That what we have we prize not to the worth

 I found the Friar to be one of my favorite characters in Much Ado About Nothing, because of his calm demeanor, and his ability to see the truth when everybody else got distracted or confused. He is also extremely wise, and one of my favorite passages of his wisdom comes when he is helping Leonato devise the plan to hide away Hero and make Claudio believe that she is dead, so that his anger at Hero will turn to grief. This is the perfect plan, he reasons, because "that what we have we prize not to the worth whiles we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost, why then we rack the value, then we find the virtue that possession would not show us whiles it was ours" (4.1.229-33). I think the principle that the Friar is teaching here is one that I need to keep in mind more often in my everyday life. I am often reminded how grateful I am for food when I am fasting. I recognize the miracle of modern technology that provides my apartment with heat when I have to walk to campus in the cold weather. I realize just how much I love my family when I spend months living away from them. This reminder that we often don't realize the value of something until it is lost from us suggests that we could live with more gratitude in our everyday lives. So, my goal after reading this passage is to recognize the beauty and wonder of the many things that make my everyday life as wonderful as it is. This is the best way to live; rather than focusing on the things that make my life hard, I should strive to see all of the things that make it miraculous.

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