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
She told her, while she kept it, 'Twould make her amiable and subdue my father Entirely to her love, but if she lost it Or made a gift of it, my father's eye Should hold her loathed and his spirits should hunt After new fancies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that a woman's beauty and charm can captivate a man, but losing it may turn his affections away.
In this quote, Shakespeare explores the idea of love and attraction, indicating that a woman's ability to win a man's heart is connected to her maintaining certain qualities or possessions that he finds alluring. If she were to lose these qualities or choices, the man's affection would wane, suggesting that love can be contingent upon external factors and the perceived value of one's self.
Themes
LoveAffectionsBeautyCharmAttraction
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the nature of romantic relationships, one might quote this to illustrate how love can be influenced by external circumstances.
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
Love opens all doors, no matter how tightly closed they may be, no matter how rusty from lack of use. Your work is to bring unity and harmony, to open all those doors which have been closed for a long time. Have patience and tolerance. Open your heart all the time.
Maharishi Mahesh YogiRead
I’ve learned that you can’t predict [love] or plan for it. For someone like me who is obsessed with organization and planning, I love the idea that love is the one exception to that. Love is the one wild card.
Taylor SwiftRead
The longest absence is less perilous to love than the terrible trials of incessant proximity.
Edna St. Vincent MillayRead
God gives us love! Something to love He lends us; but when love is grown To ripeness, that on which it throve Falls off, and love is left alone: This is the curse of time.
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
One is never too old for romance.
Ingrid BergmanRead
Surrendering completely to love, be it human or divine, means giving up everything, including our own well-being or our ability to make decisions. It means loving in the deepest sense of the word. The truth is that we don't want to be saved in the way God has chosen; we want to keep absolute control over our every step, to be fully conscious of our decisions, to be capable of choosing the object of our devotion.
Paulo CoelhoRead