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Mercy: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

When all thy mercies, O my God, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view I'm lost, In wonder, love and praise.— ADDISON — Hymn.

Mercy to him that shows it, is the rule.— COWPER — The Task. Bk. VI. L. 595.

And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.— GRAY — Elegy in a Country Churchyard. St. 17.

A sentinel angel sitting high in glory Heard this shrill wail ring out from Purgatory: "Have mercy, mighty angel, hear my story!"— JOHN HAY — A Woman's Love.

Being all fashioned of the self-same dust, Let us be merciful as well as just.— LONGFELLOW — Tales of a Wayside Inn. Pt. III. The Student's Tale. Emma and Eginhard. L. 177.

Mercy stood in the cloud, with eye that wept Essential love.— POLLOK — The Course of Time. Bk. III. L. 658.

'Tis vain to flee; till gentle Mercy show Her better eye, the farther off we go, The swing of Justice deals the mightier blow.— QUARLES — Emblems. Bk. III.

Think not the good, The gentle deeds of mercy thou hast done, Shall die forgotten all; the poor, the prisoner, The fatherless, the friendless, and the widow, Who daily owe the bounty of thy hand, Shall cry to Heaven, and pull a blessing on thee.— NICHOLAS ROWE — Jane Shore. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 173.

Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.— Shakespeare — Romeo and Juliet. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 202.

Mercy is not itself, that oft looks so; Pardon is still the nurse of second woe.— Shakespeare — Measure for Measure. Act II. Sc. 1. L. 297.

Open thy gate of mercy, gracious God! My soul flies through these wounds to seek out thee. Henry VI. Pt. III. Act 1. Sc. 4. L. 177. Straight in her heart did mercy come.— Shakespeare — Sonnet CXLV.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes; 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice.— Shakespeare — Merchant of Venice. Act IV. Sc. 1. L. 184.

We do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy.— Shakespeare — Merchant of Venice. Act IV. Sc. 1. L. 198.

Whereto serves mercy, But to confront the visage of offence?— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 46.

You must not dare, for shame, to talk of mercy; For your own reasons turn into your bosoms, As dogs upon their masters, worrying you. S.— Shakespeare — Henry V. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 81.

Who will not mercie unto others show, How can he mercie ever hope to have?— SPENSER — Faerie Queene. Bk. VI. Canto I. St. 42.

Sweet Mercy! to the gates of Heaven This Minstrel lead, his sins forgiven; The rueful conflict, the heart riven With vain endeavour, And memory of earth's bitter leaven Effaced forever.— WORDSWORTH — Thoughts Suggested on

the Banks of the Nith.

Mortem misericors sæpe pro vitâ dabit. Mercy often inflicts death.— SENECA — Troades. 329.

Pulchrum est vitam donare minori. It is noble to grant life to the vanquished.— STATIUS — Thebais. VI. 816.