The world's your cloister

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on May 06, 2007

In Reply to: The world's your cloister posted by Randy Fisher on May 05, 2007

: I am in the midst of an argument/friendly discussion with a friend: people have heard of the expression "the world is your oyster", which after reading through this website's archive, I see is from Wm. Shakespeare, circa 1600. I have a recollection of another phrase, which I thought came first: "the world's your cloister", which was meant to mean, essentially, don't stay cooped up in your monastery, the whole world is your sanctuary. Does anyone else remember where that phrase came from?

It is certainly a pun on "the world is your oyster". Try Googling it and you'll find only 35 entries (as against about 89,600 for "your oyster"). All are recent and most are obviously offered as puns. (VSD)