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
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream—For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause, there's the respect, That makes calamity of so long life
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on death and the uncertainties that come with it, questioning the fear and respect we have towards life and mortality.
In this profound contemplation by Shakespeare, the speaker ponders the nature of death, comparing it to a deep sleep filled with dreams, or perhaps dreaming of what lies beyond life. It encapsulates the tension between the fear of the unknown in dying and the burdens of enduring life, suggesting that the thoughts and mysteries of death can often give us pause and cause us to reconsider our suffering and the value of existence.
Themes
DeathDreamsLifeMortalityExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the meaning of life during a philosophy class.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes →Love 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
It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
EpictetusRead
In order to arouse sympathy, the aristocracy was obliged to lose sight, apparently, of its own interests, and to formulate its indictment against the bourgeoisie in the interest of the exploited working class alone. Thus, the aristocracy took their revenge by singing lampoons on their new masters and whispering in his ears sinister prophesies of coming catastrophe.
Karl MarxRead
Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.
Stan LeeRead
What a sublime idea of the infinite might of the great Architect, the Cause of all causes, the Father of all fathers, the Ens Entium! For if we would compare the Infinite, it would surely require a greater Infinite to cause the causes of effects than to produce the effects themselves.
August WeismannRead
We have found that where science has progressed the farthest, the mind has but regained from nature that which the mind put into nature.
Arthur EddingtonRead
Our life is always deeper than we know, is always more divine than it seems, and hence we are able to survive degradations and despairs which otherwise must engulf us.
William JamesRead