Shakespeare’s Best Insults and Best Curses, Guts and Vultures

Let vultures gripe thy guts“Let vultures gripe thy guts.” (Merry Wives of Windsor act 1, sc. 3)

Tips for use. Excellent retort to an accusation or act or word of insolence when you do not immediately have an answer. Excellent comeback during a political debate. No doubt Pistol had in mind the myth of Prometheus, the Titan god of forethought and useful undertakings who, among other things, was given the task of moulding mankind out of clay. A pre-Marxist of sort, Prometheus took upon himself to improve the conditions of his newly-moulded creatures. At first he craftily removed the best meat portions of a sacrificial feast to the Gods and instead gave them to man. He had not yet discovered that Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Abstinence and the Improbable Chastity in Men

I will find you twenty lascivious turtles“I will find you twenty lascivious turtles, ere one chaste man.”
(Merry Wives of Windsor, act 2, sc.1)

Tips for use. Applicable at large, especially with seemingly self-righteous or outwardly religious characters. Even recent history is dotted with sexual scandals involving preachers of various denominations, ready to quote chapter and verse from the Bible. Nor we should omit the notorious Clintons with their family values, the world as a family village etc.
Still, the generalization by Mrs. Ford may not be accepted in its totality. After all Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) noted in his Essays, Continue reading

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Shakespeare on How to End a Love Letter

thine own true knight“Thine own true knight,
By day or night,
Or any kind of light,
With all his might”

(Merry Wives of Windsor, act 2, sc. 1)

Tips for use. A good ending, even if mildly overstated, to a love note or letter or card, at least the first two lines. Or all four, if you intend to appear amusing. Falstaff may have been extreme in his scheme. But the idea that multiple loves more or less make the man is well conveyed by Oscar Wilde according to whom, “The people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow people. What they call their loyalty and fidelity, I call it either Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s Words of Gratitude and Thanks to Thank You

Your presence makes us rich, my noble lord, and far surmounts our labour to attain it“Your presence makes us rich, most noble lord.
And far surmounts our labour to attain it.”

(King Richard II, act 2, sc. 3)

Tips for use.  Elegant follow-up to words of gratitude and consideration, especially when received from a person in power. However, in this day’s blog he who writes it wishes to express his appreciation to all the visitors to the “Your Daily Shakespeare” booth at the “Northwest Book Festival” held Saturday, July 28th in Pioneer Square, the heart of beautiful Portland, Oregon. Therefore, he will modify the line to say, “Your presence made us rich, most noble visitors, and far surpassed our labour to attain it.” And thank you also to those Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Facial Expression and Non Verbal Communication

there is a kind of confession in your looks“… there is a kind of confession in your looks which your modesties have not craft enough to colour”
(Hamlet, act 2, sc. 2)

Tips for Use.  We all draw initial impressions and indications from the facial expressions of people we meet. Use the line to effect when your interlocutor seems hesitant in answering a possibly embarrassing question you have posed to him –  (change ‘modesties’ in ‘modesty’). The interpretation of facial expressions is the subject of physiognomy. Johann Kaspar Lavater (15 November 1741 – 2 January 1801) was a Swiss poet and physiognomist, Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Disliking a Person

the gentleman is not in your booksMESSENGER. I see, lady, the gentleman is not in your books.
BEATRICE. No; and if he were, I would burn my study.”

(Much Ado About Nothing, act 1, sc. 1)

Tips for Use.  Express displeasure and distance yourself from the object of your displeasure. E.G. ‘He is not in my books and if he were, I would burn my study’. Locutions to express displeasure at certain people have a long history. Latin poet and epigrammist Martial, for example, to indicate his disappointed with a girlfriend says, Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Gossip, Rumor and Slander

Upon my tongue continuous slanders rise, the which in every language I pronounceUpon my tongue continual slanders ride,
The which in every language I pronounce,
Stuffing the ears of man with false reports.”
(KHIV.p2.introduction)

Comments. A good retort to any sentence of the type ‘I have heard that you…. etc.” and you wish to deny whatever the rumor (or the statement) about you may be. Without prejudice, it is a fact that ladies have a greater inclination for rumor and gossip than members of the less gentle sex. An observation that caused a man to say about a gossip-monger lady, “She has a good sense of rumor.” Observations about others are notoriously more freely delivered when the subject others are not present. A fact that led a friend of Oscar Wilde to advise, Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Love at First Sight, take 3

the first time I saw you did my heart fly to your service“Hear my souls speak:
The very instant that I saw you, did
My heart fly to your service”

(Tempest, act 3, sc.1)

Comments.  Love at first sight is a common occurrence. Yet somehow it seems strange to associate love at first sight with characters who became known, for example, via their political careers. Could you guess who said, “In my Synday School class there was a beautiful little girl with golden curls. I was smitten at once and still am.” (?) It was president Harry Truman. The entry/blog “Shakespeare on Love at First Sight, take 1 and 2” were posted respectively on Mar 04, 2012 and Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Supersonic Speed Leading to Excellent Performance Review

a girdle around the earth in forty minutes“I’ll put a girdle around the earth
In forty minutes.”

(Midsummer Night’s Dream, act 2, sc. 1)

Tips for Use.  A good answer to the question, “When will you be back?” – especially if the questioner expects you to be back promptly and with mission accomplished. Clearly Shakespeare anticipated the space age and the concurrent achievable speeds. Most people do not like to be considered slow. Mark Twain, for example, Continue reading

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Shakespeare on Age, Appearance and Sex Appeal by Default

the older I wax the better I shall appear“I was created with a stubborn outside, with an aspect of iron, that, when I come to woo the ladies, I frighten them. But in faith the elder I wax, the better I shall appear: my comfort is that old age, that ill layer-up of beauty, can do no more spoils upon my face.” (King Henry V act 5, sc.2)

Comments.  In general modesty is good, but it is absolutely necessary when you are not (or do not consider yourself to be) Mr. America material.  Don’t you immediately recall these Shakespeare lines when asked about your age? You can always reply that you are old enough to have good taste and young enough to have an appetite. Age improving appearance by default, that is, Continue reading

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