William Shakespeare Quotes

King Lear, Act 3, Scene 4. Lear is caught between self-pity and the thought that he will lose his sanity. He recalls the betrayal of Goneril and Regan, but reminds himself that dwelling on this will only drive him to madness and he must avoid that. He is demonstrating some self-knowledge, the lack of which is very evident in the early part of the play. This is also foreshadowing Lear’s fate late in the play when he goes competely crazy. The fuller quote: "O Regan, Goneril, Your old kind father whose frank heart gave all! O, that way madness lies; let me shun that; No more of that." But "kind father"? Lear is not a kind father, he was very cruel and unkind and showed no compassion to his youngest daughter Cordelia, who gave him nothing but her love and honesty and was rewarded with banishment and disinheritance.