Mercy
The quality of mercy is not strained:it droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven,Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d;It blesses him that gives, and him that takes:’Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomesThe throned monarch better than his crown:His scepter shows the force of temporal power,The attribute to awe and majesty,Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;But mercy is above this sceptered sway;It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;It is an attribute to God himself;And earthly power doth then show likest God’s,When mercy seasons justice.Consider this,—That, in the course of justice, none of usShould see salvation: we do pray for mercy;And that same prayer doth teach us all to renderThe deeds of mercy.
Merchant of Venice—IV. 1.
What’s in a name? that, which we call a rose,By any other name would smell as sweet.
Romeo and Juliet—II. 2.
Good name, in man, and woman,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.
Othello—III. 3.
A peace is of the nature of a conquest;For then both parties nobly are subdued,And neither party loser.
King Henry IV., Part 2d—IV. 2.
I will use the olive with my sword:Make war breed peace; make peace stint war; make eachPrescribe to other, as each other’s leech.
Timon of Athens—V. 5.
I know myself now; and I feel within meA peace above all earthly dignities,A still and quiet conscience.
King Henry VIII.—III. 2.