Antigone quotes

O tell it, sister; I shall hate thee more If thou proclaim it not to all the town.

Thou hast a fiery soul for numbing work.

I pleasure those whom I would liefest please.

Not to connive at disobedience.

No man is mad enough to court his death.

The penalty is death: yet hope of gain Hath lured men to their ruin oftentimes.

For conscience plied her spur and curb by turns. “Why hurry headlong to thy fate, poor fool?” She whispered. Then again, “If Creon learn This from another, thou wilt rue it worse.” Thus leisurely I hastened on my road;

Much thought extends a furlong to a league.

But in the end the forward voice prevailed, To face thee. I will speak though I say nothing. For plucking courage from despair methought, “Let the worst hap, thou canst but meet thy fate.”

She whispered. Then again, “If Creon learn This from another, thou wilt rue it worse.” Thus leisurely I hastened on my road; Much thought extends a furlong to a league. But in the end the forward voice prevailed, To face thee.

I will speak though I say nothing.

For plucking courage from despair methought, “Let the worst hap, thou canst but meet thy fate.”

What an inveterate babbler! get thee gone!

Babbler perchance, but innocent of the crime.

Twice guilty, having sold thy soul for gain.

Twice guilty, having sold thy soul for gain.

Alas! how sad when reasoners reason wrong.

Go, quibble with thy reason. If thou fail’st To find these malefactors, thou shalt own The wages of ill-gotten gains is death. Exit Creon.

I was glad—and grieved; For ’tis most sweet to ’scape oneself scot-free, And yet to bring disaster to a friend Is grievous. Take it all in all, I deem

A man’s first duty is to serve himself.

Speak, girl, with head bent low and downcast eyes, Does thou plead guilty or deny the deed?

Speak, girl, with head bent low and downcast eyes, Does thou plead guilty or deny the deed?

Guilty. I did it, I deny it not.

To Guard. Sirrah, begone whither thou wilt, and thank Thy luck that thou hast ’scaped a heavy charge.

Now answer this plain question, yes or no, Wast thou acquainted with the interdict?

I knew, all knew; how should I fail to know?

And yet wert bold enough to break the law?

Hast thou no shame to differ from all these?

To reverence kith and kin can bring no shame.

Was his dead foeman not thy kinsman too?

Surely, if good and evil fare alike.

The slain man was no villain but a brother.

The patriot perished by the outlaw’s brand.

Not that the base should fare as do the brave.

Who knows if this world’s crimes are virtues there?

Not even death can make a foe a friend.

Who knows if this world’s crimes are virtues there?

Not even death can make a foe a friend.

My nature is for mutual love, not hate.

Not even death can make a foe a friend.

My nature is for mutual love, not hate.

Die then, and love the dead if thou must, No woman shall be the master while I live.

Die then, and love the dead if thou must,

No woman shall be the master while I live.

Lo from out the palace gate, Weeping o’er her sister’s fate, Comes Ismene; see her brow, Once serene, beclouded now, See her beauteous face o’erspread With a flush of angry red.

Who did the deed the under-world knows well:

A friend in word is never friend of mine.

O sister, scorn me not, let me but share Thy work of piety, and with thee die.

Claim not a work in which thou hadst no hand; One death sufficeth. Wherefore should’st thou die?

What would life profit me bereft of thee?

Ask Creon, he’s thy kinsman and best friend.

What would life profit me bereft of thee?

Ask Creon, he’s thy kinsman and best friend.

Why taunt me? Find’st thou pleasure in these gibes?

Thou canst not say that I did not protest.

Well, some approved thy wisdom, others mine.

But now we stand convicted, both alike.

But now we stand convicted, both alike.

Fear not; thou livest, I died long ago,

Then when I gave my life to save the dead.

What, wilt thou rob thine own son of his bride?

’Tis death that bars this marriage, not his sire.

So her death-warrant, it would seem, is sealed.

I plead for justice, father, nothing more.

Weigh me upon my merit, not my years.

Strange merit this to sanction lawlessness!

Am I to rule for others, or myself?

A State for one man is no State at all.

The State is his who rules it, so ’tis held.

The State is his who rules it, so ’tis held.

As monarch of a desert thou wouldst shine.

This boy, methinks, maintains the woman’s cause.

And am I wrong, if I maintain my rights?

Talk not of rights; thou spurn’st the due of Heaven.

O heart corrupt, a woman’s minion thou!

Vain fool to instruct thy betters; thou shall rue it.

Wert not my father, I had said thou err’st.

Play not the spaniel, thou a woman’s slave.

Play not the spaniel, thou a woman’s slave.

When thou dost speak, must no man make reply?

This passes bounds. By heaven, thou shalt not rate And jeer and flout me with impunity. Off with the hateful thing that she may die At once, beside her bridegroom, in his sight.

What ordinance of heaven have I transgressed? Hereafter can I look to any god For succour, call on any man for help?

Alas, my piety is impious deemed.

Well, if such justice is approved of heaven, I shall be taught by suffering my sin; But if the sin is theirs, O may they suffer No worse ills than the wrongs they do to me!

Princes of Thebes, two wayfarers as one, Having betwixt us eyes for one, we are here.

The blind man cannot move without a guide.

I will tell thee; And when thou hearest thou must heed the seer.

O ponder this, my son. To err is common To all men, but the man who having erred Hugs not his errors, but repents and seeks The cure, is not a wastrel nor unwise.

No fool, the saw goes, like the obstinate fool.

Let death disarm thy vengeance. O forbear To vex the dead. What glory wilt thou win By slaying twice the slain? I mean thee well; Counsel’s most welcome if I promise gain.

And yet thou say’st my prophesies are frauds.

Prophets are all a money-getting tribe.

And kings are all a lucre-loving race.

Prophets are all a money-getting tribe.

And kings are all a lucre-loving race.

Dost know at whom thou glancest, me thy lord?

Well, let us to the house and solve our doubts, Whether the tumult of her heart conceals Some fell design. It may be thou art right:

Unnatural silence signifies no good.

Lo! the King himself appears. Evidence he with him bears ’Gainst himself (ah me! I quake ’Gainst a king such charge to make) But all must own, The guilt is his and his alone.