"You lie, in faith; for you are call'd plain Kate, And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst; But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom, Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate, For dainties are all cates: and therefore, Kate, Take this of me, Kate of my consolation; — Hearing thy mildness prais'd in every town, Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded, (Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs,) — Myself am mov'd to woo thee for my wife."

"I'll attend her here, And woo her with some spirit when she comes. Say that she rail, why then I'll tell her plain She sings as sweetly as a nightingale. Say that she frown, I'll say she looks as clear As morning roses newly wash'd with dew. Say she be mute and will not speak a word, Then I'll commend her volubility, And say she uttereth piercing eloquence. If she do bid me pack, I'll give her thanks, As though she bid me stay by her a week. If she deny to wed, I'll crave the day When I shall ask the banns, and when be married."

"Petruchio: Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry. Katherina: If I be waspish, best beware my sting. Petruchio: My remedy is, then, to pluck it out. Katherina: Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies. Petruchio: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail. Katherina: In his tongue. Petruchio: Whose tongue? Katherina: Yours, if you talk of tales; and so farewell. Petruchio: What! with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again, Good Kate; I am a gentleman. Katherina: That I'll try. [Striking him.] Petruchio: I swear I'll cuff you if you strike again. Katherina: So may you lose your arms: If you strike me, you are no gentleman; And if no gentleman, why then no arms."

"An unlesson’d girl, unschool’d, unpractis’d; Happy in this, she is not yet so old But she may learn."

"Thou gaudy gold, Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee."

"Do as adversaries do in law, — Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends."

"Thus ornament is but the guiled shore To a most dangerous sea; the beauteous scarf Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word, The seeming truth which cunning times put on To entrap the wisest."

"Look on beauty, And you shall see ’tis purchased by the weight; Which therein works a miracle in nature, Making them lightest that wear most of it."

"The ox hath therefore stretch’d his yoke in vain, The ploughman lost his sweat; and the green corn Hath rotted ere his youth attain’d a beard: The fold stands empty in the drowned field, And crows are fatted with the murrion flock; The nine men’s morris is fill’d up with mud; And the quaint mazes in the wanton green, For lack of tread, are undistinguishable."

"She is your treasure, she must have a husband; I must dance barefoot on her wedding day And for your love to her lead apes in hell."

"Madam, you have bereft me of all words, Only my blood speaks to you in my veins."

"Here are a few of the unpleasant’st words That ever blotted paper!"

"The dearest friend to me, the kindest man, The best-condition’d and unwearied spirit In doing courtesies."

"Thus when I shun Scylla, your father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother."

"Let it serve for table-talk; Then, howsoe’er thou speak’st, ’mong other things I shall digest it."

"Some men there are love not a gaping pig; Some, that are mad if they behold a cat; And others, when the bagpipe sings i’ the nose, Cannot contain their urine."

"A harmless necessary cat."

"What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?"

"If you deny me, fie upon your law! There is no power in the decrees of Venice. I stand for judgement: answer; shall I have it?"

"I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meetest for death; the weakest kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground."

"We turned o’er many books together."

"I never knew so young a body with so old a head."

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d; 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. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer, doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy."

"A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel! O wise young judge, how I do honour thee!"

"Shylock: Is it so nominated in the bond? Portia: It is not so express'd: but what of that? 'Twere good you do so much for charity. Shylock: I cannot find it; 'tis not in the bond."

"Commend me to your honourable wife: Tell her the process of Antonio's end; Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death; And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a love."

"Antonio, I am married to a wife Which is as dear to me as life itself; But life itself, my wife, and all the world, Are not with me esteem’d above thy life: I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all Here to this devil, to deliver you."

"This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood; The words expressly are, 'a pound of flesh:' Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh; But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate Unto the state of Venice."

"An upright judge, a learned judge!"

"A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew! Now, infidel, I have you on the hip."

"A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel! I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word."

"Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that; You take my house, when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house; you take my life, When you do take the means whereby I live."

"I am content."

"He is well paid that is well satisfied."

"Lorenzo: The moon shines bright: in such a night as this, When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees And they did make no noise, in such a night Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls, And sigh’d his soul toward the Grecian tents, Where Cressid lay that night. Jessica: In such a night Did Thisbe fearfully o’ertrip the dew, And saw the lion’s shadow ere himself. And ran dismay’d away. Lorenzo: In such a night Stood Dido with a willow in her hand Upon the wild sea-banks, and waft her love To come again to Carthage. Jessica: In such a night Medea gather’d the enchanted herbs That did renew old Æson. Lorenzo: In such a night Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew And with an unthrift love did run from Venice As far as Belmont. Jessica: In such a night Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well, Stealing her soul with many vows of faith And ne’er a true one. Lorenzo: In such a night Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, Slander her love, and he forgave it her."

"How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here we will sit, and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night Become the touches of sweet harmony. Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold: There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins; Such harmony is in immortal souls; But whilst this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it."

"I am never merry when I hear sweet music."

"The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus: Let no such man be trusted."

"How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world."

"A substitute shines brightly as a king, Until a king be by."

"The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark, When neither is attended"

"How many things by season season’d are To their right praise and true perfection! Peace, ho! the moon sleeps with Endymion, And would not be awaked."

"This night methinks is but the daylight sick."

"A light wife doth make a heavy husband."

"These blessed candles of the night."

"Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way Of starved people."

"We will answer all things faithfully."

"'Twas told me you were rough, and coy, and sullen, And now I find report a very liar; For thou art pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous, But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers. Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance, Nor bite the lip, as angry wenches will; Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk; But thou with mildness entertain'st thy wooers; With gentle conference, soft and affable. Why does the world report that Kate doth limp? O slanderous world! Kate, like the hazel-twig Is straight and slender, and as brown in hue As hazel-nuts, and sweeter than the kernels. O! let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt."