Call it not patience, Gaunt; it is despair:
 William Shakespeare, Richard II (1595). copy citation

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Author William Shakespeare
Source Richard II
Topic despair depression inaction
Date 1595
Language English
Reference
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Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1111/pg1111-images.html

Context

“Made him a man; and though thou livest and breathest, Yet art thou slain in him. Thou dost consent
In some large measure to thy father's death In that thou seest thy wretched brother die, Who was the model of thy father's life. Call it not patience, Gaunt-it is despair; In suff'ring thus thy brother to be slaught'red, Thou showest the naked pathway to thy life, Teaching stern murder how to butcher thee. That which in mean men we entitle patience Is pale cold cowardice in noble breasts.” source

Meaning and analysis

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