If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes.
I know thee well enough; thy name is Gloucester.
Thou must be patient. We came crying hither;
Thou know’st the first time that we smell the air
We wawl and cry.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6. Lear finally recognizes the blind Gloucester and sympathizes with him. He offers him his own eyes in return for tears of pity for his own miseries. Both men have been spurned and cast out by their children. Lear reminds Gloucester of how human it is to cry, saying that they both came here crying and the first time we see the world as newborns, we wail and cry. Having lost his kindom and power, Lear has grown in self-knowledge to accept that the once powerful King is merely a humble man like any other man.