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
Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining one's skills and readiness for action, as neglect can lead to deterioration.
William Shakespeare's quote, 'Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them,' serves as a metaphor for the necessity of staying prepared and vigilant. Just as swords require care to prevent rusting, individuals must actively maintain their strengths and skills; otherwise, they may become dull and ineffective over time. This vivid imagery encourages proactive engagement with one's abilities and responsibilities to ensure they remain sharp and ready for challenges that may arise.
Themes
ReadinessPreparationVigilanceSkillsAction
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used to motivate a sports team to keep practicing before a big game.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes →Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
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Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
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Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
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Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
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Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
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Before you agree to do anything that might add even the smallest amount of stress to your life, ask yourself: What is my truest intention? Give yourself time to let a yes resound within you. When it's right, I guarantee that your entire body will feel it.
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Perfection is not necessary to make a real and lasting difference to other people's lives.
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There are two modes of acquiring knowledge, namely by reasoning and experience. Reasoning draws a conclusion and makes us grant the conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain, nor does it remove doubt so that the mind may rest on the intuition of truth, unless the mind discovers it by the path of experience.
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The best of ideas is hurt by uncritical acceptance and thrives on critical examination.
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If you knew yourself for even one moment, if you could just glimpse your most beautiful face, maybe you wouldn’t slumber so deeply in that house of clay. Why not move into your house of joy and shine into every crevice! For you are the secret Treasure-bearer, and always have been. Didn’t you know?
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