Is there a resource for finding the origins of phrases? Many times, the origin – or the first known use of something – is, in fact, Shakespeare.
This one, though – seems like it might go way back – while simultaneously feeling incredibly contemporary.
“So much for him” often gets a laugh in Claudius’ speech at the top of this play.
So much for so much for so simple and so elegant.
Author: erainbowd
Till then, in patience our proceeding be.
Leaving aside the character of the man speaking this line, it is actually good advice for the current moment. Often when people recommend activists be patient, they mean to wait, to stop, to accept the current circumstances and put up with the status quo.
But there is a patience that can travel with action, with proceeding. We can proceed with patience.
I want this current government gone. I am impatient for this national nightmare to be over – but patient proceeding is probably a better strategy. To continue forward, as patiently as possible.
An hour of quiet shortly shall we see.
I saw a tweet recently wherein someone reminded us of how upset we were a couple of years ago because some rock stars died. Like – we thought 2016 was a terrible year because we lost so many greats. (And also we elected a narcissistic pathological liar to the presidency.) Now, it seems quaint. Now, every day there is a new crisis. Every day the news is the worst we could have imagined a couple of years ago. What we wouldn’t all give for an hour of quiet.
This grave shall have a living monument.
I take this to mean that a guard will be posted here.
After two people tried to jump in to the grave, after the priest expressed his displeasure about the burial, after so much drama, stationing a guard here is pretty reasonable.
The tomb of the unknown soldier has a living monument and it is one of the most poignant symbolic rituals we have. The military does symbolism and theatre like no one else.
Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son.
Mmm-hmm. Claudius was all “our son” before – all “our cousin Hamlet and our son,” – all “My son” and just like that, when it suits him, he’s all “your son.” Your son, your responsibility, you hire the watchdogs. Or just do it yourself.
Such a perfect patriarchal prick, this guy.
We’ll put the matter to the present push.
Oh the present push!
Oh the present fight!
Oh the present madness!
Oh the present blight!
Did everyone feel like this while they watched their empires fall?
Did the population in Ancient Rome suffer from Chronic Migraine before it burned?
My country, as I imagined it, is dead.
But we fight for what might be salvaged.
When England’s empire fell, they did not vanish, they did not disappear.
Perhaps America won’t need to burn to the ground in my lifetime.
Strengthen your patience in our last night’s speech.
I’m picturing sending patience to the gym, patience doing some strengthening exercises that involve renewing the previous night’s speech, patience doing some crunches, patience doing jumping jacks.
And, in a way, patience really does need practice, it does need strengthening. If one cannot be patient in small instances then big ones will be ever out of reach. Do a little bit of patience practice and the capacity for patience grows. But don’t overdo it. I know people who confuse tolerance for patience and let it consume their will. That will not add up to good. That will tax the will until it breaks. There is a big difference between patience and putting up with something.
I pray you, good Horatio, wait upon him.
It’s funny how Horatio doesn’t say anything in response to this request from the king. He just goes and does it. And the king calls him good Horatio. It’s a little bit fishy. Is Horatio a double agent?
He’s got some weird privileges in this court. He seems to have everyone’s trust and it is never questioned. Where is he from? Why is he hanging around?
Even after Hamlet is deported, he’s still there. Why?
It’s very mysterious when you try to pull it apart
Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew and dog will have his day.
And that, my friends, is an EXIT line.
I mean. Just – classic, perfect exit line. A bold assertion! A strong declarative that suggests a future! And I’m off!
I wonder what the dog’s day would be like, though.
I mean – most dogs, their ideal day would involve running around, playing catch, chewing on some bones, maybe rolling in some mud and just generally having a fabulous time.
It’s possible, sure, that the killer dogs might enjoy killing a rabbit or something. But I don’t really know dogs like that.
Cats will mew, though, for sure.
No matter what Hercules says.
But it is no matter.
Someone dear to me will often say, “it doesn’t matter” when I express sympathy for something that has gone awry in his day. And then it is a very short journey from “it doesn’t matter” to “nothing matters.”
I believe this is one of the language tells of someone who is depressed. Someone wrestling with depression is much more likely to say something like this than someone who does not wrestle with the dark fog.
There are other phrases as well – and they tend to group under a self-oriented negativity. They use more I centered words and blame themselves for everything.
I say they – though surely I have had my own depressive periods wherein all this was true for me as well.
The Hamlet Project 