Act 1, scene 2 Quotes
“Beware the ides of March.”
The soothsayer interrupts Antony's running of the course, a public demonstration, by shouting "Caesar!" The soothsayer then delivers this famous prophesy, before he is ignored by Caesar and sent on his way. At first Caesar does not hear the prophesy, but Brutus (his eventual killer) and the Soothsayer both repeat the line. "The ides of March" refers to the middle of the month, March 15.
This quote is the first of many omens that appear, and it introduces the question about Fate that will continue to develop over the course of the play: do human reason and decision-making cause events, or are they governed only by predetermined fate? The soothsayer's ability to accurately predict Caesar's demise suggests the murder was fated, but since Brutus heard the prediction, it could also be said that his actions and decisions were what made the prophesy come true.
The exchange surrounding this quote also gives a glimpse into one of Caesar's ailments (deafness), placing it in contrast with his projected image of invulnerability. Privately, Caesar is superstitious, as is revealed moments before this scene, when he asks Antony to touch Calpurnia for luck. But in public, Caesar projects arrogant manliness, and dismisses the Soothsayer without a second thought.
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.
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.
But those that understood him smil'd at one another, and shook their heads; but for mine own part, it was Greek to me.
Act 2, scene 1 Quotes
I grant I am a woman; but withal a woman that Lord Brutus took to wife; I grant I am a woman; but withal a women well reputed, Cato's daughter. Think you I am no stronger than my sex, being so father'd, and so husbanded? Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose'em. I have made a strong proof of my constancy, giving myself a voluntary wound here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience, and not my husband's secrets?
Act 2, scene 2 Quotes
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
Act 3, scene 1 Quotes
Caesar: The ides of March are come.
Soothsayer: Aye, Caesar, but not gone.
Et tu, Bruté? — Then fall, Caesar!
Cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war.
Act 3, scene 2 Quotes
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, —
For Brutus is an honorable man;
So are they all, all honorable men, —
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honorable man.
Act 4, scene 3 Quotes
Remember March, the ides of March remember:
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake?
What villain touch'd his body, that did stab,
And not for justice? What, shall one of us
That struck the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers, shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes,
And sell the mighty space of our large honours
For so much trash as may be grasped thus?
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,
Than such a Roman.
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
Act 5, scene 1 Quotes
But this same day
Must end that work the ides of March begun;
And whether we shall meet again I know not.
Therefore our everlasting farewell take:
For ever, and for ever, farewell, Cassius!
If we do meet again, why, we shall smile;
If not, why, then, this parting was well made.
Act 5, scene 5 Quotes
This was the noblest Roman of all
All the conspirators, save only he,
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
He only, in a general honest thought,
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle; and the elements
So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, "This was a man."



