But you who walk facing the sun, what images drawn on the earth can hold you? You who travel with the wind, what weathervane shall direct your course? What man's law shall bind you if you break your yoke but upon no man's prison door? What laws shall you fear if you dance but stumble against no man's iron chains? And who is he that shall bring you to judgment if you tear off your garment yet leave it in no man's path? People of Orphalese, you can muffle the drum, and you can loosen the strings of the lyre, but who shall command the skylark not to sing? . Kahlil Gibran
About This Quote

The Orphalese were a sect in ancient Greece and refers to the followers of Orpheus, who were led by their prophetess, Orpheus' wife. In this quote from Act I, Scene IV of "Antony and Cleopatra," Shakespeare is referring to the power of music. There are many who can play beautiful music and make beautiful sounds, but only a few can command the lyre or the drum to play without being controlled by it.

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