For tyme ylost may nought recovered be.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Filth and old age, I'm sure you will agree, are powerful wardens upon chastity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The inevitability of physical decline and negative circumstances can hinder one's moral choices.
In this quote, Geoffrey Chaucer reflects on the idea that the effects of aging and the presence of unpleasant conditions serve as strong influences on a person's ability to maintain chastity. It suggests that as people age, they face various challenges, both physical and moral, that can lead to a loss of virtue or self-control, highlighting the complex relationship between external circumstances and personal choices.
Themes
ChastityAgeWisdomTemptationMorality
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on ethics, one might cite this quote to emphasize the challenges of maintaining moral integrity in the face of life's difficulties.
More from Geoffrey Chaucer
All quotes βFor in their hearts doth Nature stir them so Then people long on pilgrimage to go And palmers to be seeking foreign strands To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
If gold rusts, what then can iron do?
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Thus with hir fader for a certeyn space_x000D_ _x000D_ Dwelleth this flour of wyfly pacience,_x000D_ _x000D_ That neither by hir wordes ne hir face_x000D_ _x000D_ Biforn the folk, ne eek in her absence,_x000D_ _x000D_ Ne shewed she that hir was doon offence.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be, That may bothe werke wel and hastily.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
For oute of olde feldys, as men sey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe corn from yer to yere;_x000D_ _x000D_ And out of olde bokis, in good fey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe science that men lere.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
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