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
He makes a July's day short as December.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that someone has the power to make even the most joyous times feel fleeting.
In this quote from Shakespeare, the speaker reflects on the bittersweet nature of love, indicating that the presence of a beloved can transform a day of joy into one of melancholy simply due to their absence. It highlights how deep emotions can distort our perception of time, rendering even the longest days feel short when shadowed by longing or sorrow.
Themes
LoveTimeEmotionAbsenceLonging
In practice
Example use cases
During a wedding toast to express how love can make time seem to fly.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes →Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
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Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
William ShakespeareRead
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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Similar quotes
I can’t tell you just how wonderful she is. I don’t want you to know. I don’t want any one to know.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
You heard me, only Friend whom I love. To ravish my heart, you became man. You shed your blood, what a supreme mystery!... And you still live for me on the Altar. If I cannot see the brilliance of your Face Or hear your sweet voice, O my God, I can live by your grace, I can rest on your Sacred Heart!
Therese Of LisieuxRead
Bring the pure wine of love and freedom. But sir, a tornado is coming. More wine, we'll teach this storm A thing or two about whirling.
RumiRead
As he looked up at the clouds or down at the precipice, he realized that this woman was the most important thing in his life; that she was the explanation, the sole reason for the existence of those rocks, that sky, that winter. If she were not there with him, it wouldn't matter if all the angels of heaven came flying down to comfort him--Paradise would make no sense.
Paulo CoelhoRead
There is no man who loves a woman that does not desire to come to her for the renewal of his courage, for the cutting asunder of his difficulties. And that will be the mainspring of his desire for her. We are all so afraid, we are all so alone, we all so need from the outside the assurance of our own worthiness to exist.
Ford Madox FordRead
Lovers are the ones who know most about God; the theologian must listen to them.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead