Source identified270
Read & copy
“The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.”
Meaning & context
Preserving some inward freedom after a loss denies the wrongdoer complete control over what the loss becomes.
Source details
Othello, Act I, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed 1910 First Folio facsimile on Wikisource. The Duke tells Brabantio that continuing to spend grief on an irreversible loss only compounds it; the retained modernized wording corresponds to the Folio's 'The rob'd that smiles, steales something from the Thiefe.' It is dramatic counsel inside the scene, not Shakespeare autobiography or clinical grief guidance.
