Emerson presents friendship as a relationship that requires wholehearted commitment rather than partial or cautious attachment. By “entireness”, he means a completeness of feeling and conduct in which friends approach one another openly and sincerely. Friendship, in this view, depends on trust strong enough to allow honesty without constant suspicion or calculation.

His reference to “magnanimity” adds the idea of generosity of spirit. A good friend is willing to overlook minor faults, give without keeping strict account, and respect the other person’s independence. Within Friendship, Emerson therefore treats close relationships as requiring both openness and breadth of character. The quotation does not suggest that trust should be blind or without limits; rather, it describes an ideal in which friendship is sustained by confidence, generosity and a willingness to engage with another person fully rather than defensively.