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
It provokes the desire but it takes away the performance. Therefore much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes him and it mars him; it sets him on and it takes him off.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the paradox of indulgence, where excessive drinking can stimulate desire yet hinder one's ability to act on it.
In this quote from Shakespeare, the author reflects on the contradictory nature of alcohol and its effects on human behavior. While drinking may incite passion or desire, it simultaneously diminishes one's capacity to effectively pursue those desires. This duality emphasizes the struggle between temptation and the ability to act upon one's wishes, suggesting that self-indulgence is often a double-edged sword that enhances certain experiences while undermining others.
Themes
DesirePerformanceDrinkingTemptationIndulgence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during discussions about the effects of alcohol on relationships.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes βLove 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
Few cross the river of time and are able to reach non-being. Most of them run up and down only on this side of the river. But those who when they know the law follow the path of the law, they shall reach the other shore and go beyond the realm of death.
HoraceRead
When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.
C. S. LewisRead
This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people.
Walt WhitmanRead
A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.
Gloria SteinemRead
To know that God knows everything about me and yet loves me is indeed my ultimate consolation.
R. C. SproulRead
The real test of a man is not when he plays the role that he wants for himself but when he plays the role destiny has for him.
Vaclav HavelRead