“He that will have a cake out of the wheat, must tarry the grinding.” (Troilus and Cressida act 1, sc. 1)
Tips for Use. These lines have multiple applications. Excellent, for example, during a job interview when your prospective employer asks you that canonical (and between ourselves silly) question, “Are you afraid of hard work?”, “Can you work overtime?” or similar. The point here is not in the answer – who would be so dumb as to say ‘no’? The objective, as with all usages of pointed Shakespearean quotations, is to surprise your counterpart. You can bet several hundred $$$ that the interviewer will not expect your answer. Therefore he will at least remember you and – other parameters being generally favorable – you will have a definite edge on your competitors.
The same lines have equally a romantic application. For example when you have done or will do something for her and she delivers a comment of the type, “…you have gone to all this trouble… etc.” Immediately reply, “He that will have a cake out of the wheat, must tarry the grinding.” It is up to her, of course, how to interpret the quote.
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Of course, if you acquire the book “Your Daily Shakespeare” you will not only enjoy it but you will find it very useful. The quote in this post and more than ten thousand others will lead you to find the words that perfectly strengthen your argument(s). After all Shakespeare wrote them, I simply extracted, structured and compiled them so as to make Shakespeare very “user friendly” as they say. And if you wish I will even sign the book. But this is the extent of any “sales” effort, call or solicitation.
In the play. Troilus laments his somewhat dejected state of mind to Pandarus who answers with a general truth