A pure hand needs no glove to cover it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A person with pure intentions does not need external coverings or excuses to protect their integrity.
- In plain terms
- If your intentions are good, you don't need to hide them.
- What can you take from it?
- Integrity needs no hiding.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Do you hide your true intentions?
- Is transparency always safe?
Another view
Even good people may need protection from malice.
More from Nathaniel Hawthorne
Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared.
Permalink to quote #44 Let the black flower blossom as it may!
Permalink to quote #46 Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these.
Permalink to quote #43
Related quotes
Who speaks the truth stabs Falsehood to the heart.
James Russell LowellJames Russell Lowell quote #2 Truth is the trial of itself And needs no other touch, And purer than the purest gold, Refine it ne'er so much.
Ben JonsonBen Jonson quote #17 Truth is as impossible to be soiled by any outward touch as the sunbeam.
John MiltonJohn Milton quote #23