As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, / I must not look to have; but, in their stead, / Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, / Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not" (5.3.25-28).
William ShakespeareRead
When our actions do not, our fears make us traitors.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our fears can betray us by preventing us from taking action.
This quote by William Shakespeare highlights the internal struggle between our fears and our actions. It suggests that when we allow fear to dictate our behavior, we become disloyal to ourselves and our potential. In essence, it warns against letting fear overcome our ability to act decisively, portraying fear as a traitor that betrays our true intentions and capabilities.
Themes
FearActionCourageBetrayalSelf-Doubt
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech emphasizing the importance of overcoming fear in pursuit of goals.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes βLove bears it out even to the edge of doom.
William ShakespeareRead
Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
William ShakespeareRead
Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
William ShakespeareRead
Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
William ShakespeareRead
Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
William ShakespeareRead
Similar quotes
Warriorship does not refer to making war on others. Aggression is the source of our problems, not the solution. Warriorship is the tradition of human bravery, or the tradition of fearlessness.
Chogyam TrungpaRead
If I cannot air this pain and alter it, I will surely die of it. That's the beginning of social protest.
Audre LordeRead
Friends have asked how I came to engender this American antagonism. My prodigious sin was, and still is, being a non-conformist. Although I am not a Communist I refused to fall in line by hating them. Secondly, I was opposed to the Committee on Un-American Activities - a dishonest phrase to begin with, elastic enough to wrap around the throat and strangle the voice of any American citizen whose honest opinion is a minority of one.
Charlie ChaplinRead
When domestic violence was often a dark secret, Dad wrote the Violence Against Women Act, which gave countless women support, protection and a new chance at life.
Beau BidenRead
Bathrooms have always been a big issue in my life. My parents fought for me to be able to enroll in elementary school as a girl, which I did. But I still would not be allowed to use the girls' room under any condition.
Jazz JenningsRead
We live, I am trying to say, in an epidemic of male violence against women.
Katha PollittRead