Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Gentleness
Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re.
Gentle in manner, firm in reality.
Aquaviva—Industriæ ad Curandos Animæ Morbos.
He is gentil that doth gentil dedis.
Chaucer—Canterbury Tales. The Wyf of Bathes Tale. L. 6,695.
Peragit tranquilla potestas
Quod violenta nequit; mandataque fortius urget
Imperiosa quies.
Power can do by gentleness that which violence fails to accomplish; and calmness beat enforces the imperial mandate.
Claudianus—De Consulatu Mallii Theodori Panegyris. CCXXXIX.
La violence est juste où la douceur est vaine.
Severity is allowable where gentleness has no effect.
Corneille—Héraclius. I. 1.
The mildest manners and the gentlest heart.
Homer—Iliad. Bk. XVII. L. 756. Pope’s trans.
Plus fait douceur que violence.
Gentleness succeeds better than violence.
La Fontaine—Fables. VI. 3.
At caret insidiis hominum, quia mitis, hirundo.
The swallow is not ensnared by men because of its gentle nature.
Ovid—Ars Amatoria. II. 149.
Gentle to others, to himself severe.
Rogers—Voyage of Columbus. Canto VI.
What would you have? your gentleness shall force
More than your force move us to gentleness.
As You Like It. Act II. Sc. 7. L. 102.
Let gentleness my strong enforcement be.
As You Like It. Act II. Sc. 7. L. 113.
They are as gentle
As zephyrs blowing below the violet.
Cymbeline. Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 171.
Those that do teach young babes
Do it with gentle means and easy tasks:
Othello. Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 111.