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Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare

King Henry VI., Part 2d -- III. 2.

Reading edition

RAGE.

Men in rage strike those that wish them best.

Othello -- II. 3.

REPENTANCE.

Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes,

Which after-hours give leisure to repent.

King Richard III. -- IV. 4.

REPUTATION.

The purest treasure mortal times afford,

Is--spotless reputation; that away,

Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.

A jewel in a ten-times-barred-up chest

I-- a bold spirit in a loyal breast.

King Richard II. -- I. 1.

RETRIBUTION.

The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices

Make instruments to scourge us.

King Lear -- V. S.

If these men have defeated the law,

and outrun native punishment,

though they can outstrip men,

they have no wings to fly from God.

King Henry V. -- IV. 1.

SCARS.

A sear nobly got, or a noble scar,

is a good livery of honor.

All's Well that Ends Well -- IV. 6.

To such as boasting show their scars,

A mock is due.

Troilus and Cressida -- IV. 5.

SELF-CONQUEST.

Better conquest never can'st thou make,

Than arm thy constant and thy nobler parts

Against those giddy loose suggestions.

King John -- III. 1.

SELF-EXERTION.

Men at some time are masters of their fates;

The fault is not in our stars,

But in ourselves.

Julius Caesar -- I. 2.

SELF-RELIANCE.

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie,

Which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky

Gives us free scope; only, doth backward pull

Our slow designs, when we ourselves are dull.

All's Well that Ends Well -- I. 1.

SILENCE.

Out of this silence, yet I picked a welcome;

And in the modesty of fearful duty

I read as much, as from the rattling tongue

Of saucy and audacious eloquence.

Midsummer Night's Dream -- V. 1.

The silence often of pure innocence

Persuades, when speaking fails.

Winter's Tale -- II. 2.

Silence is the perfectest herald of joy:

I were but little happy, if I could say how much.

Much Ado About Nothing -- II. 1.

SLANDER.

Slander,

Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue

Outvenoms all the worms of Nile; whose breath

Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie

All corners of the world; kings, queens, and states,

Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave,

This viperous slander enters.

Cymbeline -- III. 4.

SLEEP.

The innocent sleep;

Sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care,

The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath,

Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,

Chief nourisher in life's feast.

Macbeth -- II. 2.

SUICIDE.

Against self-slaughter

There is a prohibition so divine,

That cravens my weak hand.

Cymbeline -- III. 4.

TEMPERANCE.

Though I look old, yet am I strong and lusty:

For in my youth I never did apply

Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood;

Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo

The means of weakness and debility:

Therefore my age is as a lusty winter,

Frosty, but kindly.

As You Like It -- II. 3.

THEORY AND PRACTICE.

There was never yet philosopher,

That could endure the tooth-ache patiently;

However, they have writ the style of the gods,

And made a pish at chance and sufferance.

Much Ado About Nothing -- V. 1.

TREACHERY.

Though those, that are betrayed,

Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor

Stands in worse case of woe.

Cymbeline -- III. 4.

VALOR.

The better part of valor is--discretion.

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