What is the meaning of the quote "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" from Hamlet?
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend, this above all-thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day"
I assume that you are looking for a translation of meaning for this quotation. The answer is really good advice for anyone. Don't lend money to friends nor ask them for a loan. The money may not be repaid or not soon enough so that the loan is now the cause of the friendship being lost as well as the money owed. Money and friendship do not mix if you treasure the friend. Above everything else, you must be true to yourself, be the person you truly are, and the person you wish to be. If you live your life as the person you want to become, it will happen because you are doing the things which make you become that person. If you do this, it will happen just as the night follows after the day. I do hope this is what you were looking for as your question is not...
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really very clear.
Who says "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" in Hamlet, and where?
The quote you refer to is from Shakespeare's play entitled, Hamlet.
The speaker is Polonius who is King Claudius' trusted advisor. Ironically, Polonius gives wonderful advice, but finds it impossible to take it himself. (His son Laertes is also one to give advice, as with his sister Ophelia, but she is not too quick to agree unless he accepts the wisdom of his words and follows his own advice.) In fact, his behavior in being an advisor to the King, is difficult to understand: Polonius is a windbag. At one point, Gertrude almost has to tell him to be quiet ("More matter, less art!") because he rambles on and on about nothing important.
Much of the best advice in this play (and many of the quotes) come from Polonius. His words almost sound as if they could be found in the Bible or in writings by Ben Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanac, but they belong to William Shakespeare.
Regarding your quote, Polonius delivers this counsel to his son as Laertes is preparing to take his leave from his family. Polonius has good things to say. One is "Neither a borrower or a lender be." The location in your version of the play may be slightly different in terms of the line numbers, but the act and scene will be the say.
Look in Hamlet, Act One, scene three, line 79.
What does "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" mean in Hamlet?
Polonius offers this piece of advice in the midst of a long lecture about proper behavior to his son, Laertes. He advises Laertes to keep his thoughts to himself and not to act on any unwise thoughts he may have. He tells his son to keep his good and loyal friends close to his soul. He advises Laertes to steer clear of most arguments, but, should he find himself embroiled in one, he should fight hard. Polonius tells Laertes to listen to all but speak to few, to accept others's criticisms but be wary of criticizing others. He ought to dress nicely but not opulently.
Next, Laertes should "Neither a borrower nor a lender be": he should not borrow money from others nor lend money to others because loans between friends often result in the loss of one's money and one's friendship. For this reason, Polonius advises his son not to get mixed up in financial arrangements with anyone. Further, if he borrows from others, he will not learn how to live within his means because it "dulls the edge of husbandry." By refraining from borrowing or lending money, Laertes will keep his friends and his money, and he will learn to live within his means.
When a reader hears words in other works of literature that echo the words of Shakespeare's Hamlet, the reader is hearing an allusion to Hamlet. One should find it quite ironic that two of the most quoted lines from Hamlet are actually words of the foolish Polonius, yet they are often quoted as pieces of wisdom. Still, let's take them on their own and separate them from their foolish speaker. In Polonius's words of advice to his son, Laertes, before he travels abroad by boat, Polonius advises, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." The gist of the advice is there, but one can get more out of it if one includes the next couple of lines:
Neither a borrower nor a lender be, / For loan oft loses both itself and friend, / And borrowing dulleth edge of husbandry.
Put simply, Polonius is instructing Laertes not to borrow or lend money. Couple the allusion with the following lines, and the reader can see that if Laertes (or anyone) were not to take this advice, not only would the money be lost but also the friend who took out the loan (or did the borrowing). In the last part of this idea quoted above, Polonius admits that saving your money and being a frugal person almost never involves borrowing more of said money.