CJTranslations - Shakespeare quotes on ambition

QUOTES BY TOPIC

[H]aving both the key Of officer and office,
set all hearts i’th’ state To what tune pleased his ear.

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
Being once perfected how to grant suits,
How to deny them, who t’advance and who
To trash for overtopping, new created
The creatures that were mine, I say, or changed ’em,
Or else new formed ’em; having both the key
Of officer and office, set all hearts i’th’ state
To what tune pleased his ear, that now he was
The ivy which had hid my princely trunk
And sucked my verdure out on’t. Thou attend’st not!
MIRANDA
O, good sir, I do.

DUTCH:
Eens goed verstaand, hoe men verzoeken gunt,
Hoe weigert, wien bevord’ring dient, wiens groei,
Te welig, knotting eischt, herschiep hij zich
De wezens, eens de mijne, ‘k zeg, vervormde
Of schiep ze op nieuw; daar hij den sleutel had
Van ambtenaar en ambt, zoo stemde hij
Elk hart op zulk een toon als hem geviel;
Hij werd het klimop, dat mijn vorstenstam
Omwond, mijn sappen zoog.
Dat ik al wat der wereld was, verzuimde,
Mij wijdde aan de eenzaamheid, mijn geest verrijkte

MORE:
Trash=Put down (Trash=to rein in a dog (OED)), keep in check
Overtopping=Being over-ambitious
O’erprized=Overrated
Closeness=Solitude, recluseness
Verdure=reshness, life and vigour
Retired=Withdrawn
Compleat:
Trash=Lompige waar, ondeugend goed
Trash (bad fruit)=Slegte vrucht

Topics: ambition, status, learning/education, understanding, duty

A nobler man, a braver warrior, lives not this day within the city walls.

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Marcus
CONTEXT:
MARCUS ANDRONICUS
Princes, that strive by factions and by friends
Ambitiously for rule and empery,
Know that the people of Rome, for whom we stand
A special party, have, by common voice,
In election for the Roman empery,
Chosen Andronicus, surnamed Pius
For many good and great deserts to Rome:
A nobler man, a braver warrior,
Lives not this day within the city walls:
He by the senate is accited home
From weary wars against the barbarous Goths;
That, with his sons, a terror to our foes,
Hath yoked a nation strong, trained up in arms.
Ten years are spent since first he undertook
This cause of Rome and chastised with arms
Our enemies’ pride: five times he hath returned
Bleeding to Rome, bearing his valiant sons
In coffins from the field;
And now at last, laden with horror’s spoils,
Returns the good Andronicus to Rome,
Renowned Titus, flourishing in arms.
Let us entreat, by honour of his name,
Whom worthily you would have now succeed.
And in the Capitol and senate’s right,
Whom you pretend to honour and adore,
That you withdraw you and abate your strength;
Dismiss your followers and, as suitors should,
Plead your deserts in peace and humbleness

DUTCH:
Een eed’ler man, een kloeker krijgsheld leeft
In de’ omtrek van Oud-Rome’s wallen niet.

MORE:
Empery=Office of emperor
For whom we stand a special party=Whose interests we represent
Common voice=Unanimous vote
Chosen=Nominated
Deserts to=Meriting reward
Accited=summoned
Yoked=Subdued
Up in arms=Angry, rebellious, protesting
Compleat:
To stand in defence of a thing=Iets voorstaan
Common=Gemeen, gewoonlyk
Voice=Stem. A casting voice=Een doordringende stem
Yoke=Een juk; (yoke of bondage) Het juk der dienstbaarheid
To stoop onder the yoke=Onder ‘t juk buigenCompleat:
Up in arms =In de wapenen zyn

Topics: ambition, respect, leadership, rivalry

And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg, which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Brutus
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
It must be by his death, and for my part
I know no personal cause to spurn at him
But for the general. He would be crowned.
How that might change his nature, there’s the question.
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder
And that craves wary walking. Crown him that,
And then I grant we put a sting in him
That at his will he may do danger with.
Th’ abuse of greatness is when it disjoins
Remorse from power. And, to speak truth of Caesar,
I have not known when his affections swayed
More than his reason. But ’tis a common proof
That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder,
Whereto the climber upward turns his face.
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend. So Caesar may.
Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities.
And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg—
Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous—
And kill him in the shell.

DUTCH:
En daarom, acht hem als een slangenei,
Dat, uitgekomen, boos wordt naar zijn aard ;
En doodt hem in den dop!

MORE:
Proverb: To turn one’s back on the ladder (ut down the stairs) by which one rose

Craves=Requires
Wary=Carefully
Sting=Stinger
Remorse=Compassion
Affection=Passion
Swayed=Ruled
Proof=Experience
Lowliness=Affected humility, obsequiousness
Mischievous=Harmful
Fashion=Shape
Compleat:
Craving=Smeeking, bidding; happig, greetig
Wary=Voorzigtig, omzigtig, behoedzaam
Sting=Angel, steekel
Remorse=Knaaging, wroeging, berouw
Affection=Hartstogt, geneegenheyd
To sway=(govern) Regeeren
Proof=Proeven
Lowliness=Nederigheyd; ootmoedigheyd
Mischievous=Boos, boosardig, schaadelyk, quaadstokend, verderflyk, schelms
To fashion=Een gestalte geeven, vormen, fatzoeneeren

Topics: achievement, status, loyalty, ambition, proverbs and idioms

As prone to mischief as able to perform it

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Buckingham
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
To the king I’ll say’t; and make my vouch as strong
As shore of rock. Attend. This holy fox,
Or wolf, or both,— for he is equal ravenous
As he is subtle, and as prone to mischief
As able to perform’t; his mind and place
Infecting one another, yea, reciprocally—
Only to show his pomp as well in France
As here at home, suggests the king our master
To this last costly treaty, the interview,
That swallow’d so much treasure, and like a glass
Did break i’ the rinsing.

DUTCH:
Want hij is vraatzuchtig
Niet min dan sluw, en even tuk op boosheid,
Als tot het doen in staat.

MORE:
Vouch=Assertion, allegation
Place=Position, rank
Pomp=Magnificence, splendour
Suggest=Tempt
Interview=Meeting
Compleat:
To vouch=Staande houden, bewyzen, verzekeren
Place=Plaats
Pomp=Pracht, praal, staatsi
Suggest=Ingeeven, insteeken, inluysteren, inblaazen
Interview=Een t’Zamenkomst, mondeling gesprek

Topics: promise, appearance, ambition, manipulation

Be bloody, bold, and resolute.

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Second Witch
CONTEXT:
Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

DUTCH:
Wees bloedig, moedig, stout; spot, onvervaard,
Met menschenmacht; geen, door een vrouw gebaard,
Deert ooit Macbeth.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Laugh to scorn=Deride, make a mockery of

Topics: courage, purpose, ambition

But shall we wear these glories for a day, or shall they last and we rejoice in them?

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: King Richard III
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
My gracious sovereign.
KING RICHARD
Give me thy hand.
Thus high, by thy advice
And thy assistance is King Richard seated.
But shall we wear these glories for a day,
Or shall they last and we rejoice in them?
BUCKINGHAM
Still live they, and forever let them last.
KING RICHARD
Ah, Buckingham, now do I play the touch,
To try if thou be current gold indeed.
Young Edward lives; think now what I would speak.

DUTCH:
Maar zal nu deze glans ons slechts een dag,
Of zal hij ons door duurzaamheid verheugen?

MORE:
Still=Perpetually
Touch=Touchstone (to test gold)
Current=Genuine
Compleat:
Still=Steeds, gestadig, altyd
Touchstone=Een toetssteen

Topics: ambition, achievement

Caesar’s ambition, which swelled so much that it did almost stretch the sides o’ th’ world

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
You must know,
Till the injurious Romans did extort
This tribute from us, we were free. Caesar’s ambition,
Which swelled so much that it did almost stretch
The sides o’ th’ world, against all colour here
Did put the yoke upon ’s, which to shake off
Becomes a warlike people, whom we reckon
Ourselves to be.

DUTCH:
t Zij u bewust,
Wij waren , tot ons Rome met geweld
Tot cijns verplichtte, vrij; eerst Caesars eerzucht, —
Die zoo zich opblies, dat de wereld schier
Te klein haar werd

MORE:
Against all colour=Against any opposition, whatever the reason
Injurious=Detractory, hurting reputation, insulting
Tribute=Stated payment made in acknowledgment of submission, or as the price of peace, or by virtue of a treaty
Colour=Specious pretence, palliation, appearance of right
Compleat:
Injurious=Verongelykend, beledigend, smaadelyk, lasterlyk
Tribute=Tol, impost
Colour=Vaandel
Under colour of peace=Onder den schyn van vreede
Under colour of friendship=Onder den dekmantel van vriendschap

Topics: independence, free will, ambition, rights, equality

Contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard—none.

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Gonzalo
CONTEXT:
SEBASTIAN
‘Scape being drunk for want of wine.
GONZALO
I’ th’ commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things. For no kind of traffic
Would I admit. No name of magistrate.
Letters should not be known. Riches, poverty,
And use of service—none. Contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard—none.
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil.
No occupation. All men idle, all.
And women too, but innocent and pure.
No sovereignty—
SEBASTIAN
Yet he would be king on ’t.
ANTONIO
The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the beginning.
GONZALO
All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavor. Treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine,
Would I not have. But nature should bring forth
Of its own kind all foison, all abundance,
To feed my innocent people.

DUTCH:
Geen huur of erfpacht, grenssteen, land- noch wijnbouw,
Geen kennis van metaal, graan, wijn of olie,
Geen ambacht; alle mannen nietsdoend, allen;
De vrouwen ook, maar schuldeloos en rein;
Geen oppermacht;

MORE:
Schmidt:
Commonwealth=Body politic
By contraries=Contrary to usual customs
Letters=Sophisticated learning; also writings, written records
Bound of land” explains “Bourn,” French Borne. (Distinguished from “bourn,” a stream.)
Foison=Rich harvest, abundance
Tilt=Tillage, husbandry
Compleat:
Contraries are best known by their contraries=Tegenstellingen worden best uit tegenstellingen gekend
Lettered=Geletterd, geleerd
A man slenderly lettered=Een man van weinig kennis
Bourn=Een bron
Foison (or plenty)=Overvloed
Tilling=Landbouwing
Burgersdijk notes:
Bij ‘t reg’len van mijn staat enz. De utopische regeeringsplannen, welke door Gonzalo hier op satyrische wijze worden voorgedragen, zijn, gedeeltelijk zelfs woordelijk , ontleend aan Florio’s vertaling van Montaigne’s Essays; men vergelijke Boek I, hoofdstuk 30, On the Caniballes, afgedrukt b.v. in Delius inleiding tot zijne uitgave van dit stuk. Het exemplaar van Florio’s vertaling, dat in het bezit is geweest van Shakespeare, is bewaard gebleven; het is van zijne naamteekening voorzien en bevindt zich in de bibliotheek van het Britsch Museum.

Topics: ambition, nature, status, order/society, law/legal

Corruption wins not more than honesty.

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Cardinal Wolsey
CONTEXT:
CARDINAL WOLSEY
Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear
In all my miseries; but thou hast forced me,
Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman.
Let’s dry our eyes: and thus far hear me, Cromwell;
And, when I am forgotten, as I shall be,
And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
Of me more must be heard of, say, I taught thee,
Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour,
Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in;
A sure and safe one, though thy master miss’d it.
Mark but my fall, and that that ruin’d me.
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition:
By that sin fell the angels; how can man, then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?
Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee;
Corruption wins not more than honesty.
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,
To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s,
Thy God’s, and truth’s; then if thou fall’st,
O Cromwell,
Thou fall’st a blessed martyr! Serve the king;
And,—prithee, lead me in:
There take an inventory of all I have,
To the last penny; ’tis the king’s: my robe,
And my integrity to heaven, is all
I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell!
Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.

DUTCH:
Omkooping helpt niet meer dan eerlijkheid.
Draag steeds in uwe rechte zoeten vrede,
Om haat te dempen.

MORE:
Play the woman=Weep (common expression at the time)
Sounded=Fathomed (as in depth sounding, i.e. measuring the depth of a body of water)
Shoal=Shallow place
Mark=Consider
Charge=Exhort
Still=Always
Ends=Goals, objectives
Compleat:
To sound=Peilen
Mark=Let er op
Charge=Belasten

Topics: cited in law, loyalty, age/experience, ambition

Et tu, Brute?

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Caesar
CONTEXT:
CAESAR
Et tu, Bruté?—Then fall, Caesar.
CINNA
Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!
Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.
CASSIUS
Some to the common pulpits, and cry out,
“Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!”
BRUTUS
People and senators, be not affrighted.
Fly not. Stand still. Ambition’s debt is paid.

DUTCH:
Brutus, ook gij? – Dan, Caesar, val!

MORE:
Dan, handen, spreekt voor mij.
Hierop volgen bij Sh. alleen de woorden : Zij doorsteken Ccsar, en
op Caesar’s laatste woorden : sterft. Deze aanwijzing is geheel voldoende
; latere uitgevers hebben haar naar aanleiding van Plutarchus
verhaal eenigszins uitgebreid. – De laatste woorden van Caesar
luiden bij Shakespeare : Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar! Deze
zijn niet aan Plutarchus ontleend, die vermeldt, dat Caesar b(j den
eersten stoot, Casca’s hand grijpend, in bet Latijn uitriep : “Verrader
Casca, wat doet gij?” maar ziende, dat hij door zwaarden
omgeven was, zijn hoofd omhulde, zijn toga laag nedertrok om
op welvoegelijke wijs to vallen en aan bet voetstuk van Pompejus’
beeld nederstortte . In Suetonius’ leven van C . Julius Caesar,
C. 82, vindt men, dat volgens sommigen Caesar, toen hij Brutus
zag naderen, in bet Grieksch zeide : „Zijt ook gij van dezen, ook
gij, mijn zoon?” Waarschijnlijk werden de woorden Et tit, Brutel
als historisch aangemerkt, of waren aan bet publiek als zoodanig
bekend ; men vindt ten minste in de quarto-uitgave van 3 Koning
Hendrik VI, – niet in de folio, – in bet tooneel (V .1) waar Clarence
als bondgenoot van zijns broeders vijanden met zijn kri)* gsmacht
optreedt, dat Edward hem toespreekt : Et to Brute, wilt thou
stab Ccsar too ? waarop een mondgesprek van Clarence en Edward
volgt en Clarence overloopt met de woorden (reg . 81) : Weet gij,
wat dit beteekent, vader Warwick?” enz . Misschien waren de
woorden : Et tu, Brute? aan een Latijnschen Julius Caesar”, van
Richard Eedes, ontleend, welke in 1581 to Oxford gespeeld werd .

Topics: betrayal, conspiracy, offence, ambition

Fling away ambition; by that sin fell the angels

DUTCH:
O Cromwell, hoor mij, werp toch eerzucht weg!
Door deze zonde vielen eng’len; hoe
Kan dan de mensch, zijns makers beeld, ooit hopen
Er door te winnen?

Topics: ambition, corruption, honesty

Full of ambition, an envious emulator of every man’s good parts

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Oliver
CONTEXT:
OLIVER
Charles, I thank thee for thy love to me, which thou
shalt find I will most kindly requite. I had myself
notice of my brother’s purpose herein and have by
underhand means laboured to dissuade him from it; but he
is resolute. I’ll tell thee, Charles: it is the
stubbornest young fellow of France, full of ambition, an
envious emulator of every man’s good parts, a secret
and villainous contriver against me his natural brother.
Therefore use thy discretion. I had as lief thou didst
break his neck as his finger. And thou wert best look to
’t, for if thou dost him any slight disgrace or if he
do not mightily grace himself on thee, he will practice
against thee by poison, entrap thee by some treacherous
device and never leave thee till he hath ta’en thy life
by some indirect means or other. For I assure thee—and
almost with tears I speak it—there is not one so young
and so villainous this day living. I speak but brotherly
of him, but should I anatomise him to thee as he is, I
must blush and weep, and thou must look pale and wonder.
CHARLES
I am heartily glad I came hither to you. If he come
tomorrow, I’ll give him his payment. If ever he go alone
again, I’ll never wrestle for prize more. And so God
keep your Worship.

DUTCH:
Ik moet u zeggen, Charles, dat hij de koppigste knaap is van geheel Frankrijk, vol eerzucht, vol nijdigen naijver op ieders gaven, een geniepige en boosaardige belager van mij, zijn lijflijken broeder

MORE:
Requite=Reward
Underhand=Unobtrusive, unnoticed
Envious=Jealous; Spiteful, malicious
Emulator=Envier
Parts=Qualities
Contriver=Plotter
As lief=Would be as happy to
Grace himself on thee=Gain honour or credit at your expense
Practice=Plot
Device=Trick
Anatomise=Analyse, dissect
Compleat:
To requite=Vergelden
Underhand=Heimelyk, onder de hand, ter sluik
Envious=Nydig, afgunstig, wangunstig
Emulator=Een na-yveraar
Parts=Deelen, hoedaanigheden, begaafdheden
To contrive=Bedenken, verzinnen
I had as lief=Ik wilde al zo lief
To grace=Vercieren, bevallig maaken
Practice=(underhand dealing, intrigue, plot) Praktyk, bedekten handel, list

Topics: ambition, purpose, conspiracy, deceit, plans/intentions

Give me a staff of honour for mine age, but not a sceptre to control the world.

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Titus Andronicus
CONTEXT:
TITUS ANDRONICUS
A better head her glorious body fits
Than his that shakes for age and feebleness:
What should I don this robe, and trouble you?
Be chosen with proclamations to-day,
To-morrow yield up rule, resign my life,
And set abroad new business for you all?
Rome, I have been thy soldier forty years,
And led my country’s strength successfully,
And buried one and twenty valiant sons,
Knighted in field, slain manfully in arms,
In right and service of their noble country:
Give me a staff of honour for mine age,
But not a sceptre to control the world:
Upright he held it, lords, that held it last.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS
Titus, thou shalt obtain and ask the empery.
SATURNINUS
Proud and ambitious tribune, canst thou tell?

DUTCH:
Reik aan mijn ouderdom een eerestaf,
Geen scepter om de wereld te regeeren;
Die ‘t laatst hem voerde, mannen, hield hem hoog.

MORE:
Proverb: Ask and have
Proverb: A man must ask excessively to get a little
Proverb: Speak and speed, ask and have
Proverb: He who serves well needs not be afraid to ask his wages

Set abroad=Initiate
Proclamation=Open declaration
In right=On behalf
Obtain and ask=Obtain simply by asking
Canst thou tell=How do you know?
Compleat:
Proclamation=Eene afkondiging, afleezing, uytroep, plakkaat

Topics: proverbs and idioms, merit, ambition

Give them title, knee and approbation with senators on the bench

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Timon
CONTEXT:
TIMON
Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate
With thy most operant poison! What is here?
Gold? yellow, glittering, precious gold? No, gods,
I am no idle votarist: roots, you clear heavens!
Thus much of this will make black white, foul fair,
Wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant.
Ha, you gods! why this? what this, you gods? Why, this
Will lug your priests and servants from your sides,
Pluck stout men’s pillows from below their heads:
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions, bless the accursed,
Make the hoar leprosy adored, place thieves
And give them title, knee and approbation
With senators on the bench: this is it
That makes the wappened widow wed again;
She, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores
Would cast the gorge at, this embalms and spices
To the April day again. Come, damned earth,
Thou common whore of mankind, that put’st odds
Among the route of nations, I will make thee
Do thy right nature.

DUTCH:
Die gele ellend’ling schept
Godsdiensten, sloopt ze; zegent wie vervloekt zijn;
Maakt witmelaatschen aangebeen; helpt dieven
Aan titels, eerbetoon en lof, en plaatst ze
Bij senatoren in ‘t gestoelt.

MORE:
Pluck stout men’s pillows=It was a custom to remove the pillow from under a dying man’s head to ease his dying
Sauce=Flavour, enhance
Operant=Active, effective
Idle=Insincere
Votarist=Votary, one who has taken a vow
Clear=Pure
Lug=Convey
Knit=Make
Approbation=Praise
With=Equal to
Wappened=Exhausted, stale
Spital-house=Hospital
Gorge=Vomit
Put’st odds=Creates contention, discord
Compleat:
Operative=Werkzaam
Clear=Klaar, helder, zuiver
Votary=Een die zich door een (religieuse) belofte verbonden heeft; die zich ergens toe heeft overgegeeven
To lug=Trekken
To knit friendship=Vriendschap aangaan
Knit together=Verknocht, t’zamengeknoopt
To set at odds=Twist stooken, oneenigheid verwekken
Approbation=Goedkeuring
Gorge=Keel, krop. To cast the gorge=Braaken

Burgersdijk notes:
Dit rukt aan mannen in des levens vaag ‘t hoofdkussen weg. Zinspeling op het gebruik van aan stervenden, om hun doodstrijd te bekorten, het hoofdkussen weg te trekken; het goud is oorzaak, dat dit ook op mannen in de kracht des levens beproefd, dat hun naar het leven gestaan wordt.

Kom, gij doemwaardige aarde enz. Deze doemwaardige aarde moet natuurlijk het goud zelf zijn; daar dit hier met den naam van het zoogenoemde element, dat hij Sh. steeds als loom en traag bekend staat, wordt toegesproken , is hier ingevoegd „log stof”, onm in de vertaling uit te drukken, wat, naar het mij voorkomt , de bedoeling van den dichter moet geweest zijn. Hierom is ook vertaald: „ik doe u slapen naar uwen waren aard”. In het Engelsch staat alleen: „ik wil u laten doen naar uwen waren aard”. Deze plaats, en ook het volgende, levert moeilijkheden op en wordt verschillend verklaard.

Topics: ambition, poverty and wealth, money, ruin

Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king

DUTCH:
O Cromwell, Cromwell!
Had ik slechts half zoo ijv’rig God gediend,
Als ik ‘t mijn koning deed, hij had mij niet
Naakt, oud, aan mijne haters prijsgegeven.

MORE:
Cited in Watergate hearings by Senator Sam J. Ervin Jr (though attributed wrongly to Henry IV). Senator Ervin, who headed the Senate Select Committee investigating Watergate, was also a former lawyer, as was his father before him.
Play the woman=Weep (common expression at the time)
Sounded=Fathomed (as in depth sounding, i.e. measuring the depth of a body of water)
Shoal=Shallow place
Mark=Consider
Charge=Exhort
Still=Always
Ends=Goals, objectives
Compleat:
To sound=Peilen
Mark=Let er op
Charge=Belasten

Topics: cited in law, loyalty, age/experience, ambition

I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious,
with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in…

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
I am myself indifferent honest; but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me: I am very proud, revengeful,ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in. What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves, all; believe none of us.

DUTCH:
Ik ben erg hoogmoedig, wraakzuchtig en eergierig, en ik heb meer wandaden voor ’t grijpen dan gedachten om ze uit te drukken. /
Ik ben zeer trotsch, wraakgierig, eerzuchtig; met meer slechtigheden op mijn wenken klaar dan ik gedachten heb ze aan te zetten.

MORE:
At my beck=I can summon; nowadays ‘at my beck and call’.
(Compleat):
Beck=Wenk
He keeps him at his beck=Hy houdt hem op zynen wenk.
To be at one’s beck=Op iemands wenk gereed staan.
Van Looy translation: op mijn wenken klaar

Burgersdijk notes:
Ik ben zeer trotsch enz Men vulle het volgende woord aan en leze: “Ik ben zeer trotsch, wraakzuchtig, eergierig;” enz . Bij den druk bleef toevallig het woord „wraakzuchtig” na de afbreking onvolkomen.

Topics: invented or popularised, revenge, ambition

I charge thee, fling away ambition: by that sin fell the angels

DUTCH:
Omkooping helpt niet meer dan eerlijkheid.
Draag steeds in uwe rechte zoeten vrede,
Om haat te dempen.

Topics: cited in law, loyalty, age/experience, ambition

I fear there will a worse come in his place

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
FIRST PLEBEIAN
Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
SECOND PLEBEIAN
If thou consider rightly of the matter,
Caesar has had great wrong.
THIRD PLEBEIAN
Has he, masters?
I fear there will a worse come in his place.
FOURTH PLEBEIAN
Marked ye his words? He would not take the crown.
Therefore ’tis certain he was not ambitious.
FIRST PLEBEIAN
If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

DUTCH:
Ik vrees, er komt een erger in zijn plaats.

MORE:
Has had=Has suffered
Rightly=Correctly
Dear abide=Pay dearly for
Compleat:
Wronged=Verongelykt, verkort
Rightly=Billyk
Abide=Blyven, harden, duuren, uytstaan
Dear=Waard, lief, dierbaar, dier

Topics: reason, language, ambition, punishment, error

If you can, pace your wisdom
In that good path that I would wish it go,

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Duke Vincentio
CONTEXT:
If you can, pace your wisdom
In that good path that I would wish it go,
And you shall have your bosom on this wretch,
Grace of the duke, revenges to your heart,
And general honour.

DUTCH:
Wees wijs, en volg, indien gij kunt, den weg,
Dien ik als goed u toon, dan zal de snoodaard
Ontvangen wat uw boezem wenscht

MORE:
Schmidt:
Pace=Train
Wisdom=The quality of being wise; applied with great latitude to any degree of the faculty of discerning and judging what is most just and proper, from the sapience of the sage to the sound discretion of policy or common sense
Bosom=desires, inmost thoughts and wishes
Compleat:
To pace=Een pas gaan
Wisdom (Prudence, discretion)=Voorzichtigheid, bescheidenheid

Topics: wisdom, judgment, learning/education, ambition, achievement

It is the bright day that brings forth the adder and that craves wary walking

DUTCH:
De warme dag lokt de adders uit haar hol;
Dan zie de wand’laar scherp!

MORE:
Proverb: To turn one’s back on the ladder (ut down the stairs) by which one rose

Topics: achievement, status, loyalty, ambition, proverbs and idioms

Now let me die, for I have lived long enough: this is the period of my ambition

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS FORD
Go to, then: we’ll use this unwholesome humidity,
this gross watery pumpion; we’ll teach him to know
turtles from jays.
FALSTAFF
Have I caught thee, my heavenly jewel? Why, now let
me die, for I have lived long enough: this is the
period of my ambition: O this blessed hour!

DUTCH:
Is nu mijn hemelsch kleinood mijn? O, nu moge ik
sterven, want ik heb lang genoeg geleefd; nu ben ik
aan den eindpaal van mijn eerzucht! O welk een zalig uur!

MORE:
Humidity=Moisture
Pumpion=Gourd, pumpkin
Turtles from the jays=Faithful from the flirts
Period=End
Compleat:
Humidity=vochtigheyd, dofheyd
Pumpion=Pompoen
To bring to a period=Tot een eyde brengen

Burgersdijk notes:
Van kraaien. From jays. Jay is de Vlaamsche gaai of meerkol, Corvus glandarius; het woord wordt ook tot aanwijzing van lichte vrouwen gebezigd, zie Cymbeline 3.4
„Is nu mijn hemelsch kleinood mijn?” Have I caught thee, my heavenly jewel? Zoo begint het tweede lied uit Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella. Alleen is in de folio-uitgave het woord thee ingevoegd.

Topics: ambition|achievement|insult

O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
(…) Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause.
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me.
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

DUTCH:
Wie ziet hierin een blijk van Caesar’s heerschzucht?
Als de armoe leed en kreet, dan weende Caesar;
De heerschzucht pleegt van harder stof te zijn;
Maar Brutus zegt, dat hij vol heerschzucht was,
En Brutus is een achtenswaardig man.

MORE:
REFERENCED IN SCOTTISH LAW: 2019 GWD 34-541, [2019] CSIH 52, 2019 SLT 1269, 2020 SCLR 165, [2019] ScotCS CSIH_52
“CITED IN SCOTTISH LAW: THOMAS O’LEARY v. HER MAJESTY’S ADVOCATE [2014] ScotHC HCJAC_45 (23 May 2014)/[2014] HCJAC 45, 2014 SLT 711, 2014 SCCR 421
Ironic/sarcastic to the point where the meaning has been inverted by the end of the speech and turns public against Brutus and co-conspirators.
CITED IN US LAW: Re. the definition of “”honourable””: State v Martin, 651 S.W.2d 645, 656 (Mo. Ct. App. 1983)”

Topics: cited in law, honour, reputation, legacy, ambition

Such a nature, tickled with good success, disdains the shadow which he treads on at noon

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Sicinius
CONTEXT:
SICINIUS
Be-mock the modest moon.
BRUTUS
The present wars devour him: he is grown
Too proud to be so valiant.
SICINIUS
Such a nature,
Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow
Which he treads on at noon: but I do wonder
His insolence can brook to be commanded
Under Cominius.
BRUTUS
Fame, at the which he aims,
In whom already he’s well graced, can not
Better be held nor more attain’d than by
A place below the first: for what miscarries
Shall be the general’s fault, though he perform
To the utmost of a man, and giddy censure
Will then cry out of Marcius ‘O if he
Had borne the business!’

DUTCH:
Een aard als deze,
Door voorspoed nog geprikkeld, zet den voet
Niet op zijn eigen middagschaduw

MORE:
Proverb: When the sun is highest he casts the least shadow

Tickled with=Pleased, excited by (still in use)
Disdain=To think unworthy, to scorn, to treat with contempt
Brook=Bear, endure; put up with
Compleat:
To disdain=Versmaaden, verachten, zich verontwaaardigen
To tickle (pleaes or flatter)=Streelen, vleijen
Brook=Verdraagen, uitstaan
To brook an affront=Een leed verkroppen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, insult, ambition, authority, invented or popularised

That sir which serves and seeks for gain,
And follows but for form,
Will pack when it begins to rain
And leave thee in the storm.

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Fool
CONTEXT:
That sir which serves and seeks for gain,
And follows but for form,
Will pack when it begins to rain
And leave thee in the storm.
But I will tarry. The fool will stay.
And let the wise man fly.
The knave turns fool that runs away;
The fool, no knave, perdie.

DUTCH:
Wie zich door geldzucht laat bewegen
en werkt slechts voor de vorm,
gaat ervandoor bij de eerste regen
en laat jou in de storm.

MORE:

Serves and seeks for gain=Self-serving individuals
To rain=A fall in fortune
Schmidt:
Form=Show, appearance
Tarry=to continue in a place, to remain, not to go away
Perdie (or perdy)=In sooth
Compleat:
Tarry (behind) (stay or remain)=Blyven, Agterblyven
Self-seeking=Inhaalend, voor zich zelfs zorgende
Gainery or gainage, these two law words signify the profit most properly that comes by the tillage of land held by the baser kind of fokemen [menfolk] or villains=Deeze twee woorden betekenen allereigentlykst het voordeel dat men trekt van de landen, die door het schuim van volk bebouwt worden.

Topics: loyalty, wisdom, duty, ambition

The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power

DUTCH:
Aan misbruik schuldig wordt de grootheid, die
‘t Geweten scheidt van macht ; en ‘k weet van Caesar,
Naar waarheid, niet, dat ooit bij hem zijn hartstocht
Meer heerschte dan zijn rede.

MORE:
Proverb: To turn one’s back on the ladder (ut down the stairs) by which one rose

Topics: achievement, status, loyalty, ambition, proverbs and idioms

The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interrèd with their bones.
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious.
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answered it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest—
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men—
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me.
But Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill. (….)

DUTCH:
Het kwaad, dat menschen doen, leeft na hen voort;
Het goed wordt vaak met hun gebeent’ begraven ;
Zoo moge ‘t zijn met Caesar.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
Kiser v. Huge, 517 F.2d 12.37, 1262, n. l (D.C.Cir. 1974);
Maritote v. Desilu Productions, Inc., 345 F.2d 418, 420 (7th Cir. 1965)(administratrix of Estate of Al Capone);
MacDonald v. Bolton, 51 Cal.3d 262, 281, 794 P.2d 911, 924 (1990);
Turner v. Consumers Power Company, 376 Mich. 188, 192, 136 N.W.2d l, 3 (1965);
Taylor v. Auditor Genera), 360 Mich. 146, 103 N.W.2d 769, 774 (1960).
US District Court in Bostom Marathon Bomber case

Topics: cited in law, honour, reputation, legacy, ambition

The smallest worm will turn being trodden on

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 3
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Clifford
CONTEXT:
My gracious liege, this too much lenity
And harmful pity must be laid aside.
To whom do lions cast their gentle looks?
Not to the beast that would usurp their den.
Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick?
Not his that spoils her young before her face.
Who ‘scapes the lurking serpent’s mortal sting?
Not he that sets his foot upon her back.
The smallest worm will turn being trodden on,
And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.

DUTCH:
De kleinste worm verheft, getrapt, den kop

MORE:

Proverb: Tread on a worm and it will turn

Lenity=Mildness
Spoils=Seizes, hunts
Level at=Is aiming for
In safeguard of=To protect

Compleat:
Lenity=Zachtheid, zoetelykheid, gedweegzaamheid, slapheid
To spoil=Bederven, vernielen, berooven
Safeguard=Beschutting, bescherming

Topics: pity, mercy, nature, ambition, strength

The very substance of the ambitious
is merely the shadow of a dream

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Guildenstern
CONTEXT:
HAMLET
O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.
GUILDENSTERN
Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.
HAMLET
A dream itself is but a shadow.
ROSENCRANTZ
Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light a quality that it is but a shadow’s shadow.

DUTCH:
Die droomen juist zijn eerzucht; want het wezen van den eerzuchtige is slechts de schaduw van een droom. /
Welk gedroom is eerzucht inderdaad; het wezenlijke zijn van den eerzuchtige is louter de schaduw van een droom.

MORE:

Topics: ambition

Their understanding
Begins to swell and the approaching tide
Will shortly fill the reasonable shore
That now lies foul and muddy.

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
Most cruelly
Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter.
Thy brother was a furtherer in the act.—
(to Sebastian) Thou art pinched for ’t now, Sebastian.—
(to Antonio)Flesh and blood,
You brother mine, that entertained ambition,
Expelled remorse and nature, whom, with Sebastian,
Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong,
Would here have killed your king—I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art.
Their understanding
Begins to swell, and the approaching tide
Will shortly fill the reasonable shore
That now lies foul and muddy. Not one of them
That yet looks on me, or would know me.— Ariel,
Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell.
I will discase me, and myself present
As I was sometime Milan. Quickly, spirit.
Thou shalt ere long be free.

DUTCH:
Hun verstand
Verheft zich, en het naad’rend tij zal dra
Der rede boorden weder vullen, thans
Nog drabbig, donker. Onder hen niet een,
Die mij reeds ziet of zou herkennen.

MORE:
Pinched=Hurt, tormented e.g. pinch of conscience
Expelled=Rejected (pity and natural compassion)
Discase=Undress
Reasonable shore=Shore of reason
Compleat:
Pinched=Geneepen, gekneepen, gekneld, gepraamd
He has not pinched (or cramped) the controversy, but rather wrought it up with many incidentals=Wel verre van het geschil te verkorten (of in te korten) heeft hy hetzelfde veel eer uitgebreid met een menigte van ongepaste aanmerkingen.

Topics: reason, understanding, ambition

Tis not his wont to be the hindmost man,
Whate’er occasion keeps him from us now.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
KING HENRY VI
I muse my Lord of Gloucester is not come:
‘Tis not his wont to be the hindmost man,
Whate’er occasion keeps him from us now.
QUEEN MARGARET
Can you not see? Or will ye not observe
The strangeness of his alter’d countenance?
With what a majesty he bears himself,
How insolent of late he is become,
How proud, how peremptory, and unlike himself?
We know the time since he was mild and affable,
And if we did but glance a far-off look,
Immediately he was upon his knee,
That all the court admired him for submission:
But meet him now, and, be it in the morn,
When every one will give the time of day,
He knits his brow and shows an angry eye,
And passeth by with stiff unbowed knee,
Disdaining duty that to us belongs.

DUTCH:
t Verbaast mij, dat lord Gloster nog ontbreekt,
Die anders nooit de laatste pleegt te wezen, —
Wat ook de reden zij, dat hij niet kwam.

MORE:

Muse=Wonder
Hindmost=Last in line
Wont=Habit
Strangeness=Aloofness, reserve
Knits his brow=Frown

Compleat:
Muse=Bepeinzen
Hindmost (hindermost)=De agterste, de alleragterste
Strangeness=Vreemdheid
To knit the brows=Het voorhoofd in rimpels trekken

Topics: respect, risk, caution, preparation, ambition, duty

To whom do lions cast their gentle looks?
Not to the beast that would usurp their den

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 3
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Clifford
CONTEXT:
My gracious liege, this too-much lenity
And harmful pity must be laid aside.
To whom do lions cast their gentle looks?
Not to the beast that would usurp their den.
Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick?
Not his that spoils her young before her face.
Who ‘scapes the lurking serpent’s mortal sting?
Not he that sets his foot upon her back.
The smallest worm will turn being trodden on,
And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.
Ambitious York doth level at thy crown,
Thou smiling while he knit his angry brows.

DUTCH:
Mijn hooge vorst, schud die te groote zachtheid,
Dit schaad’lijk medelijden van u af.
Wien werpen leeuwen zachte blikken toe?
Toch niet aan ‘t beest, dat in hun hol wil dringen.

MORE:

Proverb: Tread on a worm and it will turn

Lenity=Mildness
Spoils=Seizes, hunts
Level at=Is aiming for
In safeguard of=To protect

Compleat:
Lenity=Zachtheid, zoetelykheid, gedweegzaamheid, slapheid
To spoil=Bederven, vernielen, berooven
Safeguard=Beschutting, bescherming

Topics: pity, mercy, nature, ambition, strength

Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 3
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Gloucester
CONTEXT:
O monstrous fault, to harbour such a thought!
Then, since this earth affords no joy to me,
But to command, to check, to o’erbear such
As are of better person than myself,
I’ll make my heaven to dream upon the crown,
And, whiles I live, to account this world but hell,
Until my mis-shaped trunk that bears this head
Be round impaled with a glorious crown.
And yet I know not how to get the crown,
For many lives stand between me and home:
And I,—like one lost in a thorny wood,
That rends the thorns and is rent with the thorns,
Seeking a way and straying from the way;
Not knowing how to find the open air,
But toiling desperately to find it out,—
Torment myself to catch the English crown:
And from that torment I will free myself,
Or hew my way out with a bloody axe.
Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile,
And cry ‘Content’ to that which grieves my heart,
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
And frame my face to all occasions.

DUTCH:
Glimlachen kan ik en glimlachend moorden,
En roepen: „mooi!” bij wat mijn ziele grieft,

MORE:

Proverb: To laugh (smile) in one’s face and cut one’s throat

Check=Rebuke, punish
Overbear=Dominate
Home=My objective
Artificial=Fake, feigned
Rends=Tears

Compleat:
Check=Berisping, beteugeling, intooming
To over-bear=Overtreffen, onderkrygen; (oppress) Onderdrukken
Artificial=Konstig, behendig, aardig, dat niet natuurlyk is
To rend=Scheuren, van een ryten

Topics: proverbs and idioms, deceit, appearance, flaw/fault, ambition

Yea, man and birds are fain of climbing high.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: King Henry VI
CONTEXT:
KING HENRY VI
But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,
And what a pitch she flew above the rest!
To see how God in all his creatures works!
Yea, man and birds are fain of climbing high.

DUTCH:
Wat nam uw valk, mylord, een vaart naar boven,
En steeg ver hoven al die andren op!
Hoe toont zich God in al zijn creaturen!
Ja, mensch en vogel, alles stijgt liefst hoog!

MORE:

Point=Windward position
Pitch=Peak before swooping
Fain=Fond

Compleat:
Pitch=Pik
Fain=Gaern, genoodzaakt

Topics: ambition

Yellow, glittering precious gold? This yellow slave will knit and break religions

Topics: ambition, poverty and wealth, money, ruin

Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
(…) And my trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him
A falsehood in its contrary as great
As my trust was, which had indeed no limit,
A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded
But what my power might else exact, like one
Who having into truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory
To credit his own lie—he did believe
He was indeed the duke, out o’ th’ substitution
And executing th’ outward face of royalty,
With all prerogative. Hence his ambition growing—
Dost thou hear?
MIRANDA
Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.

DUTCH:
Uw verhaal zou doof heid heelen.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Beget (Followed by of: “my trust, like a good parent, did b. of him a falsehood”)=Produce; create.
Contrary=a thing or state of opposite qualities (“a falsehood in its c. as great,”=A falseness of equal magnitude)
Exact=To demand authoritatively, to extort
Credit=To believe (“Made such a sinner of his memory / To credit his own lie”=Deluded memory into believing his own lie)
Out o’th’ =By virtue of
Executing (“executing th’ outward face of”)=Playing the part of
Compleat:
Beget=Gewinnen, teelen, voortbrengen, verkrygen
Idleness begets beggary=Luiheid veroorzaakt bederlaary
The first accident must naturally beget the second=Het eene toeval moet noodwendig het andere voortbrengen

Topics: trust, betrayal, ambition, honesty, authority