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
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Value and hold close to your true friends while being wary of new acquaintances.
This quote from Shakespeare emphasizes the importance of true friendship and loyalty. It suggests that while one should cherish and strengthen bonds with established friends, they must also be cautious and discerning about new relationships, as not every new acquaintance deserves your emotional investment.
Themes
FriendshipLoyaltyRelationshipsTrustCaution
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the value of lifelong friendships.
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Similar quotes
Friends: not one. Just a few acquaintances who imagine they feel something for me and who might be sorry if a train ran over me and the funeral was on a rainy day.
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Unless you make allowances for your friends foibles, you betray your own.
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Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog; but you're never friendless ever, if you have a dog.
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What vexes me most is, that my female friends, who could bear me very well a dozen years ago, have now forsaken me, although I am not so old in proportion to them as I formerly was: which I can prove by arithmetic, for then I was double their age, which now I am not. Letter to Alexander Pope. 7 Feb. 1736.
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Oh how sweet it is to hear one's own convictions from another's lips.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Don't hang out with a bunch of people who drag you down when you can hang out with one person who makes you feel good.
Mark MansonRead