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All’s Well That Ends Well Quotes by William Shakespeare: Context & Meanings

4 quotations linked to All’s Well That Ends Well by or associated with William Shakespeare, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

About this source

William Shakespeare’s comedy All’s Well That Ends Well

Topics and ideas

Honesty, trust, love, mixed fortune, agency, character and practical counsel voiced by the Countess, Helena, Mariana, the First Lord and other dramatic figures.

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Represented passages

4 quotations with source context and meaning

Source identified1
No legacy is so rich as honesty.

“No legacy is so rich as honesty.”

Voice: Fictional character · Mariana

The line values trustworthy character above possessions or reputation inherited after death.

Source details

All’s Well That Ends Well, Act III, Scene 5; Mariana warns Diana about Bertram and says that no legacy is so rich as honesty. Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio; direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act III transcription.

Source identified2
Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie.

“Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie.”

Voice: Fictional character · Helena

Before assuming rescue must come from outside, the line asks what capacity, choice, or effort is already available within.

Source details

All’s Well That Ends Well, Act I, Scene 1; Helena resolves to act rather than ascribe every possibility to fate. Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio (folio spelling “Our remedies oft in our selues do lye”); direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act I transcription.

Source identified3
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

Voice: Fictional character · Countess of Roussillon

The advice combines generosity with judgment: goodwill can be broad while trust remains selective.

Source details

All’s Well That Ends Well, Act I, Scene 1; the Countess of Roussillon gives Bertram the counsel “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio (folio spelling “Loue all, trust a few, Doe wrong to none”); direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act I transcription.

Source identified4
The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.

“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.”

Voice: Fictional character · First Lord

Human life is pictured as a fabric woven from favorable and painful threads rather than a story made from only one kind of experience.

Source details

All’s Well That Ends Well, Act IV, Scene 3; the First Lord reflects that human life is woven from good and ill together while discussing Bertram and Parolles. Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio (folio spelling “The webbe of our life, is of a mingled yarne”); direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act IV transcription.