The quote that has inspired me to date goes as follows.
""This above all: to thine own self
be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
Hamlet Act 1 Scene iii
William Shakespeare
To thine own self be true". What actually did he mean by that?
Apparently it meant be constant, don't be wavering, but I didn't read
it quite like that, I thought there were other possible meanings:
Be true to whom you are, be true either to the ideals by which you
try to live or be true to your own nature. And if you want to be true
to your oWn nature you have to understand what that nature is. So
really it means know yourself, examine yourself, examine your motives.
In crime writing it is particularly important to look at the motives
which people might have if they're suspects. Finding a motive that
is credible is important because at the end of the book people feel
they can understand why the character committed the crime. Motive
lies at the heart of the detective story and it's the classical detective
story that I write.
Shakespeare for me is always new, is always fresh and is always modern.
That is because he deals with the great absolutes of life. He deals
with the emotions which we still feel because we are human. Admittedly
he writes it in a language which is sometimes difficult for us, but
he also writes it in a language which is accessible to us because
it is great poetry.
