Hamlet

“for our modern condition. I've got an essay that I wrote a little while ago. Thus conscience does make cowards of us all. The line comes from Hamlet and it's usually misheard as an insult, as if Shakespeare is sneering at morality, like ethics often soften us or thought drains courage from the body.”

“and naming its cost. In the to be or not to be soliloquy, Hamlet isn't really weighing life versus death. He's circling a more practical question. Why do humans hesitate to act even when action would clearly relieve suffering? Why do we endure situations we don't want?”