Even in the force and road of casualty.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act ii. Sc. 9.

It is not strength, but art, obtains the prize,

And to be swift is less than to be wise.

'T is more by art than force of num'rous strokes.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Iliad of Homer. Book xxiii. Line 383.

From harmony, from heavenly harmony,

This universal frame began:

From harmony to harmony

Through all the compass of the notes it ran,

The diapason closing full in Man.

John Dryden (1631-1701): A Song for St. Cecilia's Day. Line 11.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

'T is mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown;

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway,

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's,

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

That in the course of justice none of us

Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy.

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

He will hold thee, when his passion shall have spent its novel force,

Something better than his dog, a little dearer than his horse.

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892): Locksley Hall. Line 49.

Who overcomes

By force, hath overcome but half his foe.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book i. Line 648.