QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: King
CONTEXT:
KING
Good alone
Is good without a name. Vileness is so:
The property by what it is should go,
Not by the title. She is young, wise, fair;
In these to nature she’s immediate heir,
And these breed honour: that is honour’s scorn,
Which challenges itself as honour’s born
And is not like the sire: honours thrive,
When rather from our acts we them derive
Than our foregoers: the mere word’s a slave
Debauched on every tomb, on every grave
A lying trophy, and as oft is dumb
Where dust and damned oblivion is the tomb
Of honoured bones indeed. What should be said?

DUTCH:
Goed is goed,
Ook zonder hoogen naam; en slecht is slecht;
Alleen op wat hij is, gronde elk zijn recht,
Op titels niet.

MORE:
Idiom: “Let’s write good angel on the devil’s horn, ‘Tis not the devil’s crest”

Alone=In and of itself
Name=Title
Property=Quality
Challenges itself=Urges as a right, makes a claim for itself
Foregoers=Forebears
Trophy=Memorial
Compleat:
Property=Eigenschap, natuurlyke hoedaanigheid
He challenges all to himself=Hy eigent zich alles toe
Trophy=Een zeegeteken, trofee

Topics: honour, merit, proverbs and idioms, good and bad, order/society