Deep is the well of the past. Should we not call it bottomless?

Thomas Mann
About This Quote

Deep is the well of the past. Should we not call it bottomless?” is a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act I, Scene II. Hamlet is speaking to the ghost of his father, who has just appeared as a spirit to tell Hamlet that he will soon be dead. In this scene Hamlet is asking his father if he has any regrets about his life.

Hamlet asks if there was anything he would have done differently, and the ghost replies by saying, “Nothing.” This line is repeated many times throughout Shakespeare's play, and it speaks to a deep aspect of reality. The past cannot be changed, so it does not matter what one believes about the past. However, there is great value in letting the past go and moving forward with a clean slate.

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More Quotes By Thomas Mann
  1. It is love, not reason, that is stronger than death.
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