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
If I must die, I will encounter darkness as a bride, and hug it in mine arms.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a deep acceptance of death, portraying it as a welcoming embrace rather than something to fear.
In this quote, Shakespeare uses the metaphor of encountering darkness as a bride to suggest a willing and profound acceptance of death. Rather than fearing the end of life, the speaker chooses to embrace it, implying that death can be seen as a transformative experience, akin to a marriage where two become one, thus reflecting a concept of unity with the inevitable.
Themes
DeathAcceptanceDarknessEmbraceLife
In practice
Example use cases
A eulogy reflecting on the beauty of life's end.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes βLove 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
For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.
PericlesRead
Just think: in all the clean, beautiful reaches of the solar system, our planet alone is a blot; our planet alone has death.
Annie DillardRead
Deception is a developed art of civilization and the most potent weapon in the game of power
Robert GreeneRead
I urge you to ask yourself just how honorable it is to preside over the abuse and suffering of animals.
Richard PryorRead
If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity; and I would climb to the top of Mount McCabe and lie down on my back with my history for a pillow; and I would take from the ground some of the blue-white poison that makes statues of men; and I would make a statue of myself, lying on my back, grinning horribly, and thumbing my nose at You Know Who.
Kurt VonnegutRead
I mean, knowing people, people are terrified of the unknown and they want to just kill the unknown.
Philip K. DickRead