Source identified
“I wish'd the man a dinner, and sat still.”
The satirical speaker portrays restraint as refusing to escalate a literary attack, answering hostility with a comic wish that the critic’s need might be relieved.
Source note: Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot; Pope recalls Gildon’s attack and presents his own non-response in a deliberately witty, self-defending passage.
Source identified
“But mercy is above this sceptered sway.”
Voice: Fictional character · Portia
The speech places mercy above the visible instruments of authority, suggesting that restraint can represent a higher form of power than punishment.
Source note: The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1; Portia contrasts mercy with the coercive force symbolized by a monarch’s scepter.
Source identified
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
Voice: Reported speaker · Jesus
Peacemaking is treated as active moral work: reducing conflict and restoring relationship rather than simply avoiding disagreement.
Source note: Matthew 5:9, King James Version.
Source identified
“Mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”
The brief clause gives mercy the final emphasis in a discussion of judgment, making compassion more than an optional softness.
Source note: James 2:13 in the King James Version; concluding clause of the verse.
Source identified
“Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”
Voice: Reported speaker · Jesus
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.
Source note: Luke 6:37 in the King James Version; excerpt from the verse’s instruction about judgment and forgiveness.
Source identified
“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
Error is treated as ordinary human limitation, while forgiveness requires an additional act of generosity.
Source note: An Essay on Criticism, Part II; Pope warns that shallow learning can produce premature confidence before deeper study tempers judgment.