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
For mine own part, it was Greek to me.
Interpretation
The phrase indicates a lack of understanding, suggesting that something is foreign or incomprehensible.
The quote 'For mine own part, it was Greek to me' expresses the speaker's inability to understand something, likening it to a foreign language that is unintelligible to them. This metaphor reveals how certain concepts or ideas can feel completely foreign, emphasizing the universality of confusion and misunderstanding in human experience.
In practice
During a class discussion, when the teacher introduced advanced topics, I remarked, 'For mine own part, it was Greek to me.'
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).
Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
If we live truly, we shall see truly.
In your reaction to an imagined attack on your country or an insult to its government, you draw closer to the herd for protection, you conform in word and deed, and you insist vehemently that everybody else shall think, speak, and act together. And you fix your adoring gaze upon the State, with a truly filial look, as upon the Father of the flock.
Freedom is the recognition of necessity.
If you strike a child, take care that you strike it in anger, even at the risk of maiming it for life. A blow in cold blood neither can nor should be forgiven.
I am better than my reputation
Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.
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