William Shakespeare Quotes About Mercy

• At this hour Lie at my mercy all mine enemies.

  William Shakespeare

  Revenge, Lying, Enemy

  William Shakespeare, Barry Cornwall, John Ogden, Richard H. Horne (1843). “The Works of Shakspere”, p.30

• The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre 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 sceptred 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.

  William Shakespeare

  Kings, Rain, Heart

  'The Merchant of Venice' (1596-8) act 4, sc. 1, l. [182]

• Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.

  William Shakespeare

  Compassion, Murder, Juliet

  William Shakespeare, Edmond Malone, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens, Alexander Pope (1790). “The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare: In Ten Volumes: Collated Verbatim with the Most Authentick Copies, and Revised; with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators; to which are Added, an Essay on the Chronological Order of His Plays; an Essay Relative to Shakspeare and Jonson; a Dissertation on the Three Parts of King Henry VI; an Historical Account of the English Stage; and Notes; by Edmond Malone”, p.98

• Do all men kill the things they do not love ............ The quality of mercy is not strain'd It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest It blesseth him that gives and him that takes

  William Shakespeare

  Rain, Men, Venice

• Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.

  William Shakespeare

  Memorable, Sin, Mercy

  'Timon Of Athens' act 3, sc. 5, l. 3

• Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
  And what strength I have's mine own,
  Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
  Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
  Since I have my dukedom got
  And pardon 'd the deceiver, dwell
  In this bare island by your spell;
  I must be here confined by you,
  But release me from my bands
  With the help of your good hands:
  Gentle breath of yours my sails
  Must fill, or else my project fails,
  Which was to please: now I want
  Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
  And my ending is despair,
  Unless I be relieved by prayer,
  Which pierces so, that it assaults
  Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
  As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
  Let your indulgence set me free.

  William Shakespeare

  Art, Prayer, Hands

  "Shakespeare's Comedy of The Tempest".

• The quality of mercy is not strained

  William Shakespeare

  Mercy Of God, Gentle Rain, Venice

  'The Merchant of Venice' (1596-8) act 4, sc. 1, l. [182]

• Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.

  William Shakespeare

  Forgiveness, Sweet, Kindness

  William Shakespeare (1816). “The Works of William Shakspeare...: Collated Verbatim with the Most Authentic Copies, and Revised, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators”, p.193

• I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory, But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride At length broke under me, and now has left me, Weary and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream that must for ever hide me.

  William Shakespeare

  Summer, Pride, Boys

  'Henry VIII' (1613) act 3, sc. 2, l. 352

• We do pray for mercy, and that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.

  William Shakespeare

  Prayer, Venice, Mercy Of God

  'The Merchant of Venice' (1596-8) act 4, sc. 1, l. [182]

• To kill, I grant, is sin's extremest gust;
  But, in defence, by mercy, 'tis most just.

  William Shakespeare

  Sin, Mercy, Defence

  William Shakespeare, Joseph Dennie, George Steevens, Isaac Reed, Samuel Johnson (1809). “The Plays of William Shakespeare: With the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators”, p.385

• There is no more mercy in him than there is milk in a male tiger.

  William Shakespeare

  Sassy, Males, Milk

  William Shakespeare (2013). “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English”, p.6279, BookCaps Study Guides

• The king-becoming graces,
  As justice, verity, temp'rance, stableness,
  Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness,
  Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude,
  I have no relish of them, but abound
  In the division of each several crime,
  Acting in many ways.

  William Shakespeare

  Perseverance, Kings, Justice

  William Shakespeare (2002). “Macbeth”, p.186, Barron's Educational Series

• There is a devilish mercy in the judge, if you'll implore it, that will free your life, but fetter you till death.

  William Shakespeare

  Judging, Mercy, Fetters

  William Shakespeare, George Steevens, Edmond Malone, Charles Symmons (1842). “The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: From the Text of the Corrected Copies of Steevens and Malone, with a Life of the Poet”, p.84

• Mercy is not itself, that oft looks so; Pardon is still the nurse of second woe.

  William Shakespeare

  Nurse, Looks, Woe

  William Shakespeare (2012). “Measure for Measure”, p.27, Hackett Publishing

• Though justice be thy plea consider this, that in the course of justice none of us should see salvation.

  William Shakespeare

  Mercy Of God, Venice, Justice

  'The Merchant of Venice' (1596-8) act 4, sc. 1, l. [182]

• Whereto serves mercy But to confront the visage of offense?

  William Shakespeare

  Mercy, Offense

  William Shakespeare (1857). “The Complete Works of Shakspeare, Revised from the Best Authorities : with a Memoir, and Essay on His Genius”, p.167

• Open thy gate of mercy, gracious God, My soul flies through these wounds to seek out thee.

  William Shakespeare

  Mercy Of God, Soul, Thee

  William Shakespeare (2013). “First Tetralogy In Plain and Simple English: Includes Henry VI Parts 1 - 3 & Richard III”, p.501, BookCaps Study Guides

• Reflection is the business of man; a sense of his state is his first duty: but who remembereth himself in joy? Is it not in mercy then that sorrow is allotted unto us?

  William Shakespeare

  Reflection, Men, Joy

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