- |#Shakespearesaysitbetter
- |#Shakespearesaysitbetter
- abuse
- achievement
- advantage/benefit
- adversity
- advice
- age/experience
- ambition
- anger
- appearance
- authority
- betrayal
- blame
- business
- caution
- cited in law
- civility
- claim
- clarity/precision
- communication
- complaint
- concern
- conflict
- conscience
- consequence
- conspiracy
- contract
- corruption
- courage
- custom
- death
- debt/obligation
- deceit
- defence
- dignity
- disappointment
- discovery
- dispute
- duty
- emotion and mood
- envy
- equality
- error
- evidence
- excess
- failure
- fashion/trends
- fate/destiny
- flattery
- flaw/fault
- foul play
- free will
- friendship
- good and bad
- grief
- guilt
- gullibility
- haste
- honesty
- honour
- hope/optimism
- identity
- imagination
- independence
- ingratitude
- innocence
- insult
- integrity
- intellect
- invented or popularised
- judgment
- justice
- justification
- language
- law/legal
- lawyers
- leadership
- learning/education
- legacy
- life
- love
- loyalty
- madness
- manipulation
- marriage
- memory
- mercy
- merit
- misc.
- misquoted
- money
- nature
- negligence
- news
- offence
- order/society
- opportunity
- patience
- perception
- persuasion
- pity
- plans/intentions
- poverty and wealth
- preparation
- pride
- promise
- proverbs and idioms
- purpose
- punishment
- reason
- regret
- relationship
- remedy
- reputation
- respect
- resolution
- revenge
- reply
- risk
- rivalry
- ruin
- satisfaction
- secrecy
- security
- skill/talent
- sorrow
- status
- still in use
- suspicion
- temptation
- time
- trust
- truth
- uncertainty
- understanding
- unity/collaboration
- value
- vanity
- virtue
- wellbeing
- wisdom
- work
QUOTES FROM THE BARD
But most it is presumption in us when the help of heaven we count the act of men
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Helen
CONTEXT:
KING
I must not hear thee; fare thee well, kind maid;
Thy pains not used must by thyself be paid:
Proffers not took reap thanks for their reward.
HELEN
Inspirèd merit so by breath is barr’d:
It is not so with Him that all things knows
As ’tis with us that square our guess by shows;
But most it is presumption in us when
The help of heaven we count the act of men.
Dear sir, to my endeavours give consent;
Of heaven, not me, make an experiment.
I am not an impostor that proclaim
Myself against the level of mine aim;
But know I think and think I know most sure
My art is not past power nor you past cure.
KING
Are thou so confident? within what space
Hopest thou my cure?
DUTCH:
Zoo stremt eens menschen adem ‘s hemels zegen!
O! ‘t is niet zoo bij Hem, die ‘t al doorschouwt,
Als bij den mensch, die op den schijn vertrouwt;
En wat de hulp des hemels heeft gedaan,
Ziet onze trots voor menschenwerk meest aan.
MORE:
Hear=Listen to
Pains=Efforts
Proffers=Offers
Took=Accepted
Inspirèd=Divine
Breath=Mortal words (as opposed to divinely inspired)
Square=Form
Guess=Surmise, conjecture
Shows=Outward appearance
Compleat:
To hear=Hooren, verhooren, toehooren
To take pains=Moeite doen, arbeid aanwenden
Proffer=Aanbieding
Inspired=Aangeblaazen [door den Geest]To square=Passen
Guess=Gissen, raamen, raaden
Show=Vertooning
Topics: hope/optimism, promise, work, money, authority, merit
He hath abandoned his physicians, madam; under whose practices he hath persecuted time with hope
PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
What hope is there of his majesty’s amendment?
LAFEW
He hath abandoned his physicians, madam; under whose
practices he hath persecuted time with hope, and
finds no other advantage in the process but only the
losing of hope by time.
COUNTESS
This young gentlewoman had a father, —O, that
‘had’! how sad a passage ’tis! —whose skill was
almost as great as his honesty; had it stretched so
far, would have made nature immortal, and death
should have play for lack of work. Would, for the
king’s sake, he were living! I think it would be
the death of the king’s disease.
DUTCH:
Hij heeft aan zijne artsen hun afscheid gegeven, mevrouw, nadat hij onder hunne behandeling den tijd met hoop vervolgd had, en er op den duur geen ander voordeel van heeft, dan dat hij met den tijd de hoop verloor.
MORE:
Amendment=Recovery
Persecute=To afflict, to harass; not very intelligibly used.
Persecuted time with hope=Wasted his time hoping for a cure.
Passage=Punning on passing
Compleat:
Persecute=Lastig vallen; vervolgen.
Wishers were ever fools
PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 4.15
SPEAKER: Cleopatra
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
I am dying, Egypt, dying. Only
I here importune death awhile, until
Of many thousand kisses the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.
CLEOPATRA
I dare not, dear,
Dear my lord, pardon, I dare not,
Lest I be taken. Not th’ imperious show
Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall
Be brooched with me. If knife, drugs, serpents, have
Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe.
Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes
And still conclusion, shall acquire no honour
Demuring upon me. But come, come, Antony—
Help me, my women—We must draw thee up.
Assist, good friends.
ANTONY
Oh, quick, or I am gone.
CLEOPATRA
Here’s sport indeed! How heavy weighs my lord!
Our strength is all gone into heaviness,
That makes the weight. Had I great Juno’s power,
The strong-winged Mercury should fetch thee up
And set thee by Jove’s side. Yet come a little.
Wishers were ever fools. Oh, come, come, come!
DUTCH:
Wie wenscht, was immer dwaas!
MORE:
Importune=Urge, impel
Imperious=Imperial
Brooch=Pin a brooch/badge on
Still=Silent
Conclusion=Judgment
Demuring=Looking demurely
Heavy=(1) Large material weight or (2) sadness
Mercury=Winged messenger god
Compleat:
Importune=Lastig vallen, zeer dringen, gestadig aanhouden, overdringen, aandringen
Imperious=Heerschzuchtig
Still=Stil
Conclusion=Het besluit
Demure=Stemmig, staatig, bedaard, ernstig, deftig
Heavy=(sad) Droevig, verdrietig
Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, death, hope/optimism
But since the affairs of men rest still incertain, let’s reason with the worst that may befall
PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Cassius
CONTEXT:
CASSIUS
Now, most noble Brutus,
The gods today stand friendly that we may,
Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age.
But since the affairs of men rest still incertain,
Let’s reason with the worst that may befall.
If we do lose this battle, then is this
The very last time we shall speak together.
What are you then determinèd to do?
BRUTUS
Even by the rule of that philosophy
By which I did blame Cato for the death
Which he did give himself — I know not how,
But I do find it cowardly and vile,
For fear of what might fall, so to prevent
The time of life — arming myself with patience
To stay the providence of some high powers
That govern us below.
DUTCH:
Doch wijl der menschen lot onzeker blijft,
Zij ‘t ergste, wat gebeuren kan, voorzien!
Verliezen wij den slag, dan is het thans
De laatste maal, dat we ooit elkander spreken.
Wat hebt gij voorgenomen, dan te doen?
MORE:
Proverb: It is good to fear the worst
Rests still=Remains
Reason with=Anticipate the possibility of
Determined=Resolved
Fall=Befall, happen
Prevent=Anticipate
Time=Natural liit
Stay=Await
Providence=Fate decreed
Compleat:
Determined=Bepaald, gesloten
Befall=Gebeuren, overkomen
To prevent=Voorkomen, eerstkomen; afkeeren; verhoeden
To stay=Wagten
Providence=(wariness or foresight) Voorzigtigheid, wysheid
Topics: proverbs and idioms, preparation, hope/optimism, fate/destiny
I have not that alacrity of spirit nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have
PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: King Richard III
CONTEXT:
RATCLIFFE
Thomas the earl of Surrey and himself,
Much about cockshut time, from troop to troop
Went through the army cheering up the soldiers.
RICHARD
So, I am satisfied. Give me a bowl of wine.
I have not that alacrity of spirit
Nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have.
Set it down. Is ink and paper ready?
RATCLIFFE
It is, my lord.
RICHARD
Bid my guard watch. Leave me.
Ratcliffe, about the mid of night come to my tent
And help to arm me. Leave me, I say.
DUTCH:
Ik heb ditmaal den opgewekten geest,
Den blijden moed niet, dien ik plach te hebben.
MORE:
Cockshut time=Twilight
Wont to=Customarily
Alacrity of spirit=Good cheer
Compleat:
Cock-shoot time=Schemeravond
Wont=Gewoonte
Spirit=Moed
Alacrity=Wakkerheyd, fluksheyd
Topics: satisfaction, life, age/experience, hope/optimism