between a person and his work, but it is not easy to define what this affinity is, and on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/there-certainly-is-an-affinity-between-a-person-and-his-work-but-it/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [This formula of Love is universal; all the laws of Nature are its servitors. 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