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"The readiness is all"
Discussion
Act 5,
Scene 2
Lines 157-163

A discussion of the phrase “The readiness is all” in Act 5, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Horatio

If your mind dislike anything, obey it. I will forestall 
their repair hither and say you are not fit.

Hamlet

Not a whit, we defy augury. There's special
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to
come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now,
yet it will come. The readiness is all. Since no man knows
aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes?

What is Hamlet expressing in this philosophical speech? To answer that question, consider the following:

  • Augury is the art of reading objects (such as tea leaves) to predict the future.
  • In Ancient Greece, one method used by augurs to foretell the future was to interpret the flight of birds.
  • From the Bible, Matthew 10:29: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” Roughly rephrased, ghix means, “Not even a sparrow dies unless it’s God’s will.”