The brief clause gives mercy the final emphasis in a discussion of judgment, making compassion more than an optional softness.
James 2:13 in the King James Version; concluding clause of the verse.
“Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”
The short instruction treats forgiveness as a practice rather than merely a feeling: release is something a person does in response to another person’s fault.
Luke 6:37 in the King James Version; excerpt from the verse’s instruction about judgment and forgiveness.
“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
Error is treated as ordinary human limitation, while forgiveness requires an additional act of generosity.
An Essay on Criticism, Part III; Pope joins good nature and good sense before contrasting ordinary human error with the higher moral act of forgiveness.
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind.”
Love is defined partly through patience and kindness, shifting the idea from emotion alone toward repeated behavior under strain.
1 Corinthians 13:4 in the King James Version; this is the opening clause of the verse.
“Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?”
The rhetorical question mocks disproportionate retaliation by comparing an elaborate punishment with the crushing of something slight and fragile.
An Epistle from Mr. Pope to Dr. Arbuthnot (1735 first-edition scan), printed page 15 / scan leaf 21, line 297. “Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?” occurs inside the hostile “Paris” / Lord Hervey satire and questions disproportionate punishment. The first edition capitalizes “Butterfly” and “Wheel”; the frozen catalog capitalization is normalized, and the personal/polemical context remains explicit.
“The quality of mercy is not strained.”
Portia begins by arguing that real mercy cannot be forced; its moral value comes from being freely given rather than mechanically compelled.
The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1; opening of Portia’s mercy speech during the trial.
“But mercy is above this sceptered sway.”
The speech places mercy above the visible instruments of authority, suggesting that restraint can represent a higher form of power than punishment.
The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1; Portia contrasts mercy with the coercive force symbolized by a monarch’s scepter.
