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
My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel; I know not where I am nor what I do.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the confusion and chaos of the speaker's thoughts and existence.
In this quote, Shakespeare conveys a sense of disorientation and uncertainty, likening the unpredictability of his mind to the spinning of a potter's wheel. The powerful imagery suggests that the speaker feels lost and lacks control over their own thoughts and actions, mirroring the complexities of the human condition and the struggle to find clarity in moments of turmoil.
Themes
ThoughtsConfusionIdentitySelf-AwarenessUncertainty
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the creative process, one could use this quote to illustrate the chaotic nature of inspiration.
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
An old joke has an Oxford professor meeting an American former graduate student and asking him what he's working on these days. 'My thesis is on the survival of the class system in the United States.' 'Oh really, that's interesting: one didn't think there was a class system in the United States.' 'Nobody does. That's how it survives.
Christopher HitchensRead
This is true across every single society; we project grossness onto a racial or gender subgroup or caste. A big part of social subordination and discrimination is to ascribe hyper-animality to other groups and use that as an excuse for subordinating them further.
Martha NussbaumRead
Propaganda requires a permanent network of communication so that it can systematically stifle reflection with emotive or utopian slogans. Its pace is usually fast.
John BergerRead
Men would live exceedingly quiet if these two words, mine and thine, were taken away.
AnaxagorasRead
What have I eaten? Lies and smiles.
Sylvia PlathRead
Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas in antiquity.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead