You know almost invariably we hear this passage quoted as above; but you have it reversed, RevDWW.
However, this is the passage from Henry the Fourth, Part I,
Act 5, Scene 4:
"To die is to be a counterfeit, for he is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the life of a man; but to counterfeit dying when a man thereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed.
The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life." - William Shakespeare
Falstaff's phrase elegantly redeems a cowardly act. The bragging knight has just risen from his feigned death. He had played the corpse in order to escape real death at the hands of a Scotsman hostile to Henry the IV....He was claiming that abstractions like "honor" and "valor" will get you nothing once you're dead.
Falstaff excuses his counterfeiting as the kind of "discretion" that keeps a man from foolishly doing things like getting himself killed....i.e. running into swords in order to make himself a hero.
To Ole Falstaff, if counterfeiting keeps you alive...Well then, maybe it's NOT counterfeiting at all.....but an authentic "image of life"....or maybe it's just "magic hair"...or whatever mechanism is needed to keep the status quo alive and breathing without life support.
Falstaff confuses image with "reality"........but it is common that he is to be "forgiven/excused/accepted" ....As far as he's concerned, "valor" is an image, too, and you've got to stay alive in order to find more opportunities to cultivate that image.
End of Shakespeare 101 Lesson........Can you see it's application?
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