"But to most of us society shows not its face and eye, but its side and its back. ..."See in text("Friendship")
Emerson personifies society as a person prone to concealment. In so doing, he constructs an image of society that suggests a sense of dishonesty about its true nature.
"Vulgarity, ignorance, misapprehension are old acquaintances...."See in text("Friendship")
By personifying the negative qualities of “vulgarity, ignorance, misapprehension” as “old acquaintances,” Emerson further describes how friendships can wane with time. The sense of mystery and surprise surrounding a stranger transforms into disinterest as soon as that stranger becomes a friend. In turn, the visceral excitement of meeting a stranger, exemplified through the palpitating heart, diminishes entirely.
