To Thine Own Self Be True ~ Shakespeare

Polonius gives advice to his son, Laertes, in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet. Laertes is leaving Denmark to study abroad in France. Polonius states that he only has a “few precepts,” but his long-winded speech goes on and on as a sort-of comic relief in the middle of the tragedy.

In high school, I recited this speech for a contest, and I often think of the advice that has been passed on through the centuries. I ponder at how some stories remain timeless while others fade away like a passing fad. The world has changed a lot since Shakespeare’s time, but some things have not changed. The words still hold value: be careful what you say, true friends are a treasure, don’t spend above your means…. After a long list of “precepts,” the monologue ends with the famous words:

“This above all: To thine own self be true…”

Advice on Living, Polonius to Laertes, from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

There,--my blessing with you!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character.--Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.

The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice:
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy:
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

References

• Shakespeare’s Tragedies free on Gutenberg
• Shakespeare’s Hamlet on Amazon.com