Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,

Till thou applaud the deed.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act iii. Sc. 2.

The attempt and not the deed

Confounds us.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act ii. Sc. 2.

The better day, the better deed.

Thomas Middleton (1580-1627): The Phoenix. Act iii. Sc. 1.

From lowest place when virtuous things proceed,

The place is dignified by the doer's deed.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): All's Well that Ends Well. Act ii. Sc. 3.

First in the fight and every graceful deed.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Iliad of Homer. Book iv. Line 295.

But in deede,

A friend is never knowne till a man have neede.

John Heywood (Circa 1565): Proverbes. Part i. Chap. xi.

The flighty purpose never is o'ertook,

Unless the deed go with it.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act iv. Sc. 1.

Besides, this Duncan

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been

So clear in his great office, that his virtues

Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against

The deep damnation of his taking-off;

And pity, like a naked new-born babe,

Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed

Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,

And falls on the other.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act i. Sc. 7.

'T is well said again,

And 't is a kind of good deed to say well:

And yet words are no deeds.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King Henry VIII. Act iii. Sc. 2.

A deed of dreadful note.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act iii. Sc. 2.

Saint Augustine! well hast thou said,

That of our vices we can frame

A ladder, if we will but tread

Beneath our feet each deed of shame.

Henry W Longfellow (1807-1882): The Ladder of Saint Augustine.

Thy purpose firm is equal to the deed:

Who does the best his circumstance allows

Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more.

Edward Young (1684-1765): Night thoughts. Night ii. Line 90.

Go put your creed into your deed,

Nor speak with double tongue.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): Ode, Concord, July 4, 1857.

Besides, this Duncan

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been

So clear in his great office, that his virtues

Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against

The deep damnation of his taking-off;

And pity, like a naked new-born babe,

Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed

Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,

And falls on the other.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act i. Sc. 7.

How far that little candle throws his beams!

So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act v. Sc. 1.

Fate sits on these dark battlements and frowns,

And as the portal opens to receive me,

A voice in hollow murmurs through the courts

Tells of a nameless deed.

The will for the deed.

Colley Cibber (1671-1757): The Rival Fools. Act iii.

For where's the state beneath the firmament

That doth excel the bees for government?

Du Bartas (1544-1590): First Week, Fifth Day, Part i.

A deed without a name.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act iv. Sc. 1.