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
For it falls out That what we have we prize not to the worth Whiles we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost, Why, then we rack the value, then we find The virtue that possession would not show us While it was ours.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We often take things for granted until they are gone, realizing their true value only in their absence.
This quote reflects on the nature of human appreciation and recognition of value. It suggests that people often do not recognize the worth of what they have while enjoying it; it is only in the absence of that possession that they come to understand its true significance and virtue, prompting a deep sense of regret for not valuing it more when they had it.
Themes
ValueAppreciationLossRealizationPossession
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about gratitude, this quote can remind the audience to appreciate their loved ones.
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
We pay a high price for intelligence. Wisdom hurts.
EuripidesRead
In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions: 'When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence?'
Angeles ArrienRead
Not to converse with a man worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To converse with a man not worthy of conversation is to waste words. The wise waste neither men nor words.
ConfuciusRead
Only a madman would give good for evil
EuripidesRead
Keep the extent of your abilities unknown.The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to be honored at all. He allows you to know them but not to comprehend them. No one must know the extent of his abilities, lest he be disappointed. No one ever has an opportunity of fathoming him entirely. For guesses and doubts about the extent of his talents arouse more veneration than accurate knowledge of them, be they ever so great.
Baltasar GracianRead
Humility can weep over other men's weaknesses, and joy and rejoice over their graces.
Thomas BrooksRead