Mortal Coil

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:

    For often at Church I’ve seen the stained high glass
    Pour out the Virgin and Saints, twist and untwist
    The mortal youth of Christ astride an ass.
    Allen Tate (1899–1979)