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
All lovers swear more performance than they are able, and yet reserve an ability that they never perform; vowing more than the perfection of ten, and discharging less than the tenth part of one.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Lovers often promise more than they can deliver, yet they hold back even more potential.
In this quote, Shakespeare suggests that lovers tend to make grand promises and declarations of love that exceed their actual capabilities. They may vow to give their all, yet often fail to meet even a fraction of those expectations, highlighting the disparity between love's idealism and its reality.
Themes
LovePromisesPerformanceExpectationsDisappointment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a wedding speech to humorously highlight the promises made in relationships.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes →Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
William ShakespeareRead
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.
William ShakespeareRead
Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
William ShakespeareRead
Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
William ShakespeareRead
Similar quotes
Dating a new man is like holding a strawberry milkshake; first the taste, then the pleasure.
Marilyn MonroeRead
In real life, love has to be possible. Even if it is not returned right away, love can only survive when the hope exists that you will be able to win over the person you desire.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Is there any practice less selfish, any time less wasted than preparing something nourishing and delicious for the people you love?
Michael PollanRead
She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket.
Raymond ChandlerRead
I am not ashamed to say that no man I ever met was my father's equal, and I never loved any other man as much.
Hedy LamarrRead
I think true love is not only true personal love but totality of love, universal love - to be in love with everything manifest and everything unmanifest.
David LynchRead