Name
Course
Tutor
Wisdom from Shakespeare
William Shakespeare is a revered playwright due to his mastery of language and intellectual capacity. His words of wisdom in his plays resonate in our daily lives today. His Elizabethan civilization and grasp of language notwithstanding, Shakespeare’s quotes and wise counsel crafted masterfully in his plays, comedies, sonnets and tragedies have remained a cornerstone of our lives experiences. The main wise quotes that have lived with me till now are enshrined on the power of thinking first before uttering words unnecessarily. These include; “Words without thoughts never to heaven go,” adapted from 3rd Act of Hamlet (scene 3); “Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice,” adapted from the 1st Act of Hamlet (scene 3, page 3) and “Mind your speech a little lest you should mar your fortunes,” adapted from 1st Act of King Lear (scene 1, page 4) (Shakespeare 23). While there are many quotes and words of wisdom, these are the main ones that touched me, and have influenced me more.
These words of wisdom resonate in my life in at least two ways. One is the need to always be a critical and creative thinker before making arguments or inferences. Critical thinking requires that I internalize the concepts at hand and assess all possible assumptions and inferences based on my knowledge, fair-mindedness, accuracy and logic. They encourage me to think first and critically analyze all my responses before answering, lest I may make a fool of myself or lose something important. This is both applicable in my school work and daily life. Secondly, Shakespeare’s wise words help me to refrain from anger and emotional attachment when making decisions. Making decisions based on emotions always lead to catastrophic consequences. They help me to take my time to fully analyze the situation and come up with a sound decision that works best for me and others. Every time I am in a dilemma these words ring a bell and I am able to reason accordingly and make the best decision.
One of my life’s experiences when I used these words of wisdom was a time I had an argument with my parents. The argument was over the course to take in college. I wanted to study linguistics and literature, because I always loved reading literally work, poems, plays, and other languages. On the other hand, my parents wanted me to pursue law as a career and ridiculed my interest in linguistics and literature. I was pissed off by their arguments and wanted to react emotionally to the scenario by either abusing them or threatening to run away from home. Just then, I remembered Shakespeare’s words on thinking first before commenting. The reflection helped me to make a sound decision to remain resilient and quiet at the moment. I decided to withhold my response and postponed the matter until I was ready. This helped me to take time to convince them that I was the sole person to decide my fate. They understood my point and supported me.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare: A Book of Quotations. Courier Corporation, 2012.