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
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles; his love sincere, his thoughts immaculate; his tears pure messengers sent from his heart; his heart as far from fraud, as heaven from earth
Interpretation
This quote expresses the depth and sincerity of a person's emotions and commitments.
In this quote, Shakespeare highlights the integrity and purity of a person's character, emphasizing that their words and feelings are genuine and free from deceit. The metaphors illustrate how deeply connected this person is to their emotions, suggesting that their love and sincerity are as vast and sincere as the difference between heaven and earth.
In practice
This quote can be used in a wedding speech to highlight the importance of trust and love in relationships.
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.
You never know how long you have with someone, so don’t forget to say I love you while you can.
Now, I think that I should have known that he was magic all along. I did know it - but I should have guessed that it would be too much to ask to grow old with and see our children grow up together. So now, he is a legend when he would have preferred to be a man.
Many people are despairing of the possibility of finding love. And some of the people who are despairing the most are in their thirties and forties and looking just great.
I once asked a bird, how is it that you fly in this gravity of darkness? She responded, 'love lifts me.'
When I am lonely for boys it’s their bodies I miss. I study their hands lifting the cigarettes in the darkness of the movie theaters, the slope of a shoulder, the angle of a hip. Looking at them sideways, I examine them in different lights. My love for them is visual: that is the part of them I would like to possess. Don’t move, I think. Stay like that, let me have that.
The sky dreams of stars, the earth dreams of love.
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