tract judgments about mental life; and as
we seek his wisdom in his dramatic plays, it may be taken for granted
that in this technical sense he must be a poor psychologist, because
he is a great dramatist. Does not the drama demand that every word
spoken be spoken not from the author's standpoint, but from the
particular angle of the person in the play? And this means that every
word is embedded in the individual mood and emotion, thought, and
sentiment of the speaker. A truly psychological statement must be
general and cannot be one thing for Hamlet and another for Ophelia.
The dramatist's psychological sayings serve his art, unfolding before
us the psychological individuality of the speaker, but they do not
contribute to the textbooks of psychology, which ought to be
independent of personal standpoints. And yet what a stream of verses
flows down to us, which have the ring of true psychology!

"Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep."

"Trifles light as air
Are to the jealous confirmation strong
As proofs of holy writ."

"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such sharp fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends."

"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all."

"Present fears
Are less than horrible imagining."

"Too swift runs as tardy as too slow."

"Never anger made good guard for itself."

"Anger is like
A full-hot horse; who being allow'd his way
Self-mettle tires him."

"Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind."

"All things that are,
Are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd."

"Celerity is never more admir'd
Than by the negligent."

"Strong reasons make strong actions."

"The whiteness in thy cheek
Is apter than thy tongue to tell thy errand."

"The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils."

"Sweet love, I see, changing his property,
Turns to the sourest and most deadly hate."

"Love is a smoke rais'd with the fume of sighs."

"I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius; he reads much;
He is a great observer...."

And so on.

* * * * *

We all know it, and we know it so well and feel so much with Caesar