JULIUS CESAR.

As proper men as ever trod upon neat's leather.

Beware the Ides of March!

Act i. Sc. I.

Act i. Sc. 2.

Well, honour is the subject of my story.

I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life; but for my single self
I had as lief not be, as live to be

In awe of such a thing as I myself. Act i. Sc. 2.

Dar'st thou, Cassius, now

Leap in with me into this angry flood,

And swim to yonder point? - Upon the word, Accoutred as I was, I plunged in,

And bade him follow.

Help me, Cassius, or I sink!

Act i. Sc. 2.

Acti. Sc. 2.

Ye gods, it doth amaze me,

A man of such a feeble temper should

So get the start of the majestic world,
And bear the palm alone.

Act i. Sc. 2.

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus; and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates;
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

Acti. Sc. 2.

Julius Cæsar continued.]

Conjure with them,

Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Cæsar.
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Cæsar feed,
That he is grown so great? Age, thou art sham'd!
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods.
Act i. Sc. 2.

Let me have men about me, that are fat;
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights;
Yond' Cassius has a lean and hungry look ;
He thinks too much such men are dangerous.
Acti. Sc. 2.

Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort,
As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spirit,
That could be mov'd to smile at anything.

Act i. Sc. 2.

But, for mine own part, it was Greek to me. Acti. Sc. 2.

Lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost1 round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend.
Act ii. Sc. I.

Between the acting of a dreadful thing,
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream :
The Genius, and the mortal instruments,

[Julius Cæsar continued.

Are then in council; and the state of man,

Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.

Act ii. Sc. I.

But, when I tell him, he hates flatterers,
He says, he does, being then most flattered.

Act ii. Sc. 1.

You are my true and honourable wife ;
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.

Act ii. Sc. 1.

Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons, and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol.

Act ii. Sc. 2.

When beggars die there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of Act ii. Sc. 2.

princes.

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.

Act ii. Sc. 2.

But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality,
There is no fellow in the firmament.

Julius Cæsar continued.]

O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, That I am meek and gentle with these butchers! Thou art the ruins of the noblest man

That ever lived in the tide of times.

Act iii. Sc. 1.

Cry "Havock!" and let slip the dogs of war.

Romans, countrymen, and lovers!

Act iii. Sc. I.

hear me for

my cause; and be silent that you may hear.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

Not that I loved Cæsar less, but that I loved Rome more. Act iii. Sc. 2.

Who is here so base, that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears:
I come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones.

For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept : Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

O judgment thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason!

Act iii. Sc. 2.

[Julius Cæsar continued.

But yesterday, the word of Cæsar might

Have stood against the world: now lies he there, And none so poor to do him reverence.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

See what a rent the envious Casca made.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

This was the most unkindest cut of all.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

Great Cæsar fell.

O, what a fall was there, my countrymen !

Act iii. Sc. 2.

I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts : I am no orator, as Brutus is.

I only speak right on.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

Put a tongue

In every wound of Cæsar, that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.

Act iii. Sc. 2.

When love begins to sicken and decay,
It useth an enforced ceremony.

There are no tricks in plain and simple faith.