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
We must love men, ere to us they will seem worthy of our love.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We must first choose to love others for them to be deserving of our love in return.
This quote expresses the idea that love is a choice we make rather than a reaction to someone's worthiness. Shakespeare suggests that when we approach others with love and compassion, it influences how we perceive their character and value, creating a cycle of reciprocity in relationships.
Themes
LoveRelationshipsWorthinessCompassionReciprocity
In practice
Example use cases
During a wedding ceremony to emphasize the importance of loving each other unconditionally.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes βLove bears it out even to the edge of doom.
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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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And when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment.
PlatoRead
All of her heart, a meaningless phrase, but correct and precise, too. She used her heart to love him, not her head, and not her words and not her thoughts or ideas or feelings or any other vehicle or object or device people use to deliver love or love-like things.
Charles YuRead