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
Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the inevitability of death and the destruction that life encounters.
In this quote, Shakespeare explores the somber realities of life, emphasizing that ultimately, death is an unavoidable fate that overshadows all aspects of existence, including destruction and decay. It captures the idea that while life may be filled with suffering and ruin, death is the final and most significant event that each individual must face.
In practice
This quote could be used in a eulogy to highlight the acceptance of death as part of life.
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).
Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?
The mere absence of war is not peace.
...which causes me to wonder, my own purpose on so many days as humble as the spider's, what is beautiful that I make? What is elegant? What feeds the world?
I have remained true to my deepest convictions. I mean the courage of those who are born to be defeated, the weaknesses of the strong, and the tragedy of misunderstandings and missed opportunities, which I have done my best to treat as comedyβfor otherwise how can we manage to bear it?
War is not a life: it is a situation, one which may neither be ignored nor accepted.
Stories are compasses and architecture, we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and our prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of a world that spreads in all directions like arctic tundra or sea ice.
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