Shakespeare on Love, Words of Love, Music, their Similarities & Interconnections

How silver sweets sound lovers' tongues by nightHow silver sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night,
Like softest music to attending ears
!”
(Romeo and Juliet, act 2, sc. 2)

Tips for Use.  You may drop the line in passing, especially if she said something nice. Not everyone held the same idea on the matter. In “The Anatomie of Abuse”, Philip Stubbes (1583-1591) writes, “I say of Musick as Plato, Aristotle, Galen and many others haue said of it: that it is very il for young heds, for a certaine kinde of nice, smoothe sweetness in alluring the auditorie to effeminacie, pusillanimity, and lothsomnes of life… Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Fate, Destiny and the Powerlessness of Man

Our wills and fates do so contrary run that our devices still are overthrown“But, orderly to end where I begun,
Our wills and fates do so contrary run
That our devices still are overthrown;
Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own.”

(Hamlet, act 3, sc. 2)

Tips for Use.  An eternal truth rendered in a way that will make you be original when you express it. A good answer too, to justify an unexpected course of events.
When man-primate stood on his hind legs, the skill he acquired came at significant cost. It was the dawn of the reflective mind. In turn, the reflective mind caused a weakening or rather the extinction of some perceptive faculties and also of some other forms of sociability that allowed a greater autonomy of the individual. The function of memory– though we still don’t know how it works – changed Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Passion, Enthusiasm and Dangers thereof

What to ourselves in passion we propose, the passion ending...“What to ourselves in passion we propose,
The passion ending, doth the purpose lose.”
(Hamlet, act 3, sc. 2)

Tips for Use. Word of caution when you sense that the enthusiasm detectable at one moment in a group may be only momentary and destined to cool and abate when the passion of the moment is gone. Good words to prevent the effects of rash decusions. Statistically, opinion leans towards the positive side of passion or enthusiasm. The two words converge in meaning after starting from opposite Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Fresh Breath and Bad Breath Remedies if Needed

The leaf of eglantine whom, not to slander, outsweetens not tht breathThe leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,
Out-sweetens not thy breath
.”
(Cymbeline, act 4, sc. 1)

Tips for Use. Perfect answer if your better (or worse) half is concerned about her/his breath and queries you about it. Perhaps it is a case where a license to lie may be granted. The quality of breath (fresh or otherwise) comes up frequently in Shakespeare. For instance see the entry on Apr 27, 2012 (or search for ‘garlic’ or ‘onion’). There are others, all duly noted in the book “Your Daily Shakespeare.” That bad breath may have been Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Aging Gracefully, Wine & Laughter as Medicines

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles comeWith mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come,
And let my liver rather heat with wine
Than my heart cool with mortifying groans,
Why should a man whose blood is warm within
Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster?”
(Merchant of Venice, act 1, sc. 1)

Tips for Use. A good answer to a question on your philosophy of life. Alternatively, a rationalization for your liking of wine, or in praise of wine itself. In any event one can always be old enough to know worse. The line may possibly suggest a calculated diversion to a question about your age. On the other hand you can always say, Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Planning, Management Planning and Risk Management

When we mean to build we first survey the plot, then draw the model“When we mean to build,
We first survey the plot, then draw the model;
And when we see the figure of the house,
Then must we rate the cost of the erection;
Which if we find outweighs ability,
What do we then but draw anew the model
In fewer offices, or at last desist
To build at all.”
(King Henry IV part 2 act 1, sc. 3)

Tips for Use. When you want to encourage planning a venture rather than thoughtlessly diving into it. You can possibly interject part of the quote during a job interview, if the subject of planning comes up at one point or another. In a more prosaic way Benjamin Franklin says, Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Middle Age and Flowers for Middle Aged Men

these are flowers of middle summer and I think they are given to men of middle age“….Here’s flowers for you;
Hot lavender, mints, savoury, marjoram;
The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ the sun
And with him rises weeping: these are flowers
Of middle summer, and I think they are given
To men of middle age. You’re very welcome.”

(Winter’s Tale.4.4)

Tips for Use. In Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets flowers are either described as such or usually associated to or compared to ladies. This is a notable exception.If you are a middle age man this would be a reply to the question, (however unlikely), ‘What kind of flowers do you like?’
The flowers in these lines are all familiar – a bit less perhaps is Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Recognition and Name Recognition

Every tongue that speaks but Romeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence“… and every tongue that speaks
But Romeo’s name, speaks heavenly eloquence.”

(Romeo and Juliet, act 3, sc. 2)

Tips for Use. It could be an answer to ‘Have you heard of So and So?’ where So and So is a lady of interest to you, e.g. ‘every tongue that speaks but (So and So’s) name…’eloquence”. So and So could even be yourself if you by chance catch your name mentioned in the conversation of others and want to introduce a little irony. Or a comeback to the not infrequent occasion when you happen to join a meeting and someone Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Pageantry, Pomp and the Fleeting Nature of Power

What is pomp, rule, reign but earth and dust“… what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust?
And, live we how we can, yet die we must.”

(King Henry VI part 3., act 5, sc. 2)

Comments. No explanation is needed for these words uttered by Warwick the king-maker as he lies on the ground, wounded during the battle of Barnet (1471). The illustration of the Grand Dowager Empress of China lends itself to a few parallel notes. The term “first lady” assigned to the wife of a US president was first used by Mrs. Lucy Hayes, wife of the 19th president Rutheford Hayes (1877-1881). Earlier on, Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Modesty and Sex-Appeal

shakespeare quote Can it be that modesty may more betray our sense than...“… Can it be
That modesty may more betray our sense
Than woman’s lightness?”

(Measure For Measure, act 2, sc. 3)

Tips for use.  Here we have in verse the unassailable truth that modesty or elegant reserve are more enticing than explicit sexual messages. Regrettably many if not most of us have become inured to the awesome badness of TV sit-com, serials etc.. To the point that nothing else may be even imaginable. This is the complete triumph of free-market theory applied to the stultification of the brain and with brain, taste. Continue reading

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