“He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands”

“He thought about crossing his fingers, but clasped her hand instead.”

“She put her hand in his, and he clasped it firmly, knowing he had been waiting for her all his life.”

“Earth, the world, the fifth planet from the sun—the species that stands on two legs and roams this thin wet crust: it’s changing, Lobey. It’s not the same. Some people walk under the sun and accept that change, others close their eyes, clap their hands to their ears, and deny the world with their tongues.”

“To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.”

“Man goes far away or near but God never goes far-off; he is always standing close at hand, and even if he cannot stay within he goes no further than the door.”

“It could not have been ten seconds, and yet it seemed a long time that their hands were clasped together. He had time to learn every detail of her hand.”

“… just a little touches her and there. He puts his hands on your arms or back, he stands close to you, getting you used to him… it's a mating ritual. Like March of the Penguins.”

“The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters.”

“Lonely by the moonlit waters
Does the conqueror stand,
Yet unredden'd by the slaughters
Of his mighty band.
Yet his laurel wants a leaf.
There he stands, sad, silent, lonely;
For his hope is vain :
He has reached that river only
To return again.”