LEAR: I pardon that man’s life. What was thy cause? —
Adultery? Thou shalt not die. Die for adultery? No.
The wren goes to ‘t, and the small gilded fly does
lecher in my sight. Let copulation thrive ….William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 4, sc. 6, l. 129ff (4.6.129-132) (1606)
(Source)
Quotations about:
pardon
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
You have to believe, by god, that he will be no better in the future after getting this judgment from you and will never stop taking bribes against you if you acquit him.
[οὐ γὰρ δὴ μὰ τὸν Ἡρακλέα βελτίω γενήσεσθαι αὐτὸν προσδοκᾶτε συγγνώμης νυνὶ τυγχάνοντα παρ᾿ ὑμῶν, οὐδὲ τὸ λοιπὸν ἀφέξεσθαι τοῦ λαμβάνειν χρήματα καθ᾿ ὑμῶν, ἐὰν νῦν ἀφῆτε αὐτόν.]
Dinarchus (c. 361-291 BC) Greek orator and speech writer [Dinarch, Deinarchus, Δείναρχος]
“Against Aristogiton”
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Alt. trans.:
- "Hope not to reform him; for if you pardon him now what assurance have you that he will not against betray your interests in the future?" [tr. Garland (1902)]
- "For you must assume, by Heracles, that there will be no improvement in him if he is pardoned by you now, and that in future he will not abstain from taking bribes against you if you now acquit him." [tr. Burtt (1962)]
Will you really acquit this damned man who never did you anything good from his first public act but instead has done every evil he could?
[τὸν δὲ κατάρατον τοῦτον, ὃς ἀγαθὸν μὲν ὑμᾶς οὐδεπώποτε πεποίηκεν ἐξ οὗ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν προσελήλυθε, κακὸν δ᾿ ὅ τι δυνατός ἐστιν, ἀφήσετε]
Dinarchus (c. 361-291 BC) Greek orator and speech writer [Dinarch, Deinarchus, Δείναρχος]
“Against Aristogiton”
(Source)
Alt. trans.: "But this accursed wretch has never done you any good since he began his public career, but all the harm he could. Will you then pardon him?" [tr. Garland (1902)]
Alt. trans: "Will you acquit this accursed man who has not done you a service ever since he has been in politics but has been the greatest possible menace?" [tr. Burtt (1962)]
For my own part, I consider the best and most finished type of man to be the person who is always ready to make allowances for others, on the ground that never a day passes without his being in fault himself, yet who keeps as clear of faults as if he never pardoned them in others.
[Atque ego optimum et emendatissimum existimo, qui ceteris ita ignoscit, tamquam ipse cotidie peccet, ita peccatis abstinet tamquam nemini ignoscat.]
Pliny the Younger (c. 61-c. 113) Roman politician, writer [Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus]
Epistles [Epistulae], Book 8, Letter 22 “To Geminus” [tr. J.B.Firth (1900)]
(Source)
Alt. trans.: "The highest of characters, in my estimation, is his, who is as ready to pardon the moral errors of mankind, as if he were every day guilty of some himself; and at the same time as cautious of committing a fault as if he never forgave one."
