One can forgive Shakespeare anything, except one's own bad lines.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- We readily excuse flaws in masterworks but hold ourselves to higher standards for our own mistakes.
- In plain terms
- It's easier to forgive others' errors than your own.
- What can you take from it?
- Hold yourself accountable to higher standards than you do others.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you judge your own work versus others?
- When did you last forgive yourself easily?
Another view
It assumes one can objectively identify their own flaws without bias.
More from Peter Ackroyd
He had the satisfied countenance of a man who has never succeeded in boring himself.
Permalink to quote #6 Only those with great ambitions know what great fears drive them forward.
Permalink to quote #8 The English can laugh and at the same time strike you down, without the least compunction. It is the secret of their success as a nation.
Permalink to quote #5
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