So be not honest; eccentricity
Is not a thing should ever be encouraged,
Although, in this dull stupid age of ours,
The most eccentric thing a man can do
Is to have brains, then the mob mocks at him;
And for the mob, despise it as I do,
I hold its bubble praise and windy favours
In such account, that popularity
Is the one insult I have never suffered.
Maffio [aside]
He has enough of hate, if he needs that.
Duke
Have prudence; in your dealings with the world
Be not too hasty; act on the second thought,
First impulses are generally good.
Guido [aside]
Surely a toad sits on his lips, and spills its venom there.
Duke
See thou hast enemies,
Else will the world think very little of thee;
It is its test of power; yet see thou show’st
A smiling mask of friendship to all men,
Until thou hast them safely in thy grip,
Then thou canst crush them.
Guido [aside]