Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Source identified
The miserable have no other medicine but only hope.
Read & copy the quotation
“The miserable have no other medicine but only hope.”

William Shakespeare

Download image (JPG)

Source
Measure for Measure
Date
c. 1604
Local voice
Fictional character · Claudio
Meaning

Meaning of “The miserable have no other medicine but only…”

When circumstances offer little immediate relief, hope can preserve the possibility of endurance without pretending the pain is gone.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Measure for Measure, Act III, Scene I, Claudio to the disguised Duke. The scan-backed 1910 Methuen facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio reads “The miserable haue no other medicine / But onely hope” as Claudio awaits possible execution. The line remains fictional speech under threat of death, not medical treatment guidance or a guarantee that hope resolves suffering.

Primary / edition source ↗

Speaker context

Why the local voice matters

Claudio says this to the disguised Duke in Measure for Measure, Act 3, Scene 1, while awaiting possible execution.

Customize your imageTen designs · Square or portrait · Preview and share
Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

Courage Quotes About Acting Despite FearHard TimesHealingHope Quotes About Possibility in Uncertain TimesInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistenceNever Give UpPatiencePerseverance Quotes About Sustained EffortPositive Quotes About a Constructive OutlookResilience Quotes About Recovery & AdaptationShortStrengthSufferingWords of Wisdom: Practical & Philosophical Counsel
Related quotations

Continue through nearby ideas

Source identified
Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.
Read & copy

“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.”

John Milton · Paradise Lost · 1667
Voice: Fictional character · Satan
Meaning & context

Recovery from a dark condition is pictured as difficult and lengthy rather than instant.

Source details

Paradise Lost (1667), Book II, lines 432–433; Satan addresses the infernal council before undertaking the journey out of Hell. The line describes the epic’s literal route from Hell toward light and remains character speech, not a general promise of recovery.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
Read & copy

“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

Percy Bysshe Shelley · Ode to the West Wind · 1820
Meaning & context

The seasonal image turns hardship into a temporary phase: decline can contain the possibility of renewal even when that renewal is not yet visible.

Source details

Final line of Ode to the West Wind; the changing seasons become a metaphor for historical and personal renewal.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
Sweet are the uses of adversity.
Read & copy

“Sweet are the uses of adversity.”

William Shakespeare · As You Like It · c. 1599
Voice: Fictional character · Duke Senior
Meaning & context

Adversity is presented as capable of yielding insight or value even when the experience itself is unwelcome.

Source details

As You Like It, Act II, Scene 1, Duke Senior; 1919 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Jack R. Crawford, printed page 24 / Wikisource scan leaf 36. “Sweet are the uses of adversity” occurs in Duke Senior’s Forest of Arden reflection on exile, winter and the lessons he claims to find outside court life. It remains fictional dramatic speech rather than Shakespeare’s autobiographical advice or a modern psychological claim about hardship.

↓ Download image (JPG)