QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Helen
CONTEXT:
HELEN
What I can do can do no hurt to try,
Since you set up your rest ‘gainst remedy.
He that of greatest works is finisher
Oft does them by the weakest minister:
So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown,
When judges have been babes; great floods have flown
From simple sources, and great seas have dried
When miracles have by the greatest been denied.
Oft expectation fails and most oft there
Where most it promises, and oft it hits
Where hope is coldest and despair most fits.
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.

DUTCH:
Verwachting faalt niet zelden, ‘t meest, wanneer
Zij ‘t meest belooft; en vaak maakt ze alles goed,
Als hoop, verkild, voor wanhoop wijken moet.

MORE:
To set up one’s rest=To have fully made up one’s mind, to be resolved, stake everything (taken from gambling, where the rest was a large sum wagered by a very confident player)
Flown=Flowed
Hits=Hits the mark
Pains=Efforts
Proffers not took=Offers not taken up
To fit=To be fitting, appropriate: “oft it hits where hope is coldest and despair most fits”
Hope is coldest=Most hopeless
Hear=Listen to
Pains=Efforts
Proffers=Offers
Took=Accepted
Compleat:
To flow=Vloeijen, vlieten
To hit the mark=Het wit treffen
To fit=Passen, pas maaken, gereed maaken, voegen
You must fit your humour to it=Gy moet ‘er uw humeur toe schikken
To hear=Hooren, verhooren, toehooren
To take pains=Moeite doen, arbeid aanwenden
Proffer=Aanbieding

Topics: still in use, invented or popularised, achievement, hope/optimism