To have a thankless child!" - Meaning and context.">
Lear, Act I, scene iv.

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!

— William Shakespeare

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!" in the context of "Lear, Act I, scene iv." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "William Shakespeare" (William Shakespeare Quotes, King Lear (1605–6)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
William Shakespeare

About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.