Mortal coil is a poetic term that means the troubles of daily life and the strife and suffering of the world. It is used in the sense of a burden to be carried or abandoned, most famously in the phrase "shuffle off this mortal coil" from the "To be, or not to be" monologue in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Read more about Mortal Coil: Derivation, Schopenhauer's Speculation
Famous quotes containing the word mortal:
“I, a virgin, can make my frank boast that I communicate to no mortal man my secret counsels except to such as I have chosen on account of their taciturnity; then, if these secrets are later discovered, I know whom to accuse.”
—Elizabeth I (15331603)
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