Exploring the complex character of Shylock in William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" gives insight into his profound and multifaceted relationship with money. Shylock's quotes on money delve into themes of power, justice, revenge, and the human condition. As a moneylender, his dialogues offer an understanding of how financial transactions shape human relationships and societal structures. This article will explore ten different aspects of Shylock’s quotes on money, examining his motivations, emotions, and ultimate downfall.
Shylock Quotes on Wealth and Power
"How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him for he is a Christian."
"If every ducat in six thousand ducats/Were in six parts and every part a ducat/I would not draw them, I would have my bond."
"Thrift is blessing if men steal it not from thrift."
"You take my house when you do take the prop/That doth sustain my house; you take my life/When you do take the means whereby I live."
"I’ll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak: I’ll have my bond; and therefore speak no more."
"I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys."
"I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you."
"Let the forfeit/Be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh."
"If you repay me not on such a day, in such a place, such sum or sums as are expressed at this time, be it enacted."
"I cannot find it; 'tis not in Venice lost."
"My deeds upon my head! I crave the law: the penalty and forfeit of my bond."
"A losing suit against him? He cannot tell you why or what, yet does he plead his case."
Shylock Quotes on Interest and Lending
"Three thousand ducats, ‘tis a good round sum. Three months from 12, then, let me see the rate."
"I charge you the interest, not for three months' time, but for the ducats fair you owe me yet."
"This is the rate of usance that the borrower must tender for the use of what is lent."
"The pound of flesh, which I demand of him, is dearly bought, is mine, and I will have it."
"Interest is the only mode to gain a richer yield and reclaim what’s mine by right."
"When did friendship take a breed for barren metal of his friend?"
"I give to you, though you did void your right, a bond but of your honor."
"He shall repay thee at the debtor's hour, lest wrath inflate the bond beyond its sum."
"Marked by the seasons' tides, with interest compounded, what once was little, now mounting great."
"My monies and my loans return to me, for in their absence lies my grave discomfort."
"Coins slipped through fingers mark the damage wrought when trust is given heedless to intent."
"In lending, I perceive a truth unseen, that even given gifts come fraught with strings."
Shylock Quotes on Money as Power
"I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him by his own interest and dollar mark."
"A thousand ducats are as thorns that pierce my side, yet give me means to sway my foe."
"By the silver wherewith I ensnare, the gold outweighs what justice can repair."
"Money does ripen not only fortunes but fearful intents concealed beneath its sheen."
"I’ll plague him with my profit, shun his kind."
"In sum, my sovereign power; in gold, my voice."
"With coin in hand, man wields a sceptered wand, ruling both beasts and bondsmen far and wide."
"Though I can summons force with purse of might, it is the law that straps their hands with plight."
"Currency distills their very soul: a shackle, a salvation, a story told."
"I whisper what the banker only thinks—to pay, to loan, to own by ranks unshown."
"My kin, my color, cast beneath my feet, by wealth afforded power incomplete."
"Did he not know a hedge of guilt is fraught by what he owes when wronged, yet poorly bought?"
Shylock Quotes on the Value of Money
"Money is a commodity like any other, yet once shared freely, turns all bonds to debt."
"The gold, it sings a dirge of mortal woe—it bends the ear to listen though it frets."
"Rich reflections cast in coppers spun, betray the pauper wrapped in newfound trust."
"Through coin, the wayward heart finds straightened path, yet oft it leads astray with shadowed gain."
"With fortune’s favorist bonds inscribed so plain, whose value roots all in our eldest pain."
"Who splits a single coin 'neath halved intent, risks emptying the pouch of common good."
"A fickle friend is wealth, who dotes today, yet may bestride tomorrow’s empty halls."
"Each ducat spent is but a bargain made—'tis paper's weight against the hope it feeds."
"In heavy purse, light grows the soul unsaid, when coin becomes the heart in lieu of words."
"My gold decieves what my own lips bequeath, for shouting at my foes unseen, unheard."
"To whosoever covets no treasure, though plenty grieves, their heart lies free of master edge."
"The value buried in a purse will nourish mouths unseen or mete a fiend’s embrace."
Shylock Quotes on Money and Justice
"I shall have justice. Fairness bound by silver thread, manifests the truth."
"The scales of gold define the wrongs endured or rights enshrined, forgot through powdered hand."
"Though gold be blind, its weight addresses wrongs that words alone repair not through the night."
"A forfeit cannot be in fraction paid, lest creditors subvert the world to ill."
"By forfeit had, redemption finds its balm, yet justice seeks the sum, the flesh, the due."
"Through ducat ends, a righteous cause shall weave against mistrust its pledge to depths aware."
"The court presides, yet trusts the funds that lie outside its purview. Justice goes unbound by gold."
"The price of justice blights, yet bids by wealth an end o’erseen in shadows cast by greed."
"By law’s decree our common cause retreats, lest gold supply overcomes justice unmet."
"All judgments lacking weight taught not commensurate will pay in forfeiture to wisdom’s purse."
"For equal pound of fairness, must reside in wealth or want by those who claim a stake."
"The just maketh the bond and trumps the truth, yet gold belies their scruples ‘neath complain."
Shylock Quotes on Revenge and Money
"These are my duties judged by ducats, boiled into hatred, seeped in gold."
"Gold distills even love with vengeance; sweet 'tis not, but fulfills me true under the debt."
"Should wrath of coin not move the arrow head to seek its shaken mark?"
"Monstrous form of wealth, thou weavest mine enemies under bonds so like iron chains!"
"Through viceful assets strain the account cast, where furies wreathe my gain in concert ill."
"Coins uphold my ancient grudge, inciting lines of discontent through veils of mollified sin."
"The thought of their remorse aligns revenge. None can replace justice falsely sought.
"The coins of vengeance pay the unwelcome foot, crumble under footing ahead of time's course."
"The face of misery is gilded yet; its cold endowment offered with no hand of warmth.
"In debt I forge my future aim, in finance, fault wields out my cruelty's creed."
"I wish you mastered once my art of loan, in such the pain inflicted reigns supreme.
"No riches espouse like the wrath of idle joy, for nothing but vengeance, bathed in coin."
Shylock Quotes on Money and Betrayal
"Constant coin will cost me hope, and fate entrusted to their care turns oft astray."
"At coin’s redemption, loyalty demands the bond's complete retaining or its dilution."
"Through fragments expired, money whispers my betrayal; the consequence unsaid."
"When once bestowed on silver throne, the price contains man's trust--unwhole, betrayed."
"From bond fulfilled sprout trust's delayed surfeit, yet roots of profit oft entwined with strife."
"From Judas coin to me is edge sharper than dagger's blade against fate's tempered guard."
"Through currency given shared, known unaware, a minute divides trust's holdings."
"Blind gains replace spun honesty, investing none in plans benevolent, but gaining crosswise."
"Betrayal reeks of squandered truth when weighing loyalty through centuries untold."
"The treasure's binds dictate the servile creed from which all kings adrift become undone."
"Shadows oft deceived by glass-paned trusts, their gilded bars oblique our cursed regret."
"A trust once broken, nor gold's embrace nor coffers shared could mend, nor truth abide."
Shylock Quotes on Money and Humanity
"Man’s sum increased, his core remains, e'er finding cause to strip his neighbor bare."
"To err in wealth's tangles leaves man a servant bound by others, not his sovereign coin."
"Material blessings stall a heart's true mercy where gold mingles shadowed impulse."
"Human kind, though coined with copper hearts, wields iron tenets of immutable stain."
"Through ducats, seek you clarity or find the eyes of men not shaded by their shine."
"The pound, its weight a sullied tide, no favor bears unburdened child upon its course."
"Though through the core of penance lies the good, wealth offers fortune tainted with malice and might."
"When prosperity descends, humanity usurps common thread, turned cloth repealed."
"The darkened coin, like heart, will tarnish dreams with greed against the soul that speaks unknown."
"Though loss in wealth's assay may bar the state unseen, its manly balance plunges humans hence."
"Where money forgets, the cost to feel remains, humanity evokes then cones deliver less."
"Ask not what gain fortells the free dispersion meek, for money fair misconducts all awake."
Shylock Quotes on Money and Religion
"Money corrupts the base and beautiful alike, til dividing institutions faltered past decay."
"My coin and bearing binds me through the countryside; my duty instilled in shares misplaced."
"Heathens mark a gold-pervaded kingdom praised, where none conceive its heart divided whole."
"With biblical restraint and art denied, succumb not sacrament beneath foul currency’s tale."
"Though faith prospers not twixt worlds, neither space nor coin subdues the trees of rhetoric."
"Where dew of caution guards though riches exceed, by treasure acolytes alone confound."
"Yet between templed strides abide hope’s empty box, centered squarely by scarce ample hands."
"Do as you deem, let not silver selve suffice; let prayerful wants forever set in purpose hold."
"Where most prefer gilt scales, faith shores its gain, not word by numbers shared in common plea."
"Nor faith's compass nor coffered accounts decrypt the barriers of a debtless heart."
"When pious hands rest their desires, reward needs seldom tempt, but fear succumbs ageless tale of gain."
"Thine own pursuit through tethered faith aright, holds never silver bar but wisdom tight."
Shylock Quotes on the Human Condition and Money
"Fate turns not blessed nor curse but middling wealth intrudes confrontational on destinies."
"The futed coin oft wagered gold, in hand stews want from whom exists afar."
"The mind in coin desires claims the heart in realms unseen."
"When contract fulfills, its currency appoints its owners rights neglected wind in chains severe."
"Lost pursuits in foreign wealth betide forgotten paths, disregarded shackle bedecked of good."
"Who owns by depth implies control but stays not thus apologist to death's released assign."
"Upon debt's cold repeating span, thy whispered tithes withheld by custom's proof contrived."
"They claim not food nor prayer supplies but yielding desert sands and greener swells unsought."
"Where trickling fate and coin combine, dawns warmth abides forsaken strengths humane."
"Teeming lives reticent course unchecked pursue what lies within."
"In every coin appeared infused with tones virtue hath splayed."
"On shadows mere money's machinations laughter lays its claim."
Final words
Shylock's quotes on money from "The Merchant of Venice" offer a deep exploration into his character and broader societal reflections. Through nuanced expressions of human motivations, Shakespeare presents the conflicts and contradictions that arise within monetary relationships. Shylock’s financial dealings highlight universal themes such as power, justice, revenge, and the human condition, reminding readers of both the potential and pitfalls that accompany wealth. In the constant interplay between personal ambition and moral integrity, Shylock embodies the struggles faced when individuals prioritize money above all else. His story serves as a timeless cautionary tale about the complex nature of money and its impact on the human experience.
Explore over 100 insightful Shylock quotes on money, capturing timeless wisdom and perspectives. Perfect for understanding financial intricacies through literature.
