John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
635 William Shakespeare 1564-1616 John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 635 |
| AUTHOR: | William Shakespeare (1564–1616) |
| QUOTATION: | If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces. 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | The Merchant of Venice. Act i. Sc. 2. [text] |
| WORKS: | William Shakespeare Collection. |
| Note 1. For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.—Romans vii. 19. [back] |