I could be well moved, if I were as you:
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me:
But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix’d and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
The skies are painted with unnumber’d sparks,
They are all fire and every one doth shine,
But there’s but one in all doth hold his place:
So in the world; 'tis furnish’d well with men,
And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;
Yet in the number I do know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion: and that I am he . . .
John McCain
*Be brave, then; for your captain is brave, and vows
reformation. There shall be in England seven
halfpenny loaves sold for a penny: the three-hooped
pot; shall have ten hoops and I will make it felony
to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in
common; and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to
grass: and when I am king, as king I will be . . .
. . . there shall be no money;
all shall eat and drink on my score; and I will
apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree
like brothers and worship me their lord.*
Barack Obama
This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England . . .
Sid Vicious
. . . but that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine . . .
Salim Ahmed Hamdan
Doesn’t that work better for Michael Vick?
An ’twere not as good a deed as drink, to turn true man and to leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth.
Scott McClellan
The play’s the thing–David Mamuth
That which we call a rose would still smell as sweet–My first thought was “Gertrude Stein”
. . .’tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation.
Tony Soprano
- it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.*
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i’ the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this?
Linda Lovelace
but there’s no bottom, none,
In my voluptuousness: your wives, your daughters,
Your matrons and your maids, could not fill up
The cistern of my lust.
Wilt Chamberlain
First, as you know, my house within the city
Is richly furnished with plate and gold
Basins and ewers to lave her dainty hands
My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry
In ivory coffers have I stored my crowns
In cypress chests my arras counterpoints
Costly apparel, tents, and canopies
Fine linens, Turkey cushions bossed with pearl
Valance of Venice gold in needlework
Pewter and brass, and all other things that belong
To house or housekeeping: then, at my farm,
I have a hundred milch-kine to the pail,
Six score fat oxen standing in my stalls
And all things answerable to this portion.
Myself am struck in years, I must confess;
And if I die tomorrow, this is hers,
If whilst I live she will be only mine.
Howard Marshall II
(Above is from memory, so it might be a little shaky. Part of my practice for rehearsal tonight…)
“Let me have men about me that are fat,
sleek headed men that sleep o’ the night.”
Mrs. Karl Rove
“It was Greek to me.”
Jackie Onassis
“Thou know’st that all my fortunes are at sea/ Neither have I money nor commodity/ To raise a present sum; therefore go forth/ Try what my credit in Venice can do/ That shall be rack’d, even to the uttermost/ To furnish thee to Belmont, to fair Portia.” -Antonio, I.i.177. – AIG CEO
“This first, of gold, who this inscription bears,/ ‘Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire’/ The second, silver, which this promise carries/ ‘Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves’? This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt/ ‘Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.’” -Prince of Morocco, II.vii.3. – Wachovia CEO
“Nay, take my life and all, pardon not that/ You take my house when you do take the prop/ That doth sustain my house; you take my life/ When you do take the means whereby I live.” -Shylock, Iv.i.374. – Joe Schmo, U.S.A., Balloon mortgage holder
“This house, these servants, and this same myself/ are yours-my Lord’s- I give thim with this ring/ Which when you part from, lose, or give away/ Let it presage the ruin of your love/ And be my vantage to exclaim on you.” -Portia, III.ii.170.
– Ditto
“Thou know’st that all my fortunes are at sea/ Neither have I money nor commodity/ To raise a present sum; therefore go forth/ Try what my credit in Venice can do/ That shall be rack’d, even to the uttermost/ To furnish thee to Belmont, to fair Portia.” -Antonio, I.i.177. – AIG CEO
“This first, of gold, who this inscription bears,/ ‘Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire’/ The second, silver, which this promise carries/ ‘Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves’? This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt/ ‘Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.’” -Prince of Morocco, II.vii.3. – Wachovia CEO
“Nay, take my life and all, pardon not that/ You take my house when you do take the prop/ That doth sustain my house; you take my life/ When you do take the means whereby I live.” -Shylock, Iv.i.374. – Joe Schmo, U.S.A., Balloon mortgage holder
“This house, these servants, and this same myself/ are yours-my Lord’s- I give them with this ring/ Which when you part from, lose, or give away/ Let it presage the ruin of your love/ And be my vantage to exclaim on you.” -Portia, III.ii.170.
– Ditto
*“Come, let’s away to prison;
We two alone will sing like birds I’ th’ cage.”
What have we here? a man or a fish?
Michael Phelps
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! - Richard Simmons