What is tender?

Famous quotes containing the word tender:

    Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness.
    This is the state of man; today he puts forth
    The tender leaves of hopes, tomorrow blossoms,
    And bears his blushing honors thick upon him:
    The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
    And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
    His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
    And then he falls as I do.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    When the ground was partially bare of snow, and a few warm days had dried its surface somewhat, it was pleasant to compare the first tender signs of the infant year just peeping forth with the stately beauty of the withered vegetation which had withstood the winter ... decent weeds, at least, which widowed Nature wears.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Eyes—the head’s chief of police. They watch and make mental notes. A blind person is like a city abandoned by the authorities. On sad days they cry. In these carefree times they weep only from tender emotions.
    Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)