--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have ventured, Like little wanton boys…" description: "\"I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory, But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride At le..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2f/william-shakespeare-4_bladder_i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys_1517528.jpg" --- # I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on… ![“I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory, But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride At length broke under me, and now has left me, Weary and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream that must for ever hide me.” quote by William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2f/william-shakespeare-4_bladder_i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys_1517528.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2f/william-shakespeare-4_bladder_i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys_1517528.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2f/william-shakespeare-4_bladder_i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys_1517528.jpg) > “I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory, But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride At length broke under me, and now has left me, Weary and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream that must for ever hide me.” [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pride leads to downfall; humility is forced by hardship and external forces. **In simple terms:** Pride can cause ruin; humility follows adversity. Key Takeaway Cultivate humility before pride overtakes. Themes pride humility fall Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career setbacks - personal failures - learning moments Key Concepts literature human nature hubris Questions to Reflect On - When have you learned humility through loss? - How can you balance confidence and modesty? A Different Perspective Humility may be resisted despite evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory/) [Mercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mercy/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Rude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rude/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer/) ## Related quotes > [Books bear him up a while, and make him try to swim with bladders of philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wilmot/books-bear-him-up-a-while-and-make-him-try-to-swim-with-bladders-of/) [John Wilmot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wilmot/) > [A plague of sighing and grief! It blows a man up like a bladder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-plague-of-sighing-and-grief-it-blows-a-man-up-like-a-bladder/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Life with most teenagers was like having a low-grade bladder infection. It hurts, but you had to tough it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/life-with-most-teenagers-was-like-having-a-low-grade-bladder/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Playing dead is difficult with a full bladder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-lane/playing-dead-is-difficult-with-a-full-bladder/) [Diane Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-lane/) > [One of the most difficult things to contend with in a hospital is the assumption on the part of the staff that because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-kerr/one-of-the-most-difficult-things-to-contend-with-in-a-hospital-is-the/) [Jean Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-kerr/) > [I was 52 years old. I had diabetes and incipient arthritis. I had lost my gall bladder and most of my thyroid gland in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kroc/i-was-52-years-old-i-had-diabetes-and-incipient-arthritis-i-had-lost/) [Ray Kroc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kroc/) > [Please, by all the blessed saints and their bladders, tell me you two didn’t…Have you lost all semblance of intelligence? (Syn)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/please-by-all-the-blessed-saints-and-their-bladders-tell-me-you-two/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [You cannot achieve happiness. Happiness happens and is a transitory stage. Imagine how happy I felt when I got relief from bladder pressure. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-cannot-achieve-happiness-happiness-happens-and-is-a-transitory/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My bladder cancer was related to smoking, and I think smoking kills people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-schieffer/my-bladder-cancer-was-related-to-smoking-and-i-think-smoking-kills/) [Bob Schieffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-schieffer/) > [No one goes to the toilet in novels. You'd think none of us had bladders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/no-one-goes-to-the-toilet-in-novels-you-d-think-none-of-us-had/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [“The past twelve weeks had been a blur, and now she was about to meet her baby via ultrasound, go home with a picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-kent/the-past-twelve-weeks-had-been-a-blur-and-now-she-was-about-to-meet/) [Julia Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-kent/) > [Health experts working on a union backed screening program to detect bladder cancer in a Georgia chemical plant were stunned when the local (ACS)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-anderson/health-experts-working-on-a-union-backed-screening-program-to-detect/) [Jack Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-anderson/) > [I went to the doctor, and they found something in my bladder. And whenever they find something, it's never anything good like, "We found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-birbiglia/i-went-to-the-doctor-and-they-found-something-in-my-bladder-and/) [Mike Birbiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-birbiglia/) > [“You still there?’ he asked. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘You must have a bladder like Lake Erie. I think empires rose and fell in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-still-there-he-asked-yes-she-said-you-must-have-a-bladder-like/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I took a wrong turn on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I had never seen before,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-took-a-wrong-turn-on-the-way-to-the-bathroom-and-found-myself-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by William Shakespeare > [Let us kill all lawyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-kill-all-lawyers/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-tiger-s-heart-wrapped-in-a-woman-s-hide/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Divers philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/divers-philosophers-hold-that-the-lips-is-parcel-of-the-mouth/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; Being purg'd, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-is-a-smoke-made-with-the-fume-of-sighs-being-purg-d-a-fire/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Ask God for temp'rance. That's th' appliance only Which your disease requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ask-god-for-temp-rance-that-s-th-appliance-only-which-your-disease/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies Which busy care draws in the brains of men; Therefore thou sleep’st so sound. Julius Caesar (2.1.248-251)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-hast-no-figures-nor-no-fantasies-which-busy-care-draws-in-the/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Truth needs no color; beauty, no pencil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/truth-needs-no-color-beauty-no-pencil/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Have you not heard it said full oft, A woman's nay doth stand for naught?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/have-you-not-heard-it-said-full-oft-a-woman-s-nay-doth-stand-for/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Omittance is no quittance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/omittance-is-no-quittance/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Yes, madam: yet I cannot choose but laugh, To think it should leave crying and say 'Ay.' And yet, I warrant, it had upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/yes-madam-yet-i-cannot-choose-but-laugh-to-think-it-should-leave/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-take-thee-at-thy-word-call-me-but-love-and-i-ll-be-new-baptized/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) [Explore all 5,604 William Shakespeare quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More Bladder quotes > [I took a wrong turn on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I had never seen before,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-took-a-wrong-turn-on-the-way-to-the-bathroom-and-found-myself-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You still there?’ he asked. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘You must have a bladder like Lake Erie. I think empires rose and fell in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-still-there-he-asked-yes-she-said-you-must-have-a-bladder-like/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I went to the doctor, and they found something in my bladder. And whenever they find something, it's never anything good like, "We found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-birbiglia/i-went-to-the-doctor-and-they-found-something-in-my-bladder-and/) [Mike Birbiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-birbiglia/) > [Health experts working on a union backed screening program to detect bladder cancer in a Georgia chemical plant were stunned when the local (ACS)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-anderson/health-experts-working-on-a-union-backed-screening-program-to-detect/) [Jack Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-anderson/) > [“The past twelve weeks had been a blur, and now she was about to meet her baby via ultrasound, go home with a picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-kent/the-past-twelve-weeks-had-been-a-blur-and-now-she-was-about-to-meet/) [Julia Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-kent/) > [No one goes to the toilet in novels. You'd think none of us had bladders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/no-one-goes-to-the-toilet-in-novels-you-d-think-none-of-us-had/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [My bladder cancer was related to smoking, and I think smoking kills people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-schieffer/my-bladder-cancer-was-related-to-smoking-and-i-think-smoking-kills/) [Bob Schieffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-schieffer/) > [You cannot achieve happiness. Happiness happens and is a transitory stage. Imagine how happy I felt when I got relief from bladder pressure. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-cannot-achieve-happiness-happiness-happens-and-is-a-transitory/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Please, by all the blessed saints and their bladders, tell me you two didn’t…Have you lost all semblance of intelligence? (Syn)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/please-by-all-the-blessed-saints-and-their-bladders-tell-me-you-two/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I was 52 years old. I had diabetes and incipient arthritis. I had lost my gall bladder and most of my thyroid gland in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kroc/i-was-52-years-old-i-had-diabetes-and-incipient-arthritis-i-had-lost/) [Ray Kroc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kroc/) > [One of the most difficult things to contend with in a hospital is the assumption on the part of the staff that because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-kerr/one-of-the-most-difficult-things-to-contend-with-in-a-hospital-is-the/) [Jean Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-kerr/) > [Playing dead is difficult with a full bladder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-lane/playing-dead-is-difficult-with-a-full-bladder/) [Diane Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-lane/) > [Life with most teenagers was like having a low-grade bladder infection. It hurts, but you had to tough it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/life-with-most-teenagers-was-like-having-a-low-grade-bladder/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [When you have a tiny bladder you become very adept at finding and remembering clean public bathrooms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-jacobs/when-you-have-a-tiny-bladder-you-become-very-adept-at-finding-and/) [Gillian Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-jacobs/) > [My pappy told me never to bet my bladder against a brewery or get into an argument with people who buy ink by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lane-kirkland/my-pappy-told-me-never-to-bet-my-bladder-against-a-brewery-or-get/) [Lane Kirkland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lane-kirkland/) Browse all 71 Bladder quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory, But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride At length broke under me, and now has left me, Weary and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream that must for ever hide me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Shakespeare" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys-that-swim-on-bladders-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bladder" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys-that-swim-on-bladders-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2f/william-shakespeare-4_bladder_i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys_1517528.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2f/william-shakespeare-4_bladder_i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys_1517528.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2f/william-shakespeare-4_bladder_i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys_1517528.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory, But far…” — William Shakespeare", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Shakespeare", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have ventured, Like little wanton...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys-that-swim-on-bladders-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-have-ventured-like-little-wanton-boys-that-swim-on-bladders-this/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```