![]() ![]() This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not expressed in fancy-rich, not gaudy, For the apparel oft proclaims the man, And they in France of the best rank and station Are of a most select and generous chief in that. Take each man’s censure but reserve thy judgment. Give every man thy ear but few thy voice. Beware Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, Bear ’t that th’ opposèd may beware of thee. Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel, But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade. Give thy thoughts no tongue, Nor any unproportioned thought his act. And these few precepts in thy memory Look thou character. Yet here, Laertes? Aboard, aboard, for shame! The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail And you are stayed for. Young people can lose their self-control without any outside help. You will be safest if you maintain a healthy fear. ![]() ![]() Too often, worms or disease ruin flowers before they blossom-and young flowers are the most vulnerable. Your reputation can be ruined if other people even think that you’re doing something you shouldn’t. Avoid exposing your beauty, even to the moon. Keep your feelings under control, and keep yourself free from the danger of his desire. Then think about how it would stain your reputation if you believe his words of love, or fall in love, or give up your virginity to him. So if he says he loves you, it would be smart for you to understand that his words can’t mean any more than what the needs of Denmark allow it to mean. He must do what is right for the the country that he leads when he makes his choice. He is bound by the needs of the royal family, and can’t just choose whomever he wants-because the choice he makes could affect the safety and security of the entire country. But you must take into account that he cannot make his own decisions. Perhaps he loves you now, and currently nothing stains the purity of that love. So do the responsibilities that weigh on his mind and soul. When a youth becomes a man, it’s not just his body that grows in size. Youth to itself rebels, though none else near. And in the morn and liquid dew of youth, Contagious blastments are most imminent. The canker galls the infants of the spring Too oft before their buttons be disclosed. Virtue itself ’scapes not calumnious strokes. The chariest maid is prodigal enough If she unmask her beauty to the moon. Fear it, my dear sister, And keep you in the rear of your affection, Out of the shot and danger of desire. Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain If with too credent ear you list his songs, Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open To his unmastered importunity. Then if he says he loves you, It fits your wisdom so far to believe it As he in his particular act and place May give his saying deed, which is no further Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal. And therefore must his choice be circumscribed Unto the voice and yielding of that body Whereof he is the head. He may not, as unvalued persons do, Carve for himself, for on his choice depends The safety and health of this whole state. His greatness weighed, his will is not his own, For he himself is subject to his birth. Perhaps he loves you now, And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch The virtue of his will, but you must fear. For nature, crescent, does not grow alone In thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes, The inward service of the mind and soul Grows wide withal. ![]()
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