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 is not night when I do see your face, Therefore I think I am not in the night; Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company, For you in my respect are all the world: Then how can it be said I am alone, When all the world is here to look on me?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The presence of a loved one can illuminate even the darkest times, making one feel complete and not alone.
In this quote, Shakespeare expresses the profound impact that a beloved person has on one's perception of reality. Even amidst darkness or solitude, the love and connection with this person transforms the environment, making one feel as though they are surrounded by the whole world through their love, thus dispelling feelings of loneliness.
Themes
LoveCompanionshipSolitudePresenceConnection
In practice
Example use cases
In a romantic card for Valentine's Day.
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
I say you are a coward and you are; I think you hunt only to reassure yourself that you are not what you are: the weakest thing to ever walk the Earth. He will come for me and then we will be gone, and you will be helpless for all your hunting, because Westley and I are joined by the bond of love and you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords.
William GoldmanRead
Beware of her fair hair, for she excels All women in the magic of her locks; And when she winds them round a young man's neck, She will not ever set him free again.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
I am too pure for you or anyone.
Sylvia PlathRead
I am the lover's gift; I am the wedding wreath; I am the memory of a moment of happiness; I am the last gift of the living to the dead; I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.
Khalil GibranRead
Those were the words she wanted to hear and she finally surrendered to the temptation of believing them.
Carlos Ruiz ZafonRead
The best feeling in the world is knowing that you actually mean something to someone.
Will SmithRead