QuoteProject
A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent--sweet, not lasting; The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more.
William Shakespeare
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the fleeting nature of youth and beauty.

In this quote, Shakespeare poetically expresses the transient beauty of youth, comparing it to a violet that blooms but is not permanent. The imagery suggests that while youth brings sweetness and a delightful fragrance, it is ultimately a brief moment, reminding us to cherish these ephemeral experiences.

Themes

YouthBeautyTransienceNatureLife

In practice

Example use cases

In a graduation speech reflecting on the rise and fall of youth.

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

The church is like manure. Pile it up, and it stinks up the neighborhood. Spread it out, and it enriches the world.
Luis PalauRead
Nothing is easier than to admit in words the truth of the universal struggle for life, or more difficult - at least I have found it so - than constantly to bear this conclusion in mind...We behold the face of nature bright with gladness...We do not see, or we forget, that the birds which are idly singing round us mostly live on insects and seeds, and are thus constantly destroying life.
Charles DarwinRead
That's what tyrants do, I guess. They make you covet their attention; they make you confuse attention for mercy.
Gary ShteyngartRead
The man who meets with a failure attributes this failure rather to the ill will of another than to fate.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Anxiety is the beginning of conscience, which is the parent of the soul but is not compatible with innocence.
Angela CarterRead
If church prelates, past or present, had even an inkling of physiology they'd realize that what they term this inner ugliness creates and nourishes the hearing ear, the seeing eye, the active mind, and energetic body of man and woman, in the same way that dirt and dung at the roots give the plant its delicate leaves and the full-blown rose.
Sean O'CaseyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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