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
I love him for his sake;_x000D_ _x000D_ And yet I know him a notorious liar,_x000D_ _x000D_ Think him a great way fool, solely a coward;_x000D_ _x000D_ Yet these fix'd evils sit so fit in him_x000D_ _x000D_ That they take place when virtue's steely bones_x000D_ _x000D_ Looks bleak i' th' cold wind; withal, full oft we see_x000D_ _x000D_ Cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote explores the complex nature of love, revealing how one can love someone despite their flaws.
In this quote, Shakespeare examines the paradox of love, wherein deep affection can coexist with acknowledgment of a person's faults. The speaker expresses feelings for someone who is clearly flawed, embodying both cowardice and folly, yet these negative traits seem to be an integral part of their character. The quote serves as a reflection on the nature of relationships, where understanding and acceptance of imperfections might outweigh the consideration of those very flaws.
Themes
LoveFlawsRelationshipsAcceptanceImperfection
In practice
Example use cases
Sharing this quote in a discussion on unconditional love with friends.
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
THIS TORTURE Why should we tell you our love stories when you spill them together like blood in the dirt? Love is a pearl lost on the ocean floor, or a fire we can’t see, but how does saying that push us through the top of the head into the light above the head? Love is not an iron pot, so this boiling energy won’t help. Soul, heart, self. Beyond and within those is one saying, How long before I’m free of this torture!
RumiRead
... but it's your existence I love you for, mainly. Existence seems to me now the most remarkable thing that could ever be imagined.
Marilynne RobinsonRead
The love of economy is the root of all virtue.
George Bernard ShawRead
Love, the life-giving garden of this world.
RumiRead
Falling in love you remain a child; rising in love you mature. By and by love becomes not a relationship, it becomes a state of your being. Not that you are in love - now you are love.
RajneeshRead
You gave me back the paradise That I thought I lost for good You helped me find the reasons why It took me by surprise that you understood You knew all along What I never wanted to say Until I learned to love myself I was never ever lovin' anybody else.
Madonna CicconeRead