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Othello Quotes by William Shakespeare: Context & Meanings

4 quotations linked to Othello by or associated with William Shakespeare, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

About this source

Shakespeare’s tragedy of jealousy, manipulation, trust and destructive interpretation

Topics and ideas

Jealousy, trust, deception, patience, reputation, relationship, anger and the moral danger of persuasive speech detached from speaker motive.

Edition and date context

multiple represented dates

Dates represented in this collection: c. 1603 · 1604. Individual quotation notes provide the most specific context for a passage.

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Represented passages

4 quotations with source context and meaning

Source identified1
The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.

“The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.”

Voice: Fictional character · Duke of Venice

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.

Source identified2
How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?

“How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”

Voice: Fictional character · Iago

The image recognizes that wounds and complicated situations change gradually rather than instantly, but the dramatic context warns against automatically treating a persuasive maxim as trustworthy advice.

Source details

Othello, commonly numbered Act II, Scene III in modern editions. In the represented 1910 First Folio facsimile the continuous Cyprus scene is routed as Act II, Scene II; Iago says 'How poore are they that haue not Patience? / What wound did euer heale but by degrees?' while manipulating Roderigo. The edition-specific scene-number difference is preserved explicitly.

Source identified3
To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.

“To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.”

Voice: Fictional character · Duke of Venice

Grief over what cannot be changed can become a second injury when it prevents attention to what can still be done.

Source details

Othello, Act I, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed 1910 First Folio facsimile on Wikisource. The Duke's 'To mourne a Mischeefe that is past and gon' sentence is part of the same attempt to redirect Brabantio after Desdemona's marriage; this collection preserves modernized spelling and punctuation rather than Folio orthography.

Source identified4
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.

“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”

Voice: Fictional character · Iago

Jealousy is described as self-consuming because it feeds on suspicion while tormenting the person who carries it.

Source details

Othello, Act III, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed First Folio facsimile. Iago's green-eyed-monster image is manipulative fictional dialogue used while cultivating Othello's jealousy; it is not Shakespeare's direct psychological diagnosis or clinical evidence.