Small pow’r the word has,
And can afford us
Not half so much privilege as
The sword does.
—Anon., “The Dominion of the Sword” (1658)
If the old fantastical Duke of dark corners
had been at home, he had lived….
The Duke yet would have dark deeds darkly answered.
—Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, IV.iii; III.ii
All the same, he had no manners then, and he has no
manners now, and he never will have any manners.
—Rudyard Kipling, “How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin”
What a gruesome way to treat one’s niece.
—James Thurber, The Thirteen Clocks