King Lear Act 1 Scene 1
"Lear: Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.
Give me the map there. Know we have divided in three our kingdom; and it is our fast intent
to shake all cares and business from our age, conferring them on younger strengths while we unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall, and you, our no less loving son of Albany, we have this hour a constant will to publish our daughters' several dowers, that future strife may be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy, great rivals in our youngest daughter's love, long in our court have made their amorous sojourn and here to be answered.
Tell me, my daughters -
Which of you shall we say
Doth love us the most?"
- William Shakespeare
From the Prayer of St. Francis (the Holy Fool):
"O Divine Master,
Let me not seek so much
To be consoled
As to console
To be understood
As to understand
To be loved
As to love.
For it is in giving
That we receive
It is in pardoning
That we are pardoned
And it is in dying
That we are born
Into eternal life."
St. Francis of Assissi
Just to be crystal clear, these are both quotations. I did not write either of these.
I am just juxtaposing them (like my literary hero, David Markson).
I have noticed that King Lear is often performed on April Fool's Day.
I've been struck for a long time by the difference highlighted in these two quotes about loving and being loved.