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
If I profane with my unworthiest hand_x000D_ _x000D_ This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:_x000D_ _x000D_ My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand_x000D_ _x000D_ To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses the deep reverence and desire of a lover for their beloved.
In this quote, Shakespeare uses the metaphor of a 'holy shrine' to signify the beloved's lips, suggesting that kissing is a sacred act. The speaker acknowledges their own unworthiness but expresses a profound longing to connect with their beloved through a tender kiss, illustrating the beauty and vulnerability of romantic love.
Themes
LoveAffectionDesireKissPilgrims
In practice
Example use cases
During a wedding speech, one might use this quote to emphasize the sacredness of love.
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
But there is another way. And that is to organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
I don't write songs about a specific, elusive thing. I write about love, and everyone knows what it is like to have your heart broken.
AdeleRead
I will write a book one day about how I feel about every aspect of Emily Stone. She's a full genius. She has found her genius and is giving it all so fully and beautifully. I think everyone who works with her, brushes shoulders with her, or even makes eye contact with her, gets a shot of sunshine.
Andrew GarfieldRead
Veils of love which was only hate petrified by longing--that was me.
Louise ErdrichRead
Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.
Oscar WildeRead
Half the sum of attraction, on either side, might have been enough, for he had nothing to do, and she had hardly any body to love." (of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, Persuasion)
Jane AustenRead