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 the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand! Oh, oh, oh!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the idea that no external means can mask or erase one's guilt or wrongdoing.
In this quote from Shakespeare, the speaker laments that despite any attempts to mask their guilt with the finest perfumes, the weight of their actions cannot be diminished. It highlights the theme of responsibility and the permanence of one's conscience, emphasizing that one cannot escape the consequences of their deeds, no matter how much they try to cover them up with superficial solutions.
Themes
GuiltConsequenceResponsibilityPerfumeActions
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on ethics, one might reference this quote to emphasize accountability.
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
Of course there are people who think of 'heaven' as a kind of pie-in-the-sky dream of an afterlife to make the thought of dying less awful. No doubt that's a problem as old as the human race.
N. T. WrightRead
No matter what lens you use, no matter what speed the film, no matter how you develop it, no matter how you print it, you cannot say more than you can see.
Paul StrandRead
This paranoid Islam, which blames outsider, 'infidels', for all the ills of Muslim societies, and whose proposed remedy is the closing of those societies to the rival project of modernity, is presently the fastest growing version of Islam in the world.
Salman RushdieRead
No one is so completely disenchanted with the world, or knows it so thoroughly, or is so utterly disgusted with it, that when it begins to smile upon him he does not become partially reconciled to it.
Giacomo LeopardiRead
Because of its phantom nature, and despite elaborate defense mechanisms, the ego is very vulnerable and insecure, and it sees itself as constantly under threat. This, by the way, is the case even if the ego is outwardly very confident.
Eckhart TolleRead
Standing armies shall in time be totally abolished.
Immanuel KantRead