Only to thine own conditioning canst thou be true
Context: Conditioned Reflex Therapy by Salter
"Yes," he said, "but it still isn't hypnotism. It's lust conditioning"
I was annoyed and amused. "Ho-hum. There isn't much else I can add. If you're not proud of the results, believe me, I am,"
He left disgruntled, and that was the last I heard of him. Shakespeare could be rewritten to say, "Above all, only to thine own conditioning canst thou be true."
Background:
The author contends that hypnotism is a type of conditioned reflex, and he uses conditioned reflex to cure insomnia of the man in the book. And the man argues the author/therapist doesn't do hypnotise him.
(conditioned reflex in this case includes auto-conditioned reflex, that is the patient conditions himself)
Questions:
What do the words in blue mean? I guess that was the parody of a quote of Shakespeare. What's the original words of Shakespeare, if so?
Above all, only to thine own conditioning thou be ture = Above all, only the your own conditioning can be true?
Thanks!
Top answer
The original line is "to thine own self be true", meaning, in modern English, "be true to yourself". In similar vein, "only to thine own conditioning canst thou be true" = "you can be true only to your own conditioning".
- The original line is "to thine own self be true", meaning, in modern English, "be true to yourself".
- In similar vein, "only to thine own conditioning canst thou be true" = "you can be true only to your own conditioning".
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The original line is "to thine own self be true", meaning, in modern English, "be true to yourself". In similar vein, "only to thine own conditioning canst thou be true" = "you can be true only to your own conditioning".
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