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About this quote

What does it mean?
Kings rise and fall like stars; they receive world worship but have no peace.
In plain terms
Kings are famous but never rest.
What can you take from it?
Power brings worship but not peace.

Where it applies

  • leadership
  • politics
  • public life

Putting it to work

  • evaluating power dynamics
  • reflecting on leadership

Questions to consider

  • Does power truly prevent repose?
  • Is fame a burden?

Another view

This generalization may not apply to all types of rulers or eras.

More from Percy Bysshe Shelley

  1. Life may change, but it may fly not; Hope may vanish, but can die not; Truth be veiled, but still it burneth; Love repulsed, - but it returneth!

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  2. But Greece and her foundations are Built below the tide of war, Based on the crystalline sea Of thought and its eternity; Her citizens, imperial spirits, Rule …

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  3. We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts have their root in Greece.

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