# cliche: random shakespeare/bible quotation

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-random-shakespeare-bible-quotation/362558>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 28, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-random-shakespeare-bible-quotation/362558 "2006-06-28T22:37:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-random-shakespeare-bible-quotation/362558/21 "2006-06-29T14:19:47Z")

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Oh, \*medical \* stuff I can reel off for you until one of us cries with boredom!  
Poetry, large passages of literature or whole books of the Bible…not so much.

I read textbooks in a way that makes sure I understand and remember it, other books, I read just for enjoyment, so I tend not to remember the words in exactly the same way.

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**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-random-shakespeare-bible-quotation/362558/22 "2006-06-29T15:19:14Z")

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One of my favorite movies is _Enigma_, a murder mystery set at Bletchley Park during WWII. A group of codebreakers (society rejects one and all) is about to undergo an all-night cryptological marathon, and Skynner, their arrogant ass of a supervisor, is attempting to deliver a pep talk. Apparently they’ve heard it all before, because when Skynner pauses for breath, one of the codebreakers quips, _sotto voce_, “Shakespeare coming up.” Naturally the next thing out of Skynner’s mouth is a disgustingly inspirational quotation: “Out of this nettle danger we pluck this flower safety.” (Henry VI pt 1, for those who want to know).

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-random-shakespeare-bible-quotation/362558/23 "2006-06-29T21:23:15Z")

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> [@Zebra](#):
>
> As to the OP, my favorite of this came from The West Wing. An obnoxis but popular radio hostess who frequently quotes the bible to taunt gays gets her ass handed to her by President Bartlet.

Using dialogue plagiarized from an email forward that had been making the rounds for years.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-random-shakespeare-bible-quotation/362558/24 "2006-06-29T21:56:03Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Guess he forgot about 1066.

You missed the next line:

> [@](#):
>
> But when it first did help to wound itself.

I’ll leave it to the historians to debate whether Harold wounded the sceptre’d isle for William.

And I’d say that the movie cliche of characters finishing Shakespeare quotes is quite plausible, given that they usually go with the more well-known quotes. I’ve never, for instance, seen the quote in my sig line used in popular culture.

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