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
Give obedience where 'tis truly owed.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of giving respect and loyalty to those who truly deserve it.
William Shakespeare's quote, 'Give obedience where 'tis truly owed,' reflects the idea that loyalty and respect should be directed towards individuals who have genuinely earned it through their actions and character. It suggests a discerning approach to relationships and authority, urging individuals to recognize and honor those who are worthy of their allegiance.
In practice
In a speech about leadership values, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of respecting true leaders.
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.
It is hard to put aside partisanship. It is hard to give up the easy wisecracking jeer that divides and destroys. It is hard - very hard - to have worked sincerely and wholeheartedly for a cause and to have lost. Most of all, it is hard to put aside personal prejudices. And yet we must put these things aside.
The ultimate aim of the ego is not to see something, but to be something.
But above all, in order to be, never try to seem.
Whoever cultivates the golden mean avoids both the poverty of a hovel and the envy of a palace.
Divinity is not something supernatural that ever and again invades the natural order in a crashing miracle. Divinity is not in some remote heaven, seated on a throne. Divinity is love. . . . Wherever goodness, beauty, truth, love, are-there is the divine.
Historians are prophets with their face turned backward.
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