Othello Famous Quotes

I am not what I am.

Iago's first self-definition in Act 1, Scene 1, spoken to Roderigo — a signal to the audience that everything he presents is a performance.

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.

Iago planting the seed of suspicion in Othello's mind in Act 3, Scene 3 — he names jealousy a monster while deploying it as his primary weapon.

Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.

Othello's final speech in Act 5, Scene 2, asking those who will report these events to see him clearly — a man trying to control his own story seconds before he ends it.

She loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them.

Othello explaining to the Venetian Senate in Act 1, Scene 3 how Desdemona fell in love with him — his stories of adventure were his courtship, which makes Iago's lie about her far crueller.

Put out the light, and then put out the light.

Othello alone with the sleeping Desdemona in Act 5, Scene 2 before he kills her — equating snuffing a candle with ending her life, and noting that unlike a flame she cannot be relit.

I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at: I am not what I am.

Iago telling Roderigo in Act 1, Scene 1 that he will pretend loyalty to Othello while serving only himself — the phrase has entered common speech to mean the exact opposite of what Iago intends.

Men should be what they seem.

Iago in Act 3, Scene 3 presenting himself as a plain-dealer who could not possibly have ulterior motives — the most brazen lie in a play built entirely on lying.

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving.

Iago consoling Cassio after the brawl in Act 2, Scene 3, arguing that reputation is meaningless — the same Iago who will destroy Othello by attacking his wife's reputation.

Who steals my purse steals trash.

Iago's speech to Othello in Act 3, Scene 3, ostensibly defending him while actually preparing him to fear the loss of exactly what Iago claims doesn't matter.

Then must you speak of one that loved not wisely but too well.

Othello's self-assessment in his final speech in Act 5, Scene 2 — whether this is genuine self-knowledge or a last act of self-justification is what the play leaves open.

Demand me nothing: what you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word.

Iago's last lines in Act 5, Scene 2 — wounded, unmasked, and brought down, he refuses to explain himself, choosing silence as his final act of control.

Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.

Othello to the men who draw weapons when Brabantio confronts him in Act 1, Scene 2 — authority expressed through complete calm rather than force.

Yet I'll not shed her blood, nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow.

Othello before he kills Desdemona in Act 5, Scene 2, unwilling to mark her visually even as he ends her life — the contradiction that defines his tragedy.

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.

Duke of Venice consoling Brabantio in Act 1, Scene 3 — political wisdom offered to a man whose daughter has just eloped without his consent.

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls.

Iago introducing the subject of reputation in Act 3, Scene 3 before he destroys Othello's by attacking Desdemona's — the gap between what Iago says and what he does is the engine of the whole play.