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
I pray you, do not fall in love with me, for I am falser than vows made in wine.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The speaker warns against falling in love with them due to their unreliability.
In this quote, the speaker conveys a deep sense of self-awareness about their own flaws and untrustworthiness. They use the metaphor of 'vows made in wine' to suggest that promises made under the influence of alcohol are fickle and unreliable, implying that their own affections are equally untrustworthy and should not be subject to romantic feelings from others. This reflects a complex understanding of love, vulnerability, and the nature of human relationships.
Themes
LoveTrustRelationshipsBetrayalAffection
In practice
Example use cases
During a romantic dinner, one might quote this to express fears of emotional vulnerability.
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
And the coolness of your smile is stirringofbirds between my arms
E. E. CummingsRead
dont let the old break you; let the love make you
Bertrand RussellRead
Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.
Wayne DyerRead
When someone you love dies, and you're not expecting it, you don't lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time—the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes—when there's a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she's gone, forever—there comes another day, and another specifically missing part.
John IrvingRead
We ought to deal kindly with all, and to manifest those qualities which spring naturally from a heart tender and full of Christian charity; such as affability, love and humility. These virtues serve wonderfully to gain the hearts of men, and to encourage them to embrace things that are more repugnant to nature.
St. VincentRead
The betrothed and accepted lover has lost the wildest charms of his maiden by her acceptance. She was heaven while he pursued her, but she cannot be heaven if she stoops to one such as he!
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead