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
By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death will seize the doctor too.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the inevitability of death, emphasizing that even those who help others live longer cannot escape their own mortality.
In this poignant quote, William Shakespeare highlights the transient nature of life and the universal truth that death ultimately comes for everyone, regardless of their role or profession. The notion that a doctor, who extends the lives of others through medicine, is not exempt from death serves as a reminder of our shared human experience and the limits of human effort in the face of mortality.
Themes
LifeDeathMortalityMedicineHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a eulogy to emphasize the shared fate of all humans.
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
To be sure, those who are actually engaged in combat - those who actually see the maimed bodies and mourning mothers - struggle more than the rest of us to make sense of the reality of war.
Stanley HauerwasRead
I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.
J. D. SalingerRead
Any belief in Creators or Purpose is wishful thinking. And when you point out that perhaps ALL thinking is wishful, reactions of intense irritation give evidence that we are not dealing with logic but with faith.
William S. BurroughsRead
Man is a wingless animal with two feet and flat nails.
PlatoRead
To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.
Oscar WildeRead
The minute the church and pastors start saying what do people want and then giving it to them, we betray our calling. We're called to have people follow Jesus. We're called to have people learn how to forgive their enemies.
Eugene H. PetersonRead