“ Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain; For they breathe truth that breathe their words -in pain. ”
William Shakespeare, Richard II (1595). copy citation
| Author | William Shakespeare |
|---|---|
| Source | Richard II |
| Topic | pain truth |
| Date | 1595 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1111/pg1111-images.html |
Context
“Will the King come, that I may breathe my last In wholesome counsel to his unstaid youth? YORK. Vex not yourself, nor strive not with your breath; For all in vain comes counsel to his ear. GAUNT. O, but they say the tongues of dying men Enforce attention like deep harmony. Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain; For they breathe truth that breathe their words -in pain. He that no more must say is listen'd more Than they whom youth and ease have taught to glose; More are men's ends mark'd than their lives before. The setting sun, and music at the close, As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last, Writ in remembrance more than things long past.”
source
