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.

Come, give us a taste of your quality.

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

Men's judgments are

A parcel of their fortunes; and things outward

Do draw the inward quality after them,

To suffer all alike.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Antony and Cleopatra. Act iii. Sc. 13.

But I am constant as the northern star,

Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality

There is no fellow in the firmament.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Julius Caesar. Act iii. Sc. 1.