> > > > > All the world's a stage, and the people merely actors.
> > > > > Howard
> > > >
> > > > Who said that again?
> >
> > I did.
> > H
>
> Ah, but who said it first? Anywhoo, tell me:
> does that mean Hell is the orchestra pit? 'Cause, by all means, it should be Heaven.

Darien, what's with this "Bard of Amway" stuff? Stop teasing Chris and Jommeke and just answer the question next time... :)

The original quote comes from Shakespeare (What else is new?):

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."
AS YOU LIKE IT, Act II, Scene VII


Then the verse continues in some detail as to what "seven ages" a man goes through, from puking infancy to senile old age (and thus a man reaches his second childhood -- as Shakespeare points out for extra brownie points' worth of shock value).

Actually the universal "world as a stage" concept is repeated in another of his plays and I find this version much more stirring. He wrote as the openning lines of his historical play,

"O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention:
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!"
HENRY V Act 1, Prologue & Chorus.


I really can't read this "Muse of fire" couplet without feeling a stab of pleasure. It really hits me, right there. That's the feeling I get in the presence of soaring greatness, and that's what I'm happy to call great writing.

Wolfspirit