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Shakespeare Quotes from The Merchant of Venice
Let me say, Amen, betimes, lest the devil cross my prayer.— filed under Amen
And there is such confusion in my powers, As, after some oration fairly spoke By a beloved prince, there doth appear Among the buzzing pleased multitude: Where every something being blent together, Turns to a wild of nothing— filed under Applause, Popular
There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple. locks Her sunny locks— filed under Beauty
A beggar begs that never begg'd before. You taught me first to beg; and now, methinks, answer'd You teach me how a beggar should be— filed under Beggars
I'll have my bond; speak not against my bond : I have sworn an oath, that I will have my bond.— filed under Bonds
Hear you me, Jessica: Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum, And the vile squeaking of the wry-neck'd fife, Clamber not you up to the casement then, Nor thrust your head into the public street, To gaze on Christian fools with varnish'd faces; But stop my house's ears; I mean my casements: Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter My sober house.— filed under Caviller
Why should a man whose blood is warm within, Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? Sleep when he wakes, and creep into the jaundice By being peevish.— filed under Dissolving
There are some shrewd contents in yon' same paper.— filed under Compendium
Not so sick, my lord, As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, That keep her from her rest.— filed under Conscience, Guilty
How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins The beards of Hercules, and frowning Mars; Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk! And these assume but valour's excrement, To render them redoubted.— filed under Toward
O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog! And for thy life let justice be accus'd. Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, To hold opinion with Pythagoras, That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit, Govern'd a wolf; who, hang'd for human slaughter, Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, And whilst thou layest in thy unhallow'd dam, Infus'd itself in thee; for thy desires Aré wolfish, bloody, starv'd, and ravenous.— filed under Cruelty
continued. I am sorry for thee; thou art come to answer A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch, Uncapable of pity, void and empty From any dram of mercy.— filed under Cruelty
I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meetest for death; the weakest kind of front Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me.— filed under Death
Give me your hand, Bassanio; fare you well? Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you; For herein Fortune shows herself more kind Than is her custom: it is still her use, To let the wretched man outlive his wealth, To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow, An age of poverty; from which ling'ring penance Of such a misery doth she cut me off.— filed under Death
And be these juggling fiends no more believ'd, That palter with us in a double sense; That keep the word of promise to our ear, And break it to our hope.— filed under Delusion
A substitute shines brightly as a king, Until a king be by; and then his state Empties itself, as doth an inland brook Into the main of waters.— filed under Deputy
They have tied me to the stake, I cannot fly, But, bear-like, I must fight the course.— filed under Despair
Yet I will try the last: Before my body I throw my warlike shield; lay on, Macduff; And damn'd be he that first cries "Hold! Enough!"— filed under Desperation
Ring the alarum bell: Blow wind, come wrack! At least we'll die with harness on our back.— filed under Desperation
All unavoided is the doom of destiny. The lottery of my destiny Bars me the right of voluntary choosing— filed under Destiny
The antient saying is no heresy :- Hanging and wiving go by destiny.— filed under Destiny
From the four corners of the earth they come, To kiss this shrine, this mortal breathing saint.— filed under Devotion
There is some ill a-brewing toward my rest, For I did dream of money bags to-night.— filed under Dreams
So are those crisped snaky golden locks, Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, Upon supposed fairness, often known To be the dowry of a second head, The scull that bred them in the sepulchre.— filed under False Characters
O what a goodly outside falsehood hath.— filed under Falsehood
To vie strange forms with fancy. Tell me, where is fancy bred; Or in the heart, or in the head? How begot, how nourished? It is engender'd in the eyes, With gazing fed: and fancy dies— filed under Fancy
But to support him after. The dearest friend to me, the kindest man, The best-condition'd and unweary'd spirit In doing courtesies; and one in whom The antient Roman honour more appears, Than any that draws breath in Italy.— filed under Friend
Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond, Double six thousand, and then treble that, Before a friend of this description Shall lose a hair through my Bassanio's fault. M.V. iii.— filed under Friend
There must be needs a like proportion— filed under Friendship Assimilates Friends
How far that little candle throws his beams!— filed under Good Works
There are a sort of men, whose visages Do cream and mantle, like a standing pond; And do a wilful stillness entertain, With purpose to be dress'd in an opinion Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit; As who should say, I am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!— filed under Gravity, Affected
I have liv'd long enough; my way of life Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf; And that which should accompany old age, As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, Curses not loud, but deep, mouth-honour, breath, Which the poor heart would fain deny, but dare not.— filed under Guilt
There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st, But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim : Such harmony is in immortal souls ;- But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay— filed under Harmony Of The Spheres
How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him, for he is a christian : But more, for that, in low simplicity, He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice.— filed under Hatred
I'll not be made a soft and dull-ey'd fool, To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield To christian intercessors.— filed under Hatred
If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the antient grudge I bear him.— filed under Hatred
Let none presume To wear an undeserved dignity. O, that estates, degrees, and offices, Were not deriv'd corruptly! and that clear honour Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer! How many then should cover that stand bare! How many be commanded that command! How much low peasantry would then be glean'd From the true seed of honour! and how much honour Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times, To be new varnish'd!— filed under Honour
There is no vice so simple, but assumes— filed under Hypocrisy
Thus hath the candle sing'd the moth.— filed under Infatuation
You may as well go stand upon the beech, And bid the main flood bate his usual height; You may as well use question with the wolf, Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb; You may as well forbid the mountain pines To wag their high tops and to make no noise, When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven You may as well do any thing most hard, As seek to soften that-(than which what's harder?) His Jewish heart!— filed under Inflexibility
I am sorry for thee; thou art come to answer A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch Uncapable of pity, void and empty From any dram of mercy.— filed under Inhumanity
O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog! And for thy life let justice be accurs'd. Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith To hold opinion with Pythagoras, That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men.— filed under Inhumanity
If your love do not persuade you to come, let not my letter.— filed under Invitation
I stand for judgment: answer; shall I have it? M.V. iv. 1. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. H. VI. PT. II. iii. 3. A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel!— filed under Judgment, Justice
To offend and judge, are distinct offices,— filed under Judgment, Justice
remorse in me. I charge you by the law, Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar, Proceed to judgment.— filed under Judgment, Justice
Thyself shalt see the act: For, as thou urgest justice, be assur'd, Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir'st.— filed under Judgment, Justice
He shall have merely justice, and his bond.— filed under Judgment, Justice
Let it be lawful, that law bar no wrong. In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But, being season'd with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil?— filed under Law
The brain may devise laws for the blood; but a hot temper leaps over a cold decree: such a hare is madness the youth, to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the cripple— filed under Law
Their perch, and not their terror. There is no power in Venice Can alter a decree established: 'Twill be recorded for a precedent; And many an error, by the same example, Will rush into the state: it cannot be.— filed under Law
Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words That ever blotted paper.— filed under Letter
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more; it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,— filed under Life
You take my life,— filed under Livelihood
Madam, you have bereft me of all words, Only my blood speaks to you in my veins.— filed under Love
O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly To seal love's bonds new made, than they are wont To keep obliged faith unforfeited.— filed under Love
Swearing, till my very roof was dry With oaths of love.— filed under Lover's Vows
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith, And ne'er a true one.— filed under Lover's Vows
The martlet Builds in the weather on the outward wall, Even in the force and road of casualty.— filed under Martlet
Your mind is tossing on the ocean; There, where your argosies with portly sail, Like signiors and rich burghers of the flood, Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea, - Do overpeer the petty traffickers, That curt'sy to them, do them reverence, As they fly by them with their woven wings.— filed under Merchantmen
The quality of mercy is not strain'd; It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven, Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd; 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 heart of kings, It is an attribute to God himself: And earthly pow'r doth then show likest God's, When mercy seasons justice.— filed under Mercy
Though justice be thy plea, consider this :- That in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy.— filed under Mercy
I have not seen So likely an ambassador of love; A day in April never came so sweet, To show how costly summer was at hand,— filed under Messenger
If thou speak'st false, Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, Till famine cling thee; if thy speech be sooth, I care not if thou dost for me as much.— filed under Messenger
what his heart thinks, his tongue speaks. Let me play the fool: With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come; And let my liver rather heat with wine, Than my heart cool with mortifying groans.— filed under Mirth
I would entreat you rather to put on Your boldest suit of mirth, for we have friends That purpose merriment.— filed under Mirth
And fore'd to drink their vapour. The fool multitude, that choose by show, Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach; Which prize not to the interior, but, like the martlet, Builds in the weather on the outward wall,— filed under Mob
Hence; home, you idle creatures, get you home: Is this a holiday? What! know you not, Being mechanical, you ought not walk, Upon a labouring day, without the sign Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou ? I will not choose what many men desire, Because I will not jump with common spirits, And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.— filed under Mob
For aught I see, they are as sick, that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing; it is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean; superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.— filed under Moderation
Shakespeurian Dictionary. How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears.— filed under Moon
This muddy vesture of decay.— filed under Mortality
Come, ho, and wake Diana with a hymn; With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear,— filed under Music
And draw her home with music. Let music sound while he doth make his choice; Then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end, Fading in music. That the comparison May stand more proper, my eye shall be the stream And wat'ry death-bed for him: He may win; And what is music then? Then music is Even as the flourish when true subjects bow To a new-crowned monarch; such it is, As are those dulcet sounds in break of day, That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear,— filed under Music
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears; soft stillness, and the night,— filed under Music
I'm never merry, when I hear sweet music.- The reason is, your spirits are attentive: For do but note a wild and wanton herd, Or race of youthful and unhandled colts, Fetching mad bounds, bellowing and neighing loud, Which is the hot condition of their blood: f they perchance but hear a trumpet sound, Shakespearian Dictionary. MUS Or any air of music touch their ears, You shall perceive them make a mutual stand, Their savage eyes turn'd to a modest gaze, By the sweet power of music: Therefore, the poet Did fein that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods; Since nought so stockish, hard, and full of rage, But music for the time doth change his nature. M. V. v. 1 The man that hath not music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, 7 Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus:— filed under Music
Tell him, there's a post come from my master, with his horn full of news.— filed under News
Myself, myself confound! Heaven, and fortune, bar me happy hours! Day, yield me not thy light; nor night, thy rest! Be opposite, all planets of good luck, To my proceeding, if, with pure heart's love, Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts, I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter. R. III. iv. 4 An oath, an oath; I have an oath in heaven: Shall I lay perjury upon my soul? No, not for Venice.— filed under Jaths
How oddly he is suited! I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour every where.— filed under Oddity
The bay trees in our country are all wither'd, And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven; The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth, And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change; Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap. R.II. ii. 4 There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest,— filed under Omens
Shakesprarian Dictionary. But fish not with this melancholy bait,— filed under Opinion
Degree being vizardea, The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask. The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre, Observe degree, priority, and place, Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, Office, and custom, in all line of order: And therefore is the glorious planet, Sol, In noble eminence enthron'd and spher'd Amidst the other; whose med'cinable eye Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil, And posts, like the commandment of a king, Sans check, to good and bad: But when the planets, In evil mixture, to disorder wander, What plagues, and what portents! what mutiny! What raging of the sea! shaking of earth! Commotion in the winds! frights, changes, horrors, Divert and crack, rend and deracinate The unity and married calm of states Quite from their fixture! O, when degree is shak'd, Which is the ladder of all high designs, The enterprise is sick! How could communities, Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities, Peaceful commerce from divided shores, The primogeniture and due of birth, Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels, But by degree, stand in authentic place? Take but degree away, untune that string, And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meets In mere oppugnancy: The bounded waters Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores, And make a sop of all this solid globe: Strength should be lord of imbecility, And the rude son should strike his father dead: Force should be right; or, rather, right and wrong (Between whose endless jar justice resides) Should lose their names, and so should justice too. Then every thing includes itself in power, Power into will, will into appetite: And appetite, a universal wolf, So doubly seconded with will and power, Must make perforce a universal prey, And, last, eat up himself. Great Agamemnon; This chaos, when degree is suffocate, Follows the choking: And this neglection of degree it is, That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose It hath to climb. The general's disdain'd By him one step below; he, by the next; That next, by him beneath: so every step, Exampled by the first pace that is sick Of his superior, grows to an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation, TC-13 otи The world is still deceiv'd with ornament. In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But, being season'd with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil? In religion, What damned error, but some sober brow Will bless it, and approve it with a text, Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?— filed under Order
Thus ornament is but the guiled shore To a most dangerous sea; the beauteous scarf Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word, The seeming truth which cunning times put on To entrap the wisest.— filed under Ornament
Portia, adieu! I have too griev'd a heart— filed under Parting
Sprinkle cool patience. Signior Antonio, many a time and oft, On the Rialto, you have rated me About my monies, and my usances: Still I have borne it with a patient shrug:— filed under Patience
I do oppose My patience to his fury; and am arm'd To suffer with a quietness of spirit, The very tyranny and rage of his.— filed under Patience
He is well paid, that is well satisfied.— filed under Payment
You'll ask me, why I rather choose to have A weight of carrion flesh, than to receive Three thousand ducats: I'll not answer that: But say, it is my humour; Is it answer'd?— filed under Pertinacity
一, If thou could'st, doctor, cast The water of my land, find her disease, And purge it to a sound and pristine health, I would applaud thee to the very echo, That should applaud again.-Pull't off, I say- What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug, Would scour these English hence.— filed under Physic
Like one of two contending in a prize, That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes, Hearing applause, and universal shout, Giddy in spirit, still gazing in a doubt Whether those peals of praise be his or no.— filed under Popularity
Shakespearian Dictionary. POV What demi-god Hath come so near creation? Move these eyes? Or whether, riding on the balls of mine, Seem they in motion? Here are sever'd lips, Parted with sugar breath; so sweet a bar Should sunder such sweet friends: Here in her hairs The painter plays the spider; and hath woven A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men, Faster than gnats in cobwebs: But her eyes, - How could he see to do them?— filed under Portrait
I am a Jew: Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? if you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? if we are like you in the— filed under Prejudice
His promises were, as he then was, mighty; But his performance, as he now is, nothing. H. VIII. iv. 2 I see, Sir, you are liberal in offers: You taught me-first to beg; and now, methinks, You teach me how a beggar should be answer'd.— filed under Promises
What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong? You have among you many a purchas'd slave; Which, like your asses, and your dogs, and mules, You use in abject, and in slavish parts, Because you bought them: shall I say to you, Let them be free, marry them to your heirs! Why sweat they under burdens? let their beds Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates Be season'd with such viands. You will answer, The slaves are ours:-so do I answer you:— filed under Property
O, dear discretion, how his words are suited! The fool hath planted in his memory An army of good words: and I do know • A many fools, that stand in better place, Garnish'd like him, that for a tricksy word Defy the matter.— filed under Quibbling
This is a riddling merchant for the nonce. H. IV. PT. I. ii. 3. How every fool can play upon the word! I think, the Lest grace of wit will shortly turn into silence; and discourse grow commendable in none only but parrots.— filed under Quibbling
But then I sigh, and, with a piece of scripture, Tell them, that God bids us do good for evil. And thus I clothe my naked villany With old odd ends, stol'n forth of holy writ; And seem a saint when most I play the devil. R. III. i. 3 In religion, What damned error, but some sober brow Will bless it, and approve it with a text,— filed under Quoting Scripture
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? The devil can cite scripture for his purpose. An evil soul, producing holy witness, Is like a villain with a smiling cheek; A goodly apple rotten at the heart:— filed under Quoting Scripture
Grieve not that I am fall'n to this for you: For herein fortune shows herself more kind Than is her custom : it is still her use, To let the wretched man outlive his wealth, And view with hollow eye, and wrinkled brow, An age of poverty; from the ling'ring penance Of such a misery doth she cut me off.— filed under Resignation
If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility?revenge; if a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be, by Christian example?-why, revenge.— filed under Revenge
The old proverb is pretty well parted between my master Shylock and you, Sir; you have the grace of God, Sir, and— filed under Riches And Goodness
In sooth, I know not why I am so sad; It wearies me; you say, it wearies you : But how I caught it, found it, or came by't, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn.— filed under Sadness
Such a want-wit sadness makes of me, "That I have much ado to know myself,— filed under Sadness
They surfeited with honey, and began To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof little More than a little is by much too much. H. IV. PT. I. iii. 2. Who rises from a feast With that keen appetite that he eits down? Where is the horse that doth untread again His tedious measures with th' unabated fire That he did pace them first? All things that are, Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed.— filed under Satiety
O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly, To seal love's bonds new made, than they are wont,— filed under Satiety
The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head Spits in the face of heaven.— filed under Sea
The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark, When neither is attended; and, I think, The nightingale, if she should sing by day, When every goose is cackling, would be thought No better a musician than the wren. How many things by season season'd are, To their right praise, and true perfection.— filed under Sea
Shut doors after you: Fast bind, fast find;— filed under Security
The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder, Snail-slow in profit.— filed under Servant, Unprofitable
And not one vessel 'scape the dreadful touch Of merchant-marring rocks.— filed under Shipwrecks
Silence only is commendable In a neat's tongue dried, and a maid not vendible.— filed under Silence
Fye, my lord, fye! a soldier and afraid ?— filed under Soldier
Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt: He only liv'd but till he was a man ; The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd, In the unshrinking station where he fought, But like a man he died. M.v.7. They say he parted well, and paid his score; So God be with him,— filed under Soldier
So underneath the belly of their steeds, That stain'd their fetlocks in his smoking blood, The noble gentleman gave up the ghost. H. VI. PT. III. ii. 3. Why then, God's soldier be he! Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish them to a fairer death: And so his knell is knoll'd.— filed under Soldier
I had rather than forty shillings, I had my book of songs and sonnets here.— filed under Song
Pray thee, let it serve for table talk; Then, howsoe'er thou speak'st, 'mong other things I shall digest it.— filed under Table Talk
But it is true,-without any slips of prolixity, or crossing— filed under Tale
This was a way to thrive, and he was blest; And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not.— filed under Thrift
Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice: His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you have found them, they are not worth the search.— filed under Verbosity
Your leavy screens throw down,— filed under Vituperation
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Gilded tombs do worms infold..— filed under Vituperation
In the name of God, How comes it then, that thou art call'd a king, When living blood doth in these temples beat, Which owe the crown that thou o'ermasterest? K. J. ii. 1. Those he commands, move only in command, Nothing in love: now does he feel the title Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe— filed under Vows
Receive in either by this dear encounter. Sir, you are very welcome to our house; It must appear in other ways than words, Therefore I scant this breathing courtesy.— filed under Welcome
But the full sum of the Is sum of something; which, to term in gross, Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractis'd: Happy in this, she is not yet so old But she may learn; happier than this, She is not bred so dull but she can learn; Happiest of all, is, that her gentle spirit Commits itself to yours, to be directed, As from her lord, her governor, her king.— filed under Wife
It is a reeling world, indeed, my lord. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano, A stage, where every man must play a part,— filed under World
You have too much respect upon the world: They lose it that do buy it with much care.— filed under World
He hears merry tales, and smiles not: I fear he will the weeping philosopher when he grows prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his youth.— filed under Youth