John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 64
| William Shakespeare. (1564–1616) (continued) |
| 678 |
| An unlesson’d girl, unschool’d, unpractised; Happy in this, she is not yet so old But she may learn. 1 |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iii. Sc. 2. |
| 679 |
| Here are a few of the unpleasant’st words That ever blotted paper! |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iii. Sc. 2. |
| 680 |
| The kindest man, The best-condition’d and unwearied spirit In doing courtesies. |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iii. Sc. 2. |
| 681 |
| Thus when I shun Scylla, your father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother. 2 |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iii. Sc. 5. |
| 682 |
| Let it serve for table-talk. |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iii. Sc. 5. |
| 683 |
| A harmless necessary cat. |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iv. Sc. 1. |
| 684 |
| What! wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice? |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iv. Sc. 1. |
| 685 |
| I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meetest for death: the weakest kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground. |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iv. Sc. 1. |
| 686 |
| I never knew so young a body with so old a head. |
| The Merchant of Venice. Act iv. Sc. 1. |
| 687 |
| 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. ’T is 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, |
| Note 1. It is better to learn late than never.—Publius Syrus: Maxim 864. [back] |
| Note 2. Incidis in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim (One falls into Scylla in seeking to avoid Charybdis).—Phillippe Gualtier: Alexandreis, book v. line 301. Circa 1300. [back] |