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I would give all of my fame for a pot of ale and safety.
William Shakespeare
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Prioritizing personal safety and simple pleasures over fame and recognition.

In this quote, Shakespeare emphasizes the value of safety and basic needs over the superficial allure of fame. It highlights the idea that true contentment comes from feeling secure and having simple pleasures like a 'pot of ale,' rather than pursuing worldly accolades that can often lead to stress and anxiety.

Themes

FameSafetyPrioritiesContentmentPleasures

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech on valuing personal well-being over career advancement.

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).
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Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
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Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
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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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