--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As well have a talon as a finger, a…" description: "\"As well have a talon as a finger, a muzzle as a mouth, as well have a hollow as a heart.\" — Robert Hayden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/robert-hayden-26442_fingers_as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzl_463380.jpg" --- # As well have a talon as a finger, a muzzle as a mouth, as… ![“As well have a talon as a finger, a muzzle as a mouth, as well have a hollow as a heart.” quote by Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/robert-hayden-26442_fingers_as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzl_463380.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/robert-hayden-26442_fingers_as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzl_463380.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/robert-hayden-26442_fingers_as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzl_463380.jpg) > “As well have a talon as a finger, a muzzle as a mouth, as well have a hollow as a heart.” [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Physical traits are likened to parts of a creature, suggesting unity of form and function. **In simple terms:** Compare body parts to animal features. Key Takeaway Recognize interconnectedness. Themes nature identity metaphor Mood thoughtful poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - art critique - creative writing - education Key Concepts embodiment symbolic comparison Questions to Reflect On - How do physical metaphors shape perception? - When are such comparisons effective? A Different Perspective Metaphors may oversimplify complexity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Human heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-heart/) ## Related quotes > [“Somehow she felt hollow, as though her heart was wrenched away from her. She didn't realize it. She hadn't expected it. She loved Fallon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-gow/somehow-she-felt-hollow-as-though-her-heart-was-wrenched-away-from/) [Kailin Gow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailin-gow/) > [“Mrs. Turpin felt entirely hollow except for her heart which swung from side to side as if it were agitated in a great empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/mrs-turpin-felt-entirely-hollow-except-for-her-heart-which-swung-from/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [How hollow is the heart of man, and how full of excrement!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/how-hollow-is-the-heart-of-man-and-how-full-of-excrement/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“They parted—ne'er to meet again! But never either found another To free the hollow heart from paining— They stood aloof, the scars remaining, Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/they-parted-ne-er-to-meet-again-but-never-either-found-another-to/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Losing my mind From this hollow in my heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariah-carey/losing-my-mind-from-this-hollow-in-my-heart/) [Mariah Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariah-carey/) > [“Turn from that road's beguiling ease; return to your hunger's turret. Enter, climb the stair chill with disuse, where the croaking toad of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/turn-from-that-road-s-beguiling-ease-return-to-your-hunger-s-turret/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [She lifted the drooping muzzle with both hands...It was a special embrace saved for special occasions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-auel/she-lifted-the-drooping-muzzle-with-both-hands-it-was-a-special/) [Jean M. Auel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-auel/) > [Prussia: freedom of movement with a muzzle. Austria: an isolation cell in which screaming is allowed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/prussia-freedom-of-movement-with-a-muzzle-austria-an-isolation-cell/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/a-hound-it-was-an-enormous-coal-black-hound-but-not-such-a-hound-as/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Oh. Sorry about the muzzle. But it was necessary to protect you from your own stupidity. (Thorn)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/oh-sorry-about-the-muzzle-but-it-was-necessary-to-protect-you-from/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I walk up a dune to a beach and look out to sea, but it's 100km away. The ships lie askew in their dry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-gill/i-walk-up-a-dune-to-a-beach-and-look-out-to-sea-but-it-s-100km-away/) [A. A. Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-gill/) > [“T = Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. A = Always point the muzzle in a safe direction. B = Be certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-behr/t-treat-every-firearm-as-if-it-is-loaded-a-always-point-the-muzzle-in/) [Gary Behr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-behr/) > [“You got a vicious animal inside you. It wants to snap, it wants to attack, but it's harmless because some woman fitted a muzzle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/you-got-a-vicious-animal-inside-you-it-wants-to-snap-it-wants-to/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/run-for-your-life-from-any-man-who-tells-you-that-money-is-evil-that/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Muzzle control has to be a religion. You cannot point that weapon at one of your brothers-or yourself. Know where you barrel is at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-couch/muzzle-control-has-to-be-a-religion-you-cannot-point-that-weapon-at/) [Dick Couch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-couch/) ## More by Robert Hayden > [It seemed to me as we were talking about Christ rising from the dead, the sun popped over the mountain. That was indicative of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/it-seemed-to-me-as-we-were-talking-about-christ-rising-from-the-dead/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [This freedom, this liberty, this beautiful and terrible thing, needful to man as air, usable as earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/this-freedom-this-liberty-this-beautiful-and-terrible-thing-needful/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [Midnight Special on a sabre track movering movering, first stop Mercy and the last Hallelujah.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/midnight-special-on-a-sabre-track-movering-movering-first-stop-mercy/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [Standing to America, bringing home black gold, black ivory, black seed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/standing-to-america-bringing-home-black-gold-black-ivory-black-seed/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [We must not be frightened nor cajoled into accepting evil as deliverance from evil. We must go on struggling to be human, though monsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/we-must-not-be-frightened-nor-cajoled-into-accepting-evil-as/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [Harriet Tubman, woman of earth, whipscarred, a summoning, a shinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/harriet-tubman-woman-of-earth-whipscarred-a-summoning-a-shinning/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [Runs falls rises stumbles on from darkness into darkness and the darkness thicketed with shapes of terror and the hunters pursuing and the hounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/runs-falls-rises-stumbles-on-from-darkness-into-darkness-and-the/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [Art is not escape, but a way of finding order in chaos, a way of confronting life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/art-is-not-escape-but-a-way-of-finding-order-in-chaos-a-way-of/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [Shuttles in the rocking loom of history, the dark ships move, the dark ships move, their bright ironical names like jests of kindness on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/shuttles-in-the-rocking-loom-of-history-the-dark-ships-move-the-dark/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [“We must not be frightened nor cajoled into accepting evil as deliverance from evil. We must go on struggling to be human, though monsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/we-must-not-be-frightened-nor-cajoled-into-accepting-evil-as-2/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [“Unable to sleep, or pray, I stand by the window looking out at moonstruck trees a December storm has bowed with ice. Maple and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/unable-to-sleep-or-pray-i-stand-by-the-window-looking-out-at/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [I believe it's true that one person can make a difference. But how much more difference 100 people make, or rather 99.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/i-believe-it-s-true-that-one-person-can-make-a-difference-but-how/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [“O Jesus burning on the lily cross... O night, rawhead and bloodybones night... O night betrayed by darkness not its own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/o-jesus-burning-on-the-lily-cross-o-night-rawhead-and-bloodybones/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [Your presence was shore where I rested/ released from the hoodoo of that dance, where I spoke/ with my true voice again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/your-presence-was-shore-where-i-rested-released-from-the-hoodoo-of/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) > [“When the rooms were warm, he'd call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/when-the-rooms-were-warm-he-d-call-and-slowly-i-would-rise-and-dress/) [Robert Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) [Explore all 21 Robert Hayden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/) ## More Fingers quotes > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [Yes yes you can count on me - Fingers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/yes-yes-you-can-count-on-me-fingers/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [Sam reached his hand toward mine and I automatically put my fingers in his. With a guilty little smile he pulled my hand toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/sam-reached-his-hand-toward-mine-and-i-automatically-put-my-fingers/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [I take the seashell from my jeans pocket and rub my fingers across its silken, indented surface, shallow as my own open hand. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kenison/i-take-the-seashell-from-my-jeans-pocket-and-rub-my-fingers-across/) [Katrina Kenison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kenison/) > [The world belongs to those who think and act with it, who keep a finger on its pulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ralph-inge/the-world-belongs-to-those-who-think-and-act-with-it-who-keep-a/) [William Ralph Inge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ralph-inge/) > [Shhh.” He put a finger to her lips. “Hear me out. I cannot deny that I would've liked to have made babies with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/shhh-he-put-a-finger-to-her-lips-hear-me-out-i-cannot-deny-that-i/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [ \[Sport officials\] blocked their support of us. But those individuals \[ Muhammad Ali, the Jim Browns, the Bill Russells, Kareem Abdul Jabbar \] were… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos/sport-officials-blocked-their-support-of-us-but-those-individuals/) [John Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos/) > [Jazz is the music of the body. The breath comes through brass. It is the body's breath, and the strings' wails and moans are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/jazz-is-the-music-of-the-body-the-breath-comes-through-brass-it-is/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [You hit somebody with your fist and not with your fingers spread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-guderian/you-hit-somebody-with-your-fist-and-not-with-your-fingers-spread/) [Heinz Guderian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-guderian/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The trees change their voices in autumn as well as their shapes. No longer do they whisper to one another in muffled tones as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience-strong/the-trees-change-their-voices-in-autumn-as-well-as-their-shapes-no/) [Patience Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience-strong/) > [Some people are born skinny, and that's just the way it is. You can't point a finger at them and say they're ill or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-klum/some-people-are-born-skinny-and-that-s-just-the-way-it-is-you-can-t/) [Heidi Klum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-klum/) Browse all 2,537 Fingers quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As well have a talon as a finger, a muzzle as a mouth, as well have a hollow as a heart.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Hayden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzle-as-a-mouth-as-well-have-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fingers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzle-as-a-mouth-as-well-have-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/robert-hayden-26442_fingers_as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzl_463380.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/robert-hayden-26442_fingers_as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzl_463380.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/robert-hayden-26442_fingers_as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzl_463380.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As well have a talon as a finger, a muzzle as a mouth, as well have a hollow as a heart.” — Robert Hayden", "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": "Robert Hayden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hayden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As well have a talon as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzle-as-a-mouth-as-well-have-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hayden/as-well-have-a-talon-as-a-finger-a-muzzle-as-a-mouth-as-well-have-a/#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 } } ] } ```