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
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is slicked o'er with the pale cast of thought
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on how overthinking can lead to hesitation and fear in decision-making.
In this quote from Hamlet, Shakespeare suggests that our conscience and the ability to think deeply about our choices can inhibit our courage. When faced with difficult decisions, the weight of our thoughts and moral considerations can deter us from taking action, causing us to become fearful and indecisive.
Themes
ConscienceCourageResolutionFearThought
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a motivational talk about overcoming fear and hesitation.
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
It would be naΓ―ve to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems ... However, with faith and perseverance, ... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace.
Jimmy CarterRead
But because we accept the sanctity of life, the responsibility that comes with freedom and the supreme sacrifice of Christ expressed so well in the hymn: 'When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died. My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.'
Margaret ThatcherRead
The general population doesn't know what's happening, and it doesn't even know that it doesn't know.
Noam ChomskyRead
Bigotry is an incapacity to conceive seriously the alternative to a proposition.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
Only through the conscious action of the working masses in city and country can it be brought to life, only through the people's highest intellectual maturity and inexhaustible idealism can it be brought safely through all storms and find its way to port.
Rosa LuxemburgRead
Since everything is in our heads, we had better not lose them.
Coco ChanelRead