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
Mercutio: "If love be rough with you, be rough with love.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that if love treats you harshly, you should respond in kind.
In this quote from Mercutio in Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', the speaker implies that love can be a challenging and tumultuous experience. Instead of passively accepting the difficulties that love brings, one should confront those challenges boldly and with an equal intensity. It conveys a message about the nature of love as something that requires both strength and resilience in the face of adversity.
Themes
LoveAdversityStrengthResilienceChallenge
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could inspire someone going through a tough breakup to stand their ground and assert themselves.
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
Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process.
Elisabeth ElliotRead
To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others.
Francois MauriacRead
Iβm here not because I am supposed to be here, or because Iβm trapped here, but because Iβd rather be with you than anywhere else in the world.
Richard BachRead
Love is a binding force, by which another is joined to me and cherished by myself.
Thomas AquinasRead
Love is a place & through this place of love move (with brightness of peace) all places yes is a world & in this world of yes live (skillfully curled) all worlds
E. E. CummingsRead
Having achieved and accomplished love... man... has become himself, his tale is told.
D. H. LawrenceRead