* * *
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betrays In deepest consequence.
* * *
Boldness be my friend!
Arm me, audacity, from heat to foot!
~ in Cymbeline
* * *
Unkindness strikes a deeper wound than steel.
* * *
As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with words.
* * *
Be great in act, as you have been in thought.
* * *
Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!
* * *
The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.
* * *
Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.
~ in Othello, Act II, scene iii
* * *
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.
~ in Othello, Act III, scene iii
* * *
If you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you’d best teach it to dance.
~ in The Tragedy of King Richard the Second
* * *
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.
* * *
The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation.
* * *
Once more into the breach, dear friends,
Once more; …
~ in King Henry V
* * *
No legacy is so rich as honesty.
* * *
How my achievements mock me!
~ Troilus, in William Shakespeare’s play Troilus and Cressida, Act 4, Scene II
* * *
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
