Hamlet Quote

One of the more famous lines in Hamlet is, "To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man" (1.3.1). Discuss what you think this means, whether you believe it to be true, and give an example you think proves your point.

The quote, "To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man" is a very well-phrased version of "be yourself ". The quote is saying that if a person is true to themselves then they will be true to every other person as well. Similarly, if a person is being 'fake' by trying to assume someone else's personality then they will appear fake to the rest of the world as well. Shakespear says that this is so certain that it is comparable to night coming after each day.

I believe this is true because even though a person can stay hidden under a 'fake' personality for a time, eventually people around them will realize that they are being deceived. Shakespear's point is that it is much easier for a person to just be themselves because their true 'self' will eventually surface. An example of people trying to be 'someone else' is the emulation of the famous by the general public. Often it seems that instead of a person developing their own personalities they settle for adopting the personality of someone famous. The logic behind this is "if that personality works for that person then it will work for me." However, this is not the case. The reality is that the only personality that works for that person is their own personality.