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
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Brave individuals face death only once in their lives, unlike those who live in fear.
In this quote, Shakespeare implies that true courage allows one to live fully and face challenges head-on, suggesting that a brave person confronts their fears and mortality, while those who shy away from living fully may experience the dread of death repeatedly, metaphorically, through fear and hesitation.
Themes
CourageDeathBraveryFearLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about facing life's challenges.
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All quotes →Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
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Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
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Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
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Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
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If I am good enough and quiet enough, perhaps after all they will let me go; but it’s not easy being quiet and good, it’s like hanging on to the edge of a bridge when you’ve already fallen over; you don’t seem to be moving, just dangling there, and yet it is taking all your strength.
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The worker can unionize, go out on strike; mothers are divided from each other in homes, tied to their children by compassionate bonds; our wildcat strikes have most often taken the form of physical or mental breakdown.
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