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QUOTES FROM THE BARD

The better part of valour is discretion

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1 ACT/SCENE: 5.4 SPEAKER: Falstaff CONTEXT: Counterfeit? I lie. I am no counterfeit. To die is to be a counterfeit, for he is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the life of a man; but to counterfeit dying when a man thereby liveth is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed. The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life. Zounds, I am afraid of this gunpowder Percy, though he be dead. How if he should counterfeit too and rise? By my faith, I am afraid he would prove the better counterfeit. DUTCH: Het beste deel van moed is voorzichtigheid./ Het betere deel van de dapperheid is voorzichtigheid. MORE: Frequently misquoted, or rearranged, as “Discretion is the better part of valour”. Topics: misquoted, proverbs and idioms, risk, courage, caution

Categories: caution, courage, King Henry IV Part 1, misquoted, risk|

Lay on, Macduff, and damned be him who first cries ‘Hold! enough!

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 5.8
SPEAKER: Macbeth
CONTEXT:
I will not yield,
To kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet,
And to be baited with the rabble’s curse.
Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane,
And thou opposed, being of no woman born,
Yet I will try the last. Before my body
I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff,
And damned be him that first cries, “Hold, enough!”

DUTCH:
Ik waag het uiterst; val dus uit, Macduff;
‘k Werp voor mij ‘t schild, dat meen’gen houw verdroeg;
Verdoemd wie ‘t eerste roept: „Houd op, genoeg!”

MORE:
Frequently misquoted as “Lead on, Macduff!”
Schmidt:
Bait=To harass in a manner like that of dogs
Rabble=the mean people, populace
Compleat:
Bait=Aas leggen, lokken lokaazen
Rabble=Het graauw, jan hagel, jan-rap en zyn maat, het gespuis
CITED IN EU LAW:
ECLI:EU:C:2011:254 Case C-53/10 Land Hessen v Franz Mūksch OHG
Opinion of A-G Sharpston
“It is common ground that Merck’s establishment was originally situated at a greater distance from the city, parts of which have crept towards it – reminding the agent for the German Government, as he stated at the hearing, of Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane (Macbeth, Act 5).”

Topics: misquoted, still in use

Categories: Macbeth, misquoted|

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that.

DUTCH:
Laas, arme Yorick! – Ik heb hem gekend, Horatio /
Ach, arme Yorick ! Ik heb hem gekend, Horatio

MORE:
One of Shakespeare’s best-known speeches.
Often misquoted as “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well.”

Topics: misquoted, still in use, friendship

Categories: friendship, Hamlet, misquoted|

The lady doth protest too much, methinks

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Gertrude
CONTEXT:
HAMLET
Madam, how like you this play?
GERTRUDE
The lady protests too much, methinks.
HAMLET
O, but she’ll keep her word.
CLAUDIUS
Have you heard the argument? Is there no offence in ’t?

DUTCH:
De dame verzekert te veel, dunkt me. /
De dame, dunkt mij, protesteert te gul. /
Ik vind dat de koningin veel te veel belooft.

MORE:
Often misquoted starting with “methinks”. Also because in Shakespeare’s time the word ‘protest’ meant a solemn declaration (Asseveration), so in Hamlet this implied that the Queen was too excessive to be believable. Modern usage: for overly emphatic objections or denials.

CITED IN US LAW:

Sigma Financial Corp v Gotham Insurance Co. (2016 WL 7508172 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 22, 2016)).
Harris v. Reeves, 946 F.2d 214, 226 (3d Cir. 1991)(dissent);
Collazo v. Estelle. 940 F.2d 411,434 (9th Cir. 1991)(dissent);
Jenkins v. State of Missouri, 807 F.2d 657, 667 (8th Cir. 1986)(complaining of dissenter);
Rosen v. Aristocrat Angus Ranch, 639 F.2d 8~1 87 (2d Cir. 1980);
U.S. v. Chaffen, 587 F.2d 920, 923 (8th Cir. 1978);
Refco, Inc. v. Troika Investment Limited, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9508, at 32 (N.D.Ill.);
Hudson v. Heckler, Secretary of Health and Human Services, 101 F.R.D. 349, 354 lN.D.Ind. 1984); VanHuss v. Associated Milk Producers, Inc., 415 F.Supp. 356, 361 N.D.Tex. 1976);
McCormick v. Carnett-Partsnett System, Ine., 396 F.Supp. 251, 255 M.D.Fla.1975);
Jackson v. State, 452P.2d 104 (Alaska 1982);
Meyering v. General Motors Corporation, 232 Cal. App.3d 1163, 275 Cal. Rptr. 346 (1990);
People v. Santey, 220 Cal. App.3d 651, 661, 270 Cal. Rptr. 53 (1990);
Ogozalek v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act, 22 Conn. Sup. 100, 163 A.2d 114 (Super.Ct. 1960);
Kunz v. Utah Power & Light Company, 117 Idaho 901, 908, 792 P.2d 926 (1990);
Jolley v. Puregro, 94 Idaho 702, 496 P.2d 939 (1972);
Benson v. Custer, 236 lowa 345, 17 N.W.2d 889, 895 (1945);
Parish v. Casner, 282 S.W.2d 392 (Mo. 1926).

Topics: misquoted, still in use, cited in law

Categories: cited in law, Hamlet, misquoted|

There are more things in Heaven and Earth,
Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 1.5
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

DUTCH:
Er is meer tussen hemel en aarde dan uw filosofie vermoedt /
Er is op aarde en in den hemel meer, Dan waar uw schoolsche kennisleer van droomt /
Daar is meer in de hemel en op aarde, vriend Horatio, dan waarvan uw wijsheid droomt.

MORE:
Perhaps one of the most widely debated quotations from Hamlet.
Often misquoted as “between heaven and earth”.

Topics: misquoted, still in use

Categories: Hamlet, misquoted|

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