Length of the Thumb

The larger the thumb, the greater the degree of success. Apparently Napoleon had an extremely large thumb. It’s an interesting exercise to watch people’s hands on television. Often you will find actors playing roles that they could never have achieved in real life. An example of this would be someone with a small thumb playing the part of a successful business tycoon. In India, it’s believed that the size of the thumb has a direct relationship with the degree of success the person will have in life.

I find this interpretation a bit too fatalistic, but there is no doubt that people with large thumbs usually reach top positions. These people are generally more motivated, ambitious and persistent than people with small thumbs.

Charlotte Wolff did a survey of the thumbs of successful individuals and found that most had thumbs of normal length. Certainly, people with long thumbs will try much harder to get what they want than people with short thumbs.

If you find someone with an extremely long thumb, they’re capable of a leadership role in any situation. This person will be intelligent, decisive and have a very strong will power.

People with short thumbs are lacking in will power. They can be stubborn, though often for no apparent reason.

People with medium length thumbs (reaching at least halfway up the lowest phalange of the First finger) are fair and can stand up for themselves. They show common sense and possess reasonable will power. If the thumb is broad, looking at it from the nail side, the person will be prepared to do whatever is necessary to get what he or she wants. Someone with a thick thumb will be extremely blunt and forthright. This person will be stubborn and want their own way at any cost.

Thumb

After you’ve assessed the shape of the hands and the quality of the Heart Lines, it’s time to look at the thumbs. For compatibility, both partners’ thumbs should be similar. Imagine the relationship if one person had a strong, thick, and stubborn thumb and the other a small, flexible thumb. The second person would be constantly dominated by the first.

If both partners have strong, stubborn thumbs, they’ll have to learn to compromise. They’ll have some interesting learning experiences along the way, but ultimately will manage to adjust.

If both partners have highly flexible thumbs, they’ll get along very well. Both partners will be flexible and want to please. However, they’ll most likely have difficulties making important decisions.

There are many things to look for when studying the thumb, which is certainly one of the most important indicators on the hand. As with the fingertips, note whether the thumb's tip is square, rounded or pointed, thus indicating a bias toward a practical, artistic or idealistic nature.

Stiff thumb - that is, one that is fairly rigid and inflexible so the tip will not bend backward to any noticeable degree - indicates that the person is stubborn, has fixed ideas, does not easily adapt to changing circumstances, derives more satisfaction from saving money than from spending it and does not tend to be naturally generous.

Flexible thumb is found when the nail phalange bends back without resistance. It indicates a generous-natured person who enjoys giving or spending and is versatile, adaptable, restless, changeable, tolerant, flexible, interested in many things and willing to listen to new ideas.

Large thumb indicates strength, achievement, capability, self-reliance, confidence and inner power. It belongs to a person who can be a leader, a doer. A large thumb adds its strength to other factors in the hand.

Phalanges

As with the other fingers the three phalanges should be reasonably equal in length. If the tip phalange is the longest, the person will have religious or philosophical interests and have a strong sense of dignity. They are likely to work in a field involving personal contact. Members of the clergy are a good example as they’re usually religious and work with people. If the middle phalange is longest, the person will be intelligent, practical and have a positive approach towards his or her goals in life. The base phalange is more likely to be larger than the others. If this is the case, the person will be interested in philosophy and religion. You could say:

“You will gradually build up a strong faith or philosophy. It may or may not be a church type of religion, but whatever it is, it will play an increasingly strong role in your life.”

The phalanges on the eight fingers are divided into three groups shown by A, B, C in Diagram “A" corresponds to the physical plane, "B" to the emotional plane, "C" to the mental plane. In most cases, as you look at each finger, the length and thickness of the three phalanges will be about the same, indicating a normal balance between the physical, emotional and mental facets of a person's makeup. However, If one of the groups – that Is, all the A, B or C - Is noticeably thicker, thinner, longer or shorter than the other two groups, the person concerned will place much more emphasis is on one aspect of life - physical emotional or mental.

Smooth fingers

Smooth fingers are on people who are guided their feelings, first impressions. They are quick to think and act and their motivations are based on intuition or inspiration rather than on cold, hard facts, reason, logic and rational analysis. They appreciate all that is refined and beautiful.

Short fingers

Someone with short fingers is almost the opposite. They’ll be more interested in the broad strokes rather than the details and won’t have much patience. You could say:

“You’re always busy. Sometimes you may start something new before you’ve finished the last task. You often have several things on the go at the same time.10 you tend to want everything right now, so patience is not your strong suit. Your impulsiveness has gotten you into trouble in the past. In some ways you are a jack-of-all-trades.”

Short fingers belong to people who hate to beat around the bush. They think and act quickly and cannot be bothered with lots of small, fussy details. Slow, careful analysis bores them; instead, they like to go straight to the point.

Long fingers

Long fingers belong to people who think, Move and act very slowly. They are careful, attentive to small details and seldom will do anything without thinking of all the pros and cons; consequently, they often miss opportunities. Fast, efficient or impatient people will become exasperated by the way long-fingered people give slow, detailed, drawn-out accounts of everything they discuss.

Fingertips

Now we start we fingertips.

The fingertips usually will be either square, rounded or pointed or even a mixture of these.

Square tips signify a practical, realistic, rather down-to-earth person who likes method and order, especially if born in the Star Sign of Capricorn, Taurus or Virgo.

Pointed tips are fairly rare because they are the hallmark of a person not interested in the material, practical side of life, preferring to live in a world of fantasy, imagination, idealism and dreams. They usually possess poetic, musical or artistic abilities but, as they lack drive and practical application, they seldom do much about using them.

Rounded tips give a nice balance between the square-tipped realist and the pointed-tipped dreamer. These belong to the average person who appreciates the finer things of life but who also recognizes the need to attend to the practical necessities of day-to-day living.