I’d never heard this one, and just saw it go by on Twitter. Didn’t sound like Shakespeare.
It’s not, it’s Oliver Wendell Holmes. Specifically, The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.
Have a nice day!
Author: duane
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Why You Can’t Just Google Love Quotes
I knew when I set about collecting Shakespeare wedding quotes that it’d be tricky to set myself apart from the many “love quotes” sites on the net. Not in terms of quality, of course – they have none. No, it’s explaining this to people that’s tricky. Just now, for instance, while Googling for “wedding quotes from Shakespeare”, I found a site (that shall remain nameless) that claims to have a Top 100 Shakespeare Love Quotes. Ready for a few samples? “A young man married is a man that’s marred.” “I pray you, do not fall in love with me, For I am falser than vows made in wine” “You cannot call it love, for at your age the heyday in the blood is tame” “Lechery, lechery; still, wars and lechery: nothing else holds fashion.” Great stuff, there. I’m surprised they didn’t throw in that Capulet line about our dancing days being in the past. Try pulling one of these out during a wedding toast and see what happens. Hear My Soul Speak: Wedding Quotations from Shakespeare contains over 100 selections from across all of Shakespeare’s works, specifically chosen for their positive thoughts on love, marriage and romance. Available now in Kindle, iBook and PDF format.
See first that the design is wise and just; that ascertained, pursue it resolutely.
I find no evidence that Shakespeare wrote this. I see no use of “ascertain” in his work, and only three unrelated uses of the word “resolutely.”
The question remains, however – who said it, if Shakespeare didn’t?
How about Aesop, the guy from all the fables?
This is the only reference I can find that suggests Aesop, and even then the context is a little weird – the quote in question stands out in the middle of the page, somewhat unrelated to the rest of the context.
Pitch This : Kill Shakespeare
Kill Shakespeare is a popular new graphic novel that pits a number of Shakespeare’s heroes against his villains. I’ve not yet seen a copy, but i hear it’s doing quite well. So well, in fact, that they pitched a movie version at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the $10,000 prize! http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tiff/story/2010/09/14/f-tiff-pitch-this-kill-shakespear.html From the article:
Shortly after their win, the two Toronto men told CBC News they came up with the idea about seven years ago, when Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill was in theatres.
Though they were kicking around ideas for a video-game project, they began discussing the Tarantino film and Del Col joked about replacing David Carradine’s reclusive titular character with William Shakespeare and inserting his iconic heroes and villains as the film’s key players.
I love it. I hope the prize money helps move them one step closer to making the movie version.
Shakespeare Music! The Young Scamels Debut Album
From the press release: The Young Scamels "Tempest" continues a collaboration that has been going for almost 20 years. The album was written by Christian Frederickson, Greg King and Jason Noble (who have performed together in the Rachel’s band and Shipping News). When they were offered a chance to score "The Tempest" at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2007/2008 they jumped at the chance. Opening with the softly layered violas of "Bring Forth a Wonder" the album shifts into the unkempt "Tempest" – finding the band resorting to hitting scuba tanks and going for a Peter Gabriel-tribute drum sound. Next is "Full Fathom Five", the first of several tracks with Shakespeare’s words, using more electric guitar, keys and a dissonant vocal cloud and bruised melody. As the album progresses, the quiet "I’ll Drown My Book" moves on to haunted landscapes of bells and synths, light-hearted beats, viola, vibes and guitar. The closing track, "A Contract of True Love," brings the many characters together in a final celebration, forgiveness being offered to all while strident drums, multiple voices and strings bang out an upbeat farewell message. The album is coming out on September 21st via File 13 Records.
From Duane: I’m listening now, and I have to say I quite like the “Full Fathom Five” single. Nice strong female lead. I was not crazy about “Be Not Afeard,” which ends up as more of a spoken word piece. Some of the others are very slow, and mostly instrumental as the press release notes. I’ve not yet been through them all. Always fun to see what people do when putting Shakespeare’s words to music. You can’t really explain it, you have to hear for yourself and decide if it’s your cup of tea.