As you may have seen from our twitter feed today (@AboveBounds) we have been thinking about Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Now one of the set-backs of Twitter of course is the 140 character limit. Shakespeare had no such limitations, so here we would like to share with you a slightly longer quote and hopefully spark a thought. It’s a well known speech but that doesn’t relinquish any of its potency. Enjoy!
I have of late–but
wherefore I know not–lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust?
Hamlet, Act two, Scene two, William Shakespeare