--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forbear, you things That stand upon the…" description: "\"Forbear, you things That stand upon the pinnacles of state, To boast your slippery height! when you do fall, You dash yourselves in pieces, ne'er to ri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/ben-jonson-1371_boast_forbear-you-things-that-stand-upon-the-p_2237160.png" --- # Forbear, you things That stand upon the pinnacles of… ![“Forbear, you things That stand upon the pinnacles of state, To boast your slippery height! when you do fall, You dash yourselves in pieces, ne'er to rise: And he that lends you pity, is not wise.” quote by Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/ben-jonson-1371_boast_forbear-you-things-that-stand-upon-the-p_2237160.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/ben-jonson-1371_boast_forbear-you-things-that-stand-upon-the-p_2237160.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/ben-jonson-1371_boast_forbear-you-things-that-stand-upon-the-p_2237160.png) > “Forbear, you things That stand upon the pinnacles of state, To boast your slippery height! when you do fall, You dash yourselves in pieces, ne'er to rise: And he that lends you pity, is not wise.” [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People in power boast, but when they fall they shatter; those who pity them are unwise. **In simple terms:** Pride leads to ruin; pity is foolish Key Takeaway Beware hubris and false empathy Themes pride hubris fall pity Mood cautionary critical Type dramatic satirical When to use this quote - political ambition - personal downfall - social dynamics Key Concepts political satire human folly Questions to Reflect On - What makes pride dangerous? - When is pity appropriate? A Different Perspective Pity can sometimes be compassionate, not just foolish. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [I still do not know the height of the fall of man is not necessarily enough money to live - you fall in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/i-still-do-not-know-the-height-of-the-fall-of-man-is-not-necessarily/) Mak\_786 > [When the risk of failure is too high, the right choice is to forbear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/when-the-risk-of-failure-is-too-high-the-right-choice-is-to-forbear/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [“Bear and forbear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/bear-and-forbear/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [If you have any shame, forbear to pluck the beard of a dead lion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/if-you-have-any-shame-forbear-to-pluck-the-beard-of-a-dead-lion/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [If pleasure was not followed by pain, who would forbear it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-pleasure-was-not-followed-by-pain-who-would-forbear-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Forbear, thou great good husband, little ant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lovelace/forbear-thou-great-good-husband-little-ant/) [Richard Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lovelace/) > [“Loose and forbear!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/loose-and-forbear/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“But, O alas! so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why-do-we-forbear/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [I'll forbear; And am fallen out with my more headier will To take the indisposed and sickly fit For the sound man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-ll-forbear-and-am-fallen-out-with-my-more-headier-will-to-take-the/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Forbear to lay the guilt of a few on the many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/forbear-to-lay-the-guilt-of-a-few-on-the-many/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/forbear-to-judge-for-we-are-sinners-all/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I can hardly forbear hurling things at him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-can-hardly-forbear-hurling-things-at-him/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The second commandment is "Thou shall not construct any graven images." Is this really the pinnacle of what we can achieve morally? The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-second-commandment-is-thou-shall-not-construct-any-graven-images/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Leaders don't rise to the pinnacle of success without developing the right set of attitudes and habits; they make every day a masterpiece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/leaders-don-t-rise-to-the-pinnacle-of-success-without-developing-the/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [Socialism would gather all power to the supreme party and party leaders, rising like stately pinnacles above their vast bureaucracies of civil servants no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/socialism-would-gather-all-power-to-the-supreme-party-and-party/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) ## More by Ben Jonson > [Soul of the Age! The applause! delight! the wonder of our stage! My Shakespeare, rise; I will not lodge thee by Chaucer, or Spenser,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/soul-of-the-age-the-applause-delight-the-wonder-of-our-stage-my/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Ambition, like a torrent, never looks back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/ambition-like-a-torrent-never-looks-back/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Heaven prepares good men with crosses; but no ill can happen to a good man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/heaven-prepares-good-men-with-crosses-but-no-ill-can-happen-to-a-good/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The dignity of truth is lost with much protesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-dignity-of-truth-is-lost-with-much-protesting/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [True melancholy breeds your perfect fine wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/true-melancholy-breeds-your-perfect-fine-wit/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Leave a kiss but in the cup, and I'll not look for wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/leave-a-kiss-but-in-the-cup-and-i-ll-not-look-for-wine/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [All discourses but my own afflict me; they seem harsh, impertinent, and irksome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/all-discourses-but-my-own-afflict-me-they-seem-harsh-impertinent-and/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [“drink to the cause, and pure vapours”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/drink-to-the-cause-and-pure-vapours/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Spread yourself upon his bosom publicly, whose heart you would eat in private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/spread-yourself-upon-his-bosom-publicly-whose-heart-you-would-eat-in/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [That old bald cheater, Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/that-old-bald-cheater-time/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Rich apparel has strange virtues; it makes him that hath it without means esteemed for an excellent wit; he that enjoys it with means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/rich-apparel-has-strange-virtues-it-makes-him-that-hath-it-without/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Each petty hand Can steer a ship becalm'd; but he that will Govern and carry her to her ends, must know His tides, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/each-petty-hand-can-steer-a-ship-becalm-d-but-he-that-will-govern-and/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The way to rise is to obey and please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-way-to-rise-is-to-obey-and-please/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The covetous man never has money. The prodigal will have none shortly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-covetous-man-never-has-money-the-prodigal-will-have-none-shortly/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Fortune, that favors fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/fortune-that-favors-fools/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) [Explore all 249 Ben Jonson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) ## More Boast quotes > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Win without boasting. Lose without excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-payson-terhune/win-without-boasting-lose-without-excuse/) [Albert Payson Terhune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-payson-terhune/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“in other words, his story was part boast, part confession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-mezrich/in-other-words-his-story-was-part-boast-part-confession/) [Ben Mezrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-mezrich/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Boast is always a cry of despair, except in the young it is a cry of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/boast-is-always-a-cry-of-despair-except-in-the-young-it-is-a-cry-of/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [“A classic is read not to enjoy but only to be boast about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aman-jassal/a-classic-is-read-not-to-enjoy-but-only-to-be-boast-about-it/) [Aman Jassal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aman-jassal/) > [Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/buonaparte-has-often-made-his-boast-that-our-fleet-would-be-worn-out/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Wisdom can boast no higher attainment than happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/wisdom-can-boast-no-higher-attainment-than-happiness/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy, Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great: Of Nature's gifts thou mayst with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-thou-art-fair-and-at-thy-birth-dear-boy-nature-and-fortune-join-d/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Science appears but what in truth she is, Not as our glory and our absolute boast, But as a succedaneum, and a prop To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/science-appears-but-what-in-truth-she-is-not-as-our-glory-and-our/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [It has, therefore, been a favorite boast of the people of Wales and Cornwall, that the original British stock flourishes in its unmixed purity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bulfinch/it-has-therefore-been-a-favorite-boast-of-the-people-of-wales-and/) [Thomas Bulfinch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bulfinch/) > [Boasting is only a masked shame; it does not truly believe in itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/boasting-is-only-a-masked-shame-it-does-not-truly-believe-in-itself/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) [Browse all 567 Boast quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Forbear, you things That stand upon the pinnacles of state, To boast your slippery height! 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