Othello: Quotes

Act 1 Quotes

“The bookish theoric.” —Iago, 1.1.23

“Preferment goes by letter and affection
And not by old gradation, where each second
Stood heir to the first.” —Iago, 1.1.35-7

“We cannot all be masters, nor all masters
Cannot be truly followed.” —Iago, 1.1.42-3

“When my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In complement extern, tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at. I am not what I am.” —Iago, 1.1.60-4

“This accident is not unlike my dream.
Belief of it oppresses me already.
Light, I say! Light!” —Brabantio, 1.1.140-2

“Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her!
For I’ll refer me to all things of sense,
If she in chains of magic were not bound,
Whether a maid, so tender, fair, and happy,
So opposite to marriage that she shunned
The wealthy curled darlings of our nation,
Would ever have, t’incur a general mock,
Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thou—to fear, not to delight.”

—Brabantio, 1.2.62-71

“Tis a pageant
To keep us in false gaze.” —Senator, 1.3.18-9

“Rude am I in my speech,
And little bless’d with the soft phrase of peace:
For since these arms of mine had seven years’ pith,
Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used
Their dearest action in the tented field,
And little of this great world can I speak,
More than pertains to feats of broil and battle,
And therefore little shall I grace my cause
In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience,
I will a round unvarnish’d tale deliver
Of my whole course of love.” —Othello, 1.3.81-91

“I do perceive here a divided duty.” —Desdemona, 1.3.181

“The Moor is of a free and open nature
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so;
And will as tenderly be led by th’ nose
As asses are.” —Iago, 1.3.391-4

Act 2 Quotes

“I am not merry; but I do beguile
The thing I am by seeming otherwise.” —Desdemona, 2.1.122-3

“Oh heavy ignorance! Thou praisest the worst best.” —Desdemona, 2.1.143-4

“You may relish him more in the soldier than in the scholar.” —Cassio, 2.1.165-6

“If I were now to die,
Twere now to be most happy, for I fear
My soul hath her content so absolute
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate.” —Othello, 2.1.188-91

“Her eye must be fed.” —Iago, 2.1.224

“I’ll […] make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me
For making him egregiously an ass.” —Iago, 2.1.302-6

“Notwithstanding, with my personal eye
Will I look to’t.” —Cassio, 2.3.5-6

“Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.” —Cassio, 2.3.251-3

“How poor are they that have not patience!
What wound did ever heal but by degrees?
Thou know’st we work by wit and not by witchcraft,
And wit depends on dilatory time.” —Iago, 2.3.357-60

Act 3 Quotes

“Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul
But I do love thee! And when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again.” —Othello, 3.3.90-2

“By heaven, thou echo’st me
As if there were some monster in thy thought
Too hideous to be shown.” —Othello, 3.3.106-8

“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; tis something, nothing;
Twas mine, tis his, and has been slave to thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed” —Iago, 3.3.155-61

“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.” —Iago, 3.3.165-7

“This honest creature doubtless
Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds.”
—Othello, 3.3.242-3

“This fellow’s of exceeding honesty,
And knows all qualities, with a learned spirit
Of human dealings.” —Othello, 3.3.258-60

“Haply, for I am black
And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers have, or for I am declined
Into the vale of years – yet that’s not much –
She’s gone.” —Othello, 3.3.263-7

“Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof.” —Othello, 3.3.360

“On horror’s head horrors accumulate.” —Othello, 3.3.370

“I am your own forever.” —Iago, 3.3.480

Act 4 Quotes

“Her honor is an essence that’s not seen;
They have it very oft that have it not.” —Iago, 4.1.16-7

“A horned man’s a monster and a beast.” —Othello, 4.1.62

“Upon my knee, what doth your speech import?
I understand a fury in your words
But not the words.” —Desdemona, 4.2.31-3

“O thou weed
Who art so lovely fair, and smell’st so sweet,
That the sense aches at thee, would thou hadst never been born” —Othello, 4.2.67-9

“Tis neither here nor there.” —Emilia, 4.3.58

Act 5 Quotes

“It makes us or I mars us – think on that
And fix most firm thy resolution.” —Iago, 5.1.4-5
“This is the night
That either makes me or fordoes me quite.” —Iago, 5.1.129-30

“Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore,
Should I repent me; but once put out thy light,
Thou cuning’st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have plucked thy rose,
I cannot give it vital growth again;
It must needs wither.” —Othello, 5.2.7-15

“Had she been true,
If heaven would make me such another world
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite
I’d not have sold her for it.” —Othello, 5.2.144-7

“I told him what I thought, and told no more
Than what he found himself was apt and true.”
—Iago, 5.2.177-8

“Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.
From this time forth I never will speak word.” —Iago, 5.2.303-4

“When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely, but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes
Albeit unused to the melting mood,
Drops tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their medicinable gum. Set you down this.
And say besides that in Aleppo once,
Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk
Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,
I took by the throat the circumcised dog
And smote him—thus.” —Othello, 5.2.341-56