Doctor Faustus

"Live and die in Aristotle's works."

"If we say that we have no sin We deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. Why then, belike, we must sin, And consequently die. Ay, we must die an everlasting death."

"What doctrine call you this, Che serà, serà: What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu!"

"O Faustus, lay that damned book aside, And gaze not on it lest it tempt thy soul And heap God's heavy wrath upon thy head."

"How am I glutted with conceit of this! Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please, Resolve me of all ambiguities, Perform what desperate enterprise I will?"

"Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer, Conspir'd against our God with Lucifer, And are for ever damn'd with Lucifer."

"Why this is hell, nor am I out of it. Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of God, And tasted the eternal joy of Heaven, Am not tormented with ten thousand hells In being depriv'd of everlasting bliss?"

"Now, Faustus, must thou needs be damned? And canst thou not be saved? What boots it then to think on God or heaven? Away with such vain fancies and despair, Despair in God and trust in Beelzebub. Now go not backward. No, Faustus, be resolute. Why waverest thou? Oh, something soundeth in mine ears Abjure this magic, turn to God again."

"Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd In one self place; but where we are is hell, And where hell is, there must we ever be."

"When all the world dissolves, And every creature shall be purified, All places shall be hell that are not heaven."

"Have I not made blind Homer sing to me?"

"My heart's so harden'd, I cannot repent."

"Oh gentle Faustus, leave this damned art, This magic, that will charm thy soul to hell, And quite bereave thee of salvation. Though thou hast now offended like a man, Do not persever in it like a devil."

"Accursed Faustus, wretch, what hast thou done? I do repent, and yet I do despair. Hell strives with grace for conquest in my breast. What shall I do to shun the snares of death?"

"Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss! Her lips suck forth my soul; see where it flies! Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again."

"O, thou art fairer than the evening air Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars."

"Pray for me! and what noise soever ye hear, come not unto me, for nothing can rescue me."

"All: God forbid! Faustus: God forbade it indeed, but Faustus hath done it."

"Now hast thou but one bare hour to live, And then thou must be damn'd perpetually! Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of Heaven, That time may cease, and midnight never come; Fair Nature's eye, rise, rise again, and make Perpetual day; or let this hour be but A year, a month, a week, a natural day, That Faustus may repent and save his soul."

"O lente, lente currite, noctis equi! The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike, The Devil will come, and Faustus must be damn'd. O, I'll leap up to my God! Who pulls me down? See, see, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament! One drop would save my soul, half a drop: ah, my Christ."

"Ay, Faustus, now hast thou no hope of heaven Therefore despair! Think only upon hell, For that must be thy mansion, there to dwell."

"No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer That hath deprived thee of the joys of Heaven. Oh, it strikes, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air, Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell! O soul, be chang'd into little water-drops And fall into the ocean, ne'er be found. My God, my God, look not so fierce on me. Adders and serpents, let me breathe awhile. Ugly hell, gape not, come not, Lucifer! I'll burn my books!—ah, Mephistopheles!""

"And now, poor soul, must thy good angel leave thee, The jaws of hell are open to receive thee."

"Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burnèd is Apollo's laurel bough, That sometime grew within this learnèd man. Faustus is gone. Regard his hellish fall, Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise Only to wonder at unlawful things, Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits, To practise more than heavenly power permits."