William Shakespeare Quotes About Modesty

• Lord Bacon told Sir Edward Coke when he was boasting, The less you speak of your greatness, the more shall I think of it.

  William Shakespeare

  Greatness, Thinking, Coke

• Suit the action to the word : the word to the action : with this special observance that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature.

  William Shakespeare

  Special, Acting, Suits

  'Hamlet' (1601) act 3, sc. 2, l. [19]

• Not stepping over the bounds of modesty.

  William Shakespeare

  Love, Love You, Modesty

  William Shakespeare, Ad Brown (1837). “Romeo and Juliet: A Tragedy in Five Acts”, p.128

• With this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature. for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature.

  William Shakespeare

  Mirrors, Special, Acting

  'Hamlet' (1601) act 3, sc. 2, l. [19]

• Such an act
  That blurs the grace and blush of modesty;
  Calls virtue hypocrite; takes off the rose
  From the fair forehead of an innocent love,
  And sets a blister there; makes marriage vows
  As false as dicers' oaths.

  William Shakespeare

  Hypocrite, Rose, Grace

  William Shakespeare (2016). “Hamlet: Revised Edition”, p.368, Bloomsbury Publishing

• We wound our modesty and make foul the clearness of our deservings, when of ourselves we publish them.

  William Shakespeare

  Modesty, Foul, Clearness

  William Shakespeare, Joseph Dennie, Isaac Reed, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens (1805). “As you like it. All's well that ends well”, p.179

• Can you nominate in order now the degrees of the lie? I will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort Courteous; the second, the Quip Modest; the third, the Reply Churlish; the fourth, the Reproof Valiant; the fifth; the Countercheck Quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with Circumstance; the seventh, the Lie Direct. All these you may avoid but the Lie Direct; and you may avoid that too, with an If. . . . Your If is the only peace-maker; much virtue in If.

  William Shakespeare

  Peace, Lying, Order

  'As You Like It' (1599) act 5, sc. 4, l. [108]

• They may seize
  On the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand
  And steal immortal blessing from her lips,
  Who, even in pure and vestal modesty,
  Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin.

  William Shakespeare

  Kissing, Blessing, Thinking

  William Shakespeare, James Boswell, Edward Capell, Alexander Pope, George Steevens (1821). “The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare”, p.148

• In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage; Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; . . . . Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.

  William Shakespeare

  Peace, War, Humility

  William Shakespeare (1996). “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare”, p.496, Wordsworth Editions

• Can it be That modesty may more betray our sense Than woman's lightness? Having waste ground enough, Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary And pitch our evils there?

  William Shakespeare

  Evil, Desire, Sanctuary

  William Shakespeare, N. W. Bawcutt (1998). “Measure for Measure”, p.132, Oxford University Press, USA

• Pastime passing excellent, if it he husbanded with modesty.

  William Shakespeare

  Modesty, Time Passing, Excellent

  William Shakespeare (2016). “The New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition: The Complete Works”, p.413, Oxford University Press

• Love and meekness, lord,
  Become a churchman better than ambition:
  Win straying souls with modesty again,
  Cast none away.

  William Shakespeare

  Ambition, Winning, Soul

  William Shakespeare (2013). “Making Sense of Henry VIII! a Students Guide to Shakespeare's Play (Includes Study Guide, Biography, and Modern Retelling)”, p.237, BookCaps Study Guides

• Can it be chat modesty may more betray
  Our sense than woman's lightness?

  William Shakespeare

  May, Modesty, Betray

• Fie, thou dishonest Satan! I call thee by the most modest terms; for I am one of those gentle ones that will use the devil himself with courtesy: sayest thou that house is dark?

  William Shakespeare

  Dark, House, Devil

  William Shakespeare (2010). “Twelfth Night”, p.79, Palgrave Macmillan

• In the modesty of fearful duty, I read as much as from the rattling tongue of saucy and audacious eloquence.

  William Shakespeare

  Tongue, Modesty, Duty

  'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1595-6) act 5, sc. 1, l. 100

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