Life Lessons From Shakespeare

Sometimes written, "all that glisters...", this quote comes from The Merchant of Venice. But the concept of the proverb was not quite coined by Shakespeare.

Nevertheless, the lesson is powerful: be mindful of things that seem flashy and/or expensive on the outside, because, in reality that thing might be worthless.

And, let's face it, those words of wisdom are just as pertinent in regard to people as they are to material things. 

In the final scene of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lysander says to Thesues, "A good moral, my lord: it is not enough to speak, but to speak true" as the pair mock Quince's dire, rambling and nonsensical prologue to The Mechanicals' performance of 'Pyramus and Thisbe'. 

The lesson to be learned here is: don't just talk for the sake of talking. It is far better to be concise and truthful.

Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays, but was recently transformed for film by Ralph Fiennes.

And from it comes this pearl of wisdom, which tells us, essentially, to have the courage of our convictions.

In other words, if you have done something with the right motives, then you have nothing to be ashamed of.   

Along with 'to be or not to be?', this is arguably one of the most famous lines from Hamlet. It's lesson is a fairly simple one: no matter what you do, be truthful with yourself, because as Hamlet's dialogue goes onto explain, "it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."

What Shakespeare's telling us is, if we are honest with ourselves, we are less likely to be dishonest with other people. Lie to yourself, and you'll almost certainly lie to others.

Spoken by Olivia in Twelfth Night, the countess is trying to woo the cross-dressing Viola. The quote simply means that to seek love is fine and dandy, but to receive it without looking for it is even better.

Of course, she's using this to argue that Viola (disguised as Cesario) should be thrilled by her advances even though she (he) did not ask for Olivia's affections. But it still holds true that to be loved without having to coax that affection from someone is far better than vice versa. 

It's easy to look at someone who is distressed and wonder why can't they just snap out of it. Only, when we're faced with a grief ourselves, it ain't quite so easy, is it?

I think, as life lessons go, this one, from Much Ado About Nothing, is essential to keep in mind both when we are grieving something and when we encounter someone else who is grieving. If a friend has just been dumped, for example, it's easy to lay the cliches on thick - but know that no amount of common sense will be of help.

As mentioned elsewhere, there are often wise words to be found in Shakespeare's comedies and this is a fine example. The quote comes from The Comedy of Errors and is spoken by Luciana after listening to the jealous ramblings of her sister, Adriana.

And, let's face it, she's got a point. Jealousy, admittedly a difficult emotion to ignore, only harms those who feel it and it can turn them quite mad, as we known only too well from Othello.