We have power in ourselves to do it, but it is a power that we have no power to do; for if he show us his wounds and tell us his deeds, we are to put our tongues into those wounds and speak for them; so, if he tell us his noble deeds, we must also tell him our noble acceptance of them. Ingratitude is monstrous, and for the multitude to be ingrateful, were to make a monster of the multitude: of the which we being members, should bring ourselves to be monstrous members.
We have the power to do it, but it’s a power we can’t really use; because if he shows us his wounds and tells us what he’s done, we have to put our words into those wounds and speak on his behalf; so, if he tells us about his noble actions, we have to tell him how much we admire them. Ingratitude is terrible, and if the people were ungrateful, it would turn them into monsters: and as members of that people, we would make ourselves monstrous too.
Third Citizen · Act 2, Scene 3
A citizen acknowledges that the people have the right to vote but also recognizes that refusing a man of such valor would be ingratitude so profound it would make monsters of them all. The passage endures because it articulates the moral bind the people feel—they can technically deny Coriolanus, but doing so would violate their own sense of honor and obligation. It shows the common people wrestling with what justice actually requires of them.
