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).
Help, master, help! here's a fish hangs in the net, like a poor man's right in the law; 'twill hardly come out.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the struggle and entrapment of those who seek justice or help, often feeling powerless in their situations.
In this quote, Shakespeare uses the metaphor of a fish caught in a net to illustrate how individuals can find themselves ensnared by societal laws and expectations, much like a poor man feels trapped by the complexities of justice and legality. The plea for help underscores the feeling of helplessness and the desire for liberation from these constraints, suggesting that often those in need are unable to extricate themselves without assistance.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, one might use this quote to emphasize the challenges faced by marginalized individuals.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes βLove 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.
Similar quotes
I cannot be a materialist - but Oh, how is it possible that a God who speaks to all hearts can let Belgravia go laughing to a vicious luxury, and Whitechapel cursing to a filthy debauchery - such suffering, such dreadful suffering - and shall the short years of Christ's mission atone for it all?
What is man? He's just a collection of chemicals with delusions of grandeur.
The basic question 'will I obey Christ 's teaching?' is rarely taken as a serious issue. For example, to take one of Jesus' commands, that is relevant to contemporary life, I don't know of any church that actually teaches a church how to bless people who curse them, yet this is a clear command.
Being both more systematically brutal than chimps and more empathetic than _x000D_ bonobos, we are by far the most bipolar ape. Our societies are never completely peaceful, never completely competitive, never ruled by sheer selfishness, and never perfectly moral.
And so they are ever returning to us, the dead.
A man may easier see without eyes, speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit.