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I praise God for you, sir: your reasons at dinner have been sharp and sententious; pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, audacious without impudency, learned without opinion, and strange with-out heresy.
William Shakespeare
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote expresses admiration for someone's cleverness and articulateness in conversation.

In this quote, Shakespeare praises an individual's ability to engage in thoughtful and entertaining conversation. The speaker highlights various qualities of the dinner guest's speech, noting that it is sharp, witty, and learned, while also being respectful and insightful. This admiration suggests that engaging dialogue is a valuable trait in social interactions.

Themes

WisdomConversationPraiseDialogueSpeech

In practice

Example use cases

During a toast at a wedding, one might quote this to honor the eloquence of the bride and groom's speeches.

More from William Shakespeare

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).
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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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