Banish me! Banish your dotage; banish usury, That makes the senate ugly.
Banish me?! Banish your foolishness; banish greed, That makes the senate disgusting.
Alcibiades · Act 3, Scene 5
Alcibiades has just been banished by the Senators for defending a friend in court, and now he turns their own language back on them. The line cuts because it refuses the victim's role and names the real corruption—not Alcibiades' crime, but the Senate's greed and senility. It tells us that in this world, those in power punish justice itself when it threatens their interests.
I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon.
I’m your friend, and I pity you, dear Timon.
Alcibiades · Act 4, Scene 3
Alcibiades speaks to Timon in the cave and offers pity for the man he once knew, but Timon has become so consumed by misanthropy that he cannot accept even genuine kindness. The line matters because it shows that Timon's rejection is total—he will not permit anyone, not even an old ally, to see him as human. It reveals that Timon's hatred has become a prison he guards more fiercely than anyone else could.
Well, sir, I will; therefore, I will, sir; thus: If Alcibiades kill my countrymen, Let Alcibiades know this of Timon, That Timon cares not. But if be sack fair Athens, And take our goodly aged men by the beards, Giving our holy virgins to the stain Of contumelious, beastly, mad-brain’d war, Then let him know, and tell him Timon speaks it, In pity of our aged and our youth, I cannot choose but tell him, that I care not, And let him take’t at worst; for their knives care not, While you have throats to answer: for myself, There’s not a whittle in the unruly camp But I do prize it at my love before The reverend’st throat in Athens. So I leave you To the protection of the prosperous gods, As thieves to keepers.
Well, I will; yes, I will; here’s the deal: If Alcibiades kills my fellow citizens, Let him know this about Timon, That Timon doesn’t care. But if he sacks Athens, And grabs our elderly men by the beards, Exposing our pure virgins to the shame Of brutal, senseless, and chaotic war, Then let him know, and I’ll tell him Timon says this, Out of pity for our elders and our youth, I can’t help but tell him, I don’t care, And let him take it however he wants; their knives won’t care, As long as you have throats to cut: as for me, There’s not a knife in that unruly camp That I wouldn’t value more than The most respected person in Athens. So I leave you To the care of the gods who prosper, Like thieves to their keepers.
Alcibiades · Act 5, Scene 1
The Senators have come to beg Timon to return and save Athens from Alcibiades' invasion, and Timon agrees—but only to tell them how little he cares about their lives. His answer circles back on itself, repeating the same refusal with different words, trapped in a logic of indifference. It shows that Timon's love of country survives his disgust with humanity only as a bare fact; he will not lift a finger to save them, and he wants them to know it.
