QuoteProject
I love thee so, that, maugre all thy pride,_x000D_ _x000D_ Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide._x000D_ _x000D_ Do not extort thy reasons from this clause,_x000D_ _x000D_ For that I woo, thou therefore hast no cause_x000D_ _x000D_ But rather reason thus with reason fetter,_x000D_ _x000D_ Love sought is good, but given unsought better.
William Shakespeare
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

True love does not seek justification; it is better when given freely without pursuit.

In this quote by William Shakespeare, the speaker emphasizes the depth of their love, which overshadows any pride or rationality. It suggests that love that is pursued can be good, but love that is given freely, without being sought after, holds even greater value. This reflects the idea that genuine affection does not require justification or reasoning but exists as a powerful and palpable emotion.

Themes

LovePassionAffectionEmotionHeart

In practice

Example use cases

A wedding speech celebrating the unyielding love between the couple.

More from William Shakespeare

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
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

It was as simple as that - they met. As simple as only beautiful things can be beautiful, as only life-changing things, turning-point things, can be simple. ("For The Rest Of Her Life")
Cornell WoolrichRead
…there would be no powerful will binding hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature…And yet she had loved him- sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being.
Kate ChopinRead
There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.
George SandRead
At the end of the day, you know, love does not happen between two perfect people as much as we would wish.
Hillary ClintonRead
To allot God a secondary place in life was, to me, inconceivable. Though He is the sole Owner of the cosmos, silently showering us with gifts from life to life, one thing yet remains which He does not own, and which each human heart is empowered to withhold or bestow - man's love.
Paramahansa YoganandaRead
But love, whether in Multan or on Siberia's icy tundra, whether in the winter or the summer, whether among the rich or the poor, whether among the beautiful or the ugly, whether among the crude or refined, love is always just love. There's no difference.
Saadat Hasan MantoRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.