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Julius Caesar Navigator: Notable Quotes
[Click on a quote to find it in the annotated text of Julius Caesar.]

Beware the ides of March

—The Soothsayer delivers his famous warning to Caesar.

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like a Colossus

—Cassius bitterly comments to Brutus about Caesar's growing power and influence.

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings

—Cassius tells Brutus that rise of Caesar is their fault, because they are not doing anything to stop it.

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look

—Caesar's suspicious comment.

it was Greek to me

—Casca's saracastic comment about a speech by Cicero.

Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream

—Having decided that Caesar must die, Brutus reflects on how difficult it is to put his decision into action.

Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit,
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds

—Brutus, explaining why Antony need not be killed, too, expresses his unrealistic idealism.

Think you I am no stronger than my sex . . . ?

—Portia assures Brutus that she can be trusted with his secrets.

When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes

—Calpurnia tries to persuade Caesar to give credence to the omens and stay away from the Senate on the ides of March.

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once

—Caesar tells Calpurnia that he is not afraid of death.

I am constant as the northern star

—Caesar tells Cassius that he cannot be moved by humble pleadings.

Et tu, Brute?

—Seeing his friend among the assassins, Caesar exclaims, "And you, Brutus?"

O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth

—Antony apologizes to Caesar's body for shaking hands with Caesar's killers.

Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war

—Antony predicts the revenge of Caesar's spirit upon the conspirators.

Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more

—Brutus explains to the Roman crowd his reason for killing Caesar.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him

—Antony begins his famous speech over Caesar's body by calming the crowd.

But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man

—Antony, in a backhanded way, casts doubt on the honor of Brutus.

This was the most unkindest cut of all

—Antony, showing the crowd Caesar's mantle, points out where Brutus stabbed Caesar.

There is a tide in the affairs of men

—Brutus tells Cassius that when the time is ripe, action must be taken.

This was the noblest Roman of them all

—Antony's praise of the dead Brutus.

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