John Milton - William Shakespeare - George Eliot - Numbers 14:18 - Psalms 51:1 - Psalms 56:1 - Psalms 57:1 - Psalms 123:2&3 - Psalms 136:26 - Thomas Gray - William Wordsworth - Graham Greene - George Patton - Al-Ghazali - Game of Thrones TV -
Yet I shall temper so
Justice with mercy. John Milton, Paradise Lost 10:77
Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge. William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus I i 119, Tamora to Titus et al
Thou are come to answer
A stony adversity, an inhuman wretch
Uncapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy. William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice IV i 1-3, Duke to Antonio
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
’Tis mightiest in the mightiest ...
It is an attribute to God himself,
When mercy seasons justice. ibid. IV i 181-185 & 192-194, Portia to Shylock
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. ibid. IV i 197
The mercy that was quick in us but late
By your own counsel is suppressed and killed.
You must not dare, for shame, to talk of mercy,
For your own reasons turn into your bosoms,
As dogs upon their masters. William Shakespeare, Henry V II ii 76-80, King Henry to Cambridge, Scrope and Grey
Therefore to our best mercy give ourselves,
Or like to men proud of destruction
Defy us to our worst ...
The gates of mercy shall be all shut up,
And the fleshed soldier, rough and hard of heart,
In liberty of blood hand shall range,
With conscience wide as hell, moving like grass
Your fresh fair virgins and your flow’ring infants. ibid. III iii 86-88 & 93-97, King Henry to Fluellen and soldiers
Whereto serve mercy
But to confront the visage of offence? William Shakespeare, Hamlet III iii 46-47, King
No ceremony that to great one ’longs,
Not the king’s crown, nor the deputed sword,
The marshal’s truncheon, nor the judge’s robe,
Become them with one half so good a grace
As mercy does. William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure II ii 59
We hand folks over to God’s mercy, and show none ourselves. George Eliot, Adam Bede
The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Numbers 14:18
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Psalms 51:1
Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Psalms 56:1
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. Psalms 57:1
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Psalms 123:2&3
O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalms 136:26
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind. Thomas Gray, Elegy in a Country Churchyard st17
Sweet Mercy! to the gates of Heaven
This Minstrel lead, his sins forgiven;
The rueful conflict, the heart riven
With vain endeavour,
And memory of earth’s bitter leaven
Effaced forever. William Wordsworth, Thoughts Suggested on the Banks of the Nith
You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God. Graham Greene, Brighton Rock
May God have mercy for my enemies because I won’t. George Patton
Whoever thinks that the understanding of things Divine rests upon strict proofs has in his thought narrowed down the wideness of God’s mercy. Al-Ghazali, Deliverance from Error
The gods have no mercy; that’s why they’re gods. Game of Thrones s2e9: Blackwater ***** Queen mother, HBO 2012
We can’t hide behind small mercies. The world we need won’t be built by men loyal to the world we have. Game of Thrones s8e6: The Iron Throne, Daenergys to Jon Snow, HBO 2019