Venice Merchant Quotes

You speak an infinite deal of nothing.

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.

All that glisters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: Many a man his life hath sold But my outside to behold: Gilded tombs do worms enfold.

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

I am not bound to please thee with my answers.

If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit

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. Mark the music.

One half of me is yours, the other half is yours, Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours, And so all yours.

I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano, A stage where every man must play a part, And mine a sad one.

Tell me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head?

The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children.

By my soul I swear, there is no power in the tongue of man to alter me.

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions: I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching.

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.

The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes The thronèd monarch better than his crown. His scepter 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 sceptered sway. It is enthronèd 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. I have spoke thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea, Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

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

Venetians prefer being merchants to philosophers.

Thou calledst me a dog before thou hadst a cause, But since I am a dog, beware my fangs.

In sooth, I know not why I am so sad: It wearies me; you say it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself.

To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs,dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

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.

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we 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.

So may the outward shows be least themselves: The world is still deceived with ornament. In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But, being seasoned with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil? In religion, What damned error, but some sober brow Will bless it and approve it with a text, Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? There is no vice so simple but assumes Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.

ساءت أفعالهم فقبحت بالناس ظنونهم.

Possiamo chiudere con il passato, ma il passato non chiude con noi.

This making of Christians will raise the price of hogs.

Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you.

To do a great right do a little wrong, And curb this cruel devil of his will.

He hath disgrac'd me and hind'red me half a million; laugh'd at my losses, mock'd at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated my enemies. And what's his reason? I am a Jew.

All things that are, are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd.

I think," said antonio , "that the world is astage. Everybody has a part to play , and my part is sad part .

I will do anything ... ere I'll be married to a sponge.

The pound of flesh which I demand of him Is dearly bought; ’tis mine and I will have it. —The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1

Life repeats Shakespearian themes more often than we think. Did Lady Macbeth, Richard III, and King Claudius exist only in the Middle Ages? Shylock wanted to cut a pound of flesh from the body of the merchant of Venice. Is that a fairy tale?

إن الشيطان يستطيع الاستشهاد بالتوراة لتصويب أعماله.

If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge.

Do all men kill all the things they do not love? Shylock: Hates any man the thing he would not kill? Bassanio: Every offence is not a hate at first.

Beshrew your eyes, They have o'erlook'd me and divided me; One half of me is yours, the other half yours, Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours, And so all yours.

Beshrew me but I love her heartily, For she is wise, if I can judge of her, And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true, And true she is, as she hath proved herself: And therefore like herself, wise, fair, and true, Shall she be placed in my constant soul.

You have too much respect upon the world; They lose it that do buy it with much care

Tis no mean happiness to be seated in the mean.

جنون جوانی مانند خرگوشی است که از لابلای سیم های نصایح خوب فرار میکند.

He will fence with his own shadow.

It is no mean happiness...to be seated in the mean

How many things by season season'd are, To their right praise and true perfection!

An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart.

ليس كل ما يبرق ذهبا، فالديدان تسعى داخل القبور المذهبة.

Oh father Abraham, what kind of people are these Christians? Their own meanness teaches them to suspect other people!

Look how the floor of heaven is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold!

When he is best he is a little worst than a man, and when he is worst he is a little better than a beast.

By the sweet power of music: therefore the poet did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones and floods; since nought so stockish, hard and full of rage, but music for the time doth change his nature. 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. Mark the music.

I’ll prove the prettier fellow of the two and wear my dagger with the braver grace

His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff: you shall seek all day ere you find them: and when you have them, they are not worth the search.

I freely told you, all the wealth I had Ran in my veins, I was a gentleman.

i buy a thousand pound a year! i buy a rope!

God made him, and therefore let him pass for a man. In truth, I know it is a sin to be a mocker, but he! why, he hath a horse better than the Neapolitan’s, a better bad habit of frowning than the Count Palentine; he is every man in no man. If a throstle sing, he falls straight a-cap’ring. He will fence with his own shadow. If I should marry him, I should marry twenty husbands.

the fire seven times tried this; seven times tried that judgement is that did never choose amiss some there be that shadows kiss; such have but a shadows bliss, there be fool alive, i wis silverd o'er, and so was this Take what wife you will to bed I will ever be your head. So be gone; you are sped.

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: So are those crisped snaky golden locks Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, Upon supposed fairness, often known To be the dowry of a second head, The skull that bred them in the sepulchre. 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.

إن الإنسان يُشقيه فرطُ الغنى كما يُشقيه إملاق الفقر.

I have too grieved a heart To take a tedious leave. Thus losers part.

All that glitters is not gold Often you have heard that told.

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.

How every fool can play upon the word! I think the best grace of wit will shortly turn into silence, and discourse grow commendable in none only but parrots.

ثمة صنف من الناس تعلو الجهامة وجوههم ويصرون على التزام الصمت حتى ينسب إليهم الحكمة والوقار والفكر العميق آه يا أنطونيو إني لأعرف أناسا لم يشتهروا بالحكمة إلا لامتناعهم عن الحديث وإني لجد واثق من أنهم لو تكلموا لنعتهم مستمعوهم بالغباء

The fiend gives the more friendly counsel.

Sweet doctor, you shall be my bedfellow. When I’m not there, you can sleep with my wife.

The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction

Her name is Portia

I have a wife I love. I wish she were in heaven so she could appeal to some power to make this dog Jew change his mind. NERISSA It’s nice you’re offering to sacrifice her behind her back. That wish of yours could start quite an argument back at home.

There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring [making music] to the young-eyed cherubins; Such harmony is in immortal souls, But whilst this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close us in, we cannot hear it.

I never heard a passion so confused, So strange, outrageous, and so variable, As the dog Jew did utter in the streets: 'My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter! A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter! And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, Stolen by my daughter! Justice! find the girl; She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats.

It is surely significant, for instance, that Romeo and Juliet was written at around the same time as The Merchant of Venice, a play that is preoccupied with the whole question of freedom of choice and its consequences.4

Signior Antonio, many a time and oft In the Rialto you have rated me About my moneys and my usances; Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, For suff’rance is the badge of all our tribe; You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, And spet upon my Jewish gaberdine, And all for use of that which is mine own. Well then, it now appears you need my help; Go to, then; you come to me, and you say ‘Shylock, we would have moneys.’ You say so: You that did void your rheum upon my beard, And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur Over your threshold; moneys is your suit. What should I say to you? Should I not say ‘Hath a dog money? Is it possible A cur can lend three thousand ducats?’ Or Shall I bend low and, in a bondman’s key, With bated breath and whisp’ring humbleness, Say this:— ‘Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; You spurn’d me such a day; another time You call’d me dog; and for these courtesies I’ll lend you thus much moneys?

Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes, you might fail of the knowing me: it is a wise father that knows his own child.

Good signiors, both, when shall we laugh? Say, when? You grow exceeding strange: Must it be so? Salar. We'll make our leisures to attend on yours.

What, must I hold a candle to my shames? They in themselves, good sooth, are too too light.

For new made honor doth forget men's names.

Hvis det var lige saa let at gøre, hvad der er godt, som at vide, hvad der er godt at gøre, saa blev Kapeller til Kirker, og Fattigfolks Rønner til fyrstelige Paladser.

I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano; 80 A stage, where every man must play a part, And mine a sad one.

You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of my daughter's flight. SALARINO That's certain; I for my part knew the tailor that made the wings she flew withal.

And let my liver rather heat with wine Than my heart cool with mortifying groans.

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

В религии найдется ль хоть одно, Достойное укора заблужденье, Которое не мог бы мудрый муж И освятить, и текстами приправить, И внешним украшением прикрыть?

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 gathered the enchanted herbs that did renew old Aeson. 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 lov'd 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 shrow) slander her love, and he forgave it her. Jessica: I would out-night you, did nobody come; but hark, I hear the footing of a man.

Mislike me not for my complexion, The shadowed livery of the burnished sun, To whom I am a neighbor and near bred. Bring me the fairest creature northward born, Where Phoebus' fire scarce thaws the icicles, And let us make incision for your love To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine.

تا آن جا که من تشخیص میدهمکسانی که بیش از حد در رفاه هستند به همان اندازه رنج میبرند که کسانی که دچار قحطی میباشند،پس قرار گرفتن در یک وضع متوسط را نباید خوشبختی حقیری دانست. کسانی که بیش از حد در نعمت هستند زودتر به پیری میرسند. ولی مردمی که فقط به حد کفایت از نعمت بهره میبرند عمر طولانی تری دارند.

Who are you? Tell me for more certainty. Albeit, I'll swear that I do know your tongue. Lorenzo: Lorenzo, and thy love. Jessica: Lorenzo, certain, and my love indeed. For who love I so much? And now who knows but you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours? Lorenzo: Heaven and thy thoughts are witness that thou art.

and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us; do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge! The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

So doth the greater glory dim the less: A substitute shines brightly as a king Unto the king be by, and then his state Empties itself, as doth an inland brook Into the main of waters. Music! hark! NERISSA It is your music, madam, of the house. PORTIA Nothing is good, I see, without respect: Methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day. NERISSA Silence bestows that virtue on it, madam. PORTIA The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark, When neither is attended, and I think The nightingale, if she should sing by day, When every goose is cackling, would be thought No better a musician than the wren. 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. - Acte V, Scene 1

But hear thee, Gratiano: Thou art too wild, too rude, and bold of voice - Parts that become thee happily enough, And in such eyes as ours appear no faults, But where thou art not known, why, there they show Something too liberal.

The crow signs as sweetly as the lark when no one's paying attention to them, and I think that if the nightingale sang during the day while all the geese were cackling, people would think it sounded no better than a wren. So many things are made perfect and as they should be by good timing! But quiet. Look how the moon won't be awakened. It must be sleeping with  [Endymion

That was when the Venetians made an important discovery. More money could be made buying and selling salt than producing it. Beginning in 1281, the government paid merchants a subsidy on salt landed in Venice from other areas. As a result, shipping salt to Venice became so profitable that the same merchants could afford to ship other goods at prices that undersold their competitors. Growing fat on the salt subsidy, Venice merchants could afford to send ships to the eastern Mediterranean, where they picked up valuable cargoes of Indian spices and sold them in western Europe at low prices that their non-Venetian competitors could not afford to offer. This meant that the Venetian public was paying extremely high prices for salt, but they did not mind expensive salt if they could dominate the spice trade and be leaders in the grain trade. When grain harvests failed in Italy, the Venetian government would use its salt income to subsidize grain imports from other parts of the Mediterranean and thereby corner the Italian grain market.

So tell me, Miss Fitt, do you know when your brother will return?" "No." I wet my lips. "Do you know Elijah?" He looked off to the right. "I know of your brother." "Oh?" "Of course." He folded his arms over his chest and returned his gaze to me. "Everyone knows of the Philadelphia Fitts.I even know of you." "You mean Allison told you about me." His lips twitched. "Certainly." I stroked my amethysts and made my expression passive. I didn't care one whit about her gossip-though I did wish she wouldn't talk about me to Clarence. I'd prefer if eligible young men learned my faults after meeting me. He flashed his eyebrows playfully, as if knowing where my thoughts had gone. "You needn't worry. She's said nothing unkind. She finds you amusing-she likes to talk, you know?" "I hadn't noticed," I said flatly. Saying Allison loved to gossip was like saying birds enjoyed flying. It was not so much a hobby as part of her physiology. Clarence's smile expanded, and his eyes crinkled. "Apparently there was an insult you gave her a few days ago, though...She had to ask me what it meant." My face warmed, and I looked away. "I believe I might have called her a spoiled Portia with no concept of mercy." He laughed and hit his knee. "That's right. Portia's speech on mercy in the final act of The Merchant of Venice. Allie had no idea what you meant." "In my defense, she was taunting me-" "With no mercy?" "Something like that," I mumbled, embarrassed he'd heard abou tit. "Oh,I have no doubt. One of Allie's charms is her childish teasing." He laughed again and shook his head. "Next time, though, I suggest you use less obscure insults. They might hit their mark better.

As Francesco Datini of Prato did a century before, Pacioli advises merchants to incorporate explicit signs of Christianity into their books as a way of legitimising their profit-seeking activities. The use of double entry itself was like the Catholic confession: if a merchant confessed—or accounted for—all his world activities before God, then perhaps his sins would be absolved. These Christian flourishes that Pacioli recommends merchants include in their books are therefore no mere ornaments.

Then I’ll play the happy fool and get laugh lines on my face. I’d rather overload my liver with wine than starve my heart by denying myself fun. Why should any living man sit still like a statue? Why should he sleep when he’s awake? Why should he get ulcers from being crabby all the time? I love you, and I’m telling you this because I care about you, Antonio—there are men who always look serious. Their faces never move or show any expression, like stagnant ponds covered with scum. They’re silent and stern, and they think they’re wise and deep, important and respectable. When they talk, they think everybody else should keep quiet, and that even dogs should stop barking. I know a lot of men like that, Antonio. The only reason they’re considered wise is because they don’t say anything. I’m sure if they ever opened their mouths, everyone would see what fools they are. I’ll talk to you more about this some other time. In the meantime, cheer up. Don’t go around looking so glum. That’s my opinion, but what do I know? I’m a fool.

England a commercial country! Yes; as Venice was. She may excel other nations in commerce, but yet it is not that in which she most prides herself, in which she most excels. Merchants as such are not the first men among us; though it perhaps be open, barely open, to a merchant to become one of them. Buying and selling is good and necessary; it is very necessary, and may, possibly, be very good; but it cannot be the noblest work of man; and let us hope that it may not in our time be esteemed the noblest work of an Englishman.

A government of the rich prevailed in all the free cities of the Middle Ages, and survived in Venice until Napoleon extinguished it. Such governments have been, on the whole, more enlightened and astute than any others known to history. Venice, in particular, steered a prudent course through centuries of complicated intrigue, and had a diplomatic service far more efficient than that of any other State. Money made in commerce is made by cleverness which is not dictatorial, and this characteristic is displayed by governments composed of successful merchants. The modern industrial magnate is a totally different type, partly because he deals largely with the technical manipulation of materials, partly because his dealings with human beings are preponderantly with an army of employees rather than with equals who must be persuaded, not coerced.

Egli mi ha svillaneggiato, defraudato di mezzo milione, ha riso delle mie perdite, deriso i miei guadagni, spregiato il mio popolo, ostacolato i miei affari, raffreddato i miei amici, infiammato i miei nemici. E perché? Perché sono un ebreo. Ma non ha occhi un ebreo? Non ha mani? Un ebreo non ha membra, corpo, sensi, sentimenti, passioni? Non si nutre dello stesso cibo, non è ferito dalle stesse armi, soggetto alle stesse malattie, guarito dalle stesse medicine, scaldato e gelato dalla stessa estate e dallo stesso inverno, come un cristiano? Se ci pungete, non sanguiniamo? Se ci fate il solletico, non ridiamo? Se ci avvelenate, non moriamo? E se ci fate torto, non ci vendicheremo? Se siamo come voi in tutto il resto, vi somigliamo anche in questo. Se un ebreo fa torto ad un cristiano, che fa il mite cristiano? Vendetta! E se un cristiano fa torto ad un ebreo, che farà, secondo l’esempio cristiano, l’ebreo paziente? Vendetta! Metterò in pratica la malvagità che mi insegnate e sarà difficile che io non superi i miei maestri.