Careful Words

do (n.)

do (v.)

do (adv.)

do (adj.)

Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Satires, Epistles, and Odes of Horace. Epilogue to the Satires. Dialogue i. Line 136.

  If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act i. Sc. 2.

  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes ix. 10.

Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever;

Do noble things, not dream them, all day long:

And so make life, death, and that vast forever

One grand sweet song.

Charles Kingsley (1819-1875): A Farewell.

  The most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men.

Plutarch (46(?)-120(?) a d): Life of Alexander.

Let us do or die.

John Fletcher (1576-1625): The Island Princess. Act ii. Sc. 4.

Liberty's in every blow!

Let us do or die.

Robert Burns (1759-1796): Bannockburn.

So many worlds, so much to do,

So little done, such things to be.

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892): In Memoriam. lxxiii. Stanza 1.

That we would do,

We should do when we would.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act iv. Sc. 7.

Do well and right, and let the world sink.

George Herbert (1593-1632): Country Parson. Chap. xxix.

And all may do what has by man been done.

Edward Young (1684-1765): Night Thoughts. Night vi. Line 606.

  I would have nobody to control me; I would be absolute: and who but I? Now, he that is absolute can do what he likes; he that can do what he likes can take his pleasure; he that can take his pleasure can be content; and he that can be content has no more to desire. So the matter's over; and come what will come, I am satisfied.

Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616): Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. xxiii.

  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?

New Testament: Matthew xx. 15.

  O, what men dare do! what men may do! what men daily do, not knowing what they do!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Much Ado about Nothing. Act iv. Sc. 1.

  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

New Testament: Matthew vii. 12.