As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, / I must not look to have; but, in their stead, / Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, / Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not" (5.3.25-28).
William ShakespeareRead
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote humorously suggests that eliminating lawyers would solve many problems.
In this quote from Shakespeare's 'Henry VI, Part 2', the speaker expresses a radical solution to societal issues by jokingly suggesting that the removal of lawyers would lead to a better world. This reflects a common perception of lawyers as barriers to justice or as instigators of conflict rather than its resolution. The humor in the line highlights the frustrations people often feel toward legal systems and the profession.
Themes
LawyersHumorSocietyCritiqueShakespeare
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a debate about legal reform can lighten the mood.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes βLove bears it out even to the edge of doom.
William ShakespeareRead
Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
William ShakespeareRead
Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
William ShakespeareRead
Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
William ShakespeareRead
Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
William ShakespeareRead
Similar quotes
I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would be an affront to your intelligence.
George Bernard ShawRead
What a fine weather today! Canβt choose whether to drink tea or to hang myself.
Anton ChekhovRead
The people who must never have power are the humorless. To impossible certainties of rectitude they ally tedium and uniformity
Christopher HitchensRead
I am not a person who yells at all, but I realized that I have always felt so good after doing the Tarzan yell, after doing Charo, or screaming as Eunice.
Carol BurnettRead
Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless. Christmas dinner's dark and blue. When you stop and try to see it From the turkey's point of view. Sunday dinner isn't sunny. Easter feasts are just bad luck. When you see it from the viewpoint of a chicken or a duck. Oh how I once loved tuna salad Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too Till I stopped and looked at dinner From the dinner's point of view.
Shel SilversteinRead
He didn't look like a soldier at all. He looked like a filthy flamingo.
Kurt VonnegutRead