[General] What does it mean?

Status
Not open for further replies.

gilbuvarkey

Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Malayalam
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
I would prefer even to fail with honor.
 
Hi

I would prefer to fail with honor. than win by cheating.

Does this help?
 
gilbuvarkey.

The full line from Sophocles helps explain this:
“I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating”
or alternatively:
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud."

He is saying that he would rather act honourably and honestly while trying to achieve something, even if he fails – than to act dishonestly and succeed.

not a teacher

ps: sorry about the repeat, I'll leave it up for the Sophocles bit.
 
Last edited:
gilbuvarkey.

The full line from Sophocles helps explain this:
“I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating”
or alternatively:
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud."

He is saying that he would rather act honourably and honestly while trying to achieve something, even if he fails – than to act dishonestly and succeed.

not a teacher

ps: sorry about the repeat, I'll leave it up for the Sophocles bit.

Thank you very much.
 
I would prefer even to fail with honor.

Welcome to the board, gilbuvarkey.

In future posts it would be helpful to give your threads meaningful titles and provide some context for your question.

For example, I would prefer even to fail with honor would have been a better title for this question and you could have gone on to say

'What does this mean? I read it in a language book.'

Rover
 
Hi JM

Many thanks for the info about Sophocles. It's a very long time since I did Classics "O" level and so didn't immediately recognise the context, although I really should have done.

Best regards
R21
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top