Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Shadow and Substance
We lose what is certain while we are seeking what is uncertain.
Riley’s Plautus.—The Pseudolus, Act II. Scene 3.
The dog and the shadow.
Æsop’s Fables.
No, no! I am but shadow of myself:
You are deceived, my substance is not here.
Shakespeare.—King Henry VI., Part I. Act II. Scene 3. (Talbot to the Countess.)
Love like a shadow flies, when substance love pursues;
Pursuing that that flies, and flying what pursues.
Shakespeare.—Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II. Scene 2. (Ford to Falstaff.)
If once, the shadow to pursue,
We let the substance out of view.
Churchill.—The Ghost, Book III.
Grasping at shadows, let the substance slip.
Dedication to Churchill’s Sermons and Farewell.