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
To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep No more; and by a sleep, to say we end The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep, To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the internal struggle of existence and the contemplation of life and death.
In this famous soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the speaker grapples with the profound question of existence, weighing the pains of life against the uncertainty of death. It highlights the human condition's struggle with suffering and the desire for relief, prompting philosophical reflection on whether enduring life's challenges is nobler than seeking an end to those troubles through death, while also considering the fear of the unknown that comes with death and the potential for dreams beyond.
Themes
ExistenceSufferingDeathThoughtPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech to encourage students to confront their fears.
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
People say, 'Did you violate Heaven?' Well, God is down here, too. If you believe in God, you believe in God here as well as 240,000 miles away.
Jim LovellRead
The American War of Independence is the expulsion of the intrusive elements, alien to the American essence. If American reality is the reinvention of itself, whatever is found in any way irreducible or unassimilable is not American.
Octavio PazRead
A woman can walk miles without making one single step forward. As a child born in a harem, I instinctively knew that to live is to open closed doors. To live is to look outside. To live is to step out. Life is trespassing.
Fatema MernissiRead
Man has been here 32,000 years. That it took a hundred million years to prepare the world for him is proof that that is what it was done for. I suppose it is, I dunno. If The Eiffel Tower were now to represent the world's age, the skin of paint on the pinnacle knob at its summit would represent man's share of that age; and anybody would perceive that the skin was what the tower was built for. I reckon they would, I dunno.
Mark TwainRead
In religion and politics, people's belief's and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination
Mark TwainRead
Sentimentality - that's what we call the sentiment we don't share.
Graham GreeneRead