An ornate hand mirror leans against a burgundy velvet cushion beside a pale quill feather.

Original artwork, not a still

Hamlet • 1602

William Shakespeare

This above all: to thine own self be true

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The instruction gives fidelity to oneself priority over other concerns. Its opening makes that loyalty the principle to remember above everything else. The line does not define what being true requires, leaving the reader to consider how conduct might agree with an inward sense of self.

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