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
There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.
Interpretation
Our lives are influenced by a higher power, even as we make our own choices.
This quote suggests that while we may think we are in complete control of our destiny, there is a divine or unseen force that ultimately guides the outcomes of our lives. It reflects the tension between human agency and the idea of a predetermined path shaped by fate or a higher power, encouraging a sense of humility in our actions and decisions.
In practice
During a graduation speech to emphasize the role of fate in their journey.
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).
Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
The time will come when all people will view with horror light way in which society and its courts of law now take human life; and when that time comes, the way will be clear to device some better method of dealing with poverty and ignorance and their frequent byproducts, which we call crime.
Capitalists are no more capable of self-sacrifice than a man is capable of lifting himself up by his own bootstraps.
I pondered all these things, and how men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name.
Stars, I have seen them fall, But when they drop and die No star is lost at all From all the star-sown sky. The toil of all that be Helps not the primal fault; It rains into the sea And still the sea is salt.
The man whose whole activity is diverted to inner meditation becomes insensible to all his surroundings.
I never felt any attraction towards violence. I never tried to express myself through violence. Violence is a language.
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