O my good lord, the world is but a word: Were it all yours to give it in a breath, How quickly were it gone!
Oh my good lord, the world is just a word: If it were all yours, you could give it all away in an instant, And it would be gone just as quickly!
Second Lord · Act 2, Scene 2
Flavius speaks this to Timon while trying to warn him of his approaching bankruptcy, a final plea from the one honest steward. The line is powerful because it reduces the entire human economy to a single metaphor—the world is so fragile and so quickly given that it might as well be nothing. Timon, hearing this, does not listen.
Friendship's full of dregs: Methinks, false hearts should never have sound legs, Thus honest fools lay out their wealth on court'sies.
Friendship is full of filth: I think, dishonest hearts should never have healthy legs, Yet fools like this spend their money on fake politeness.
Second Lord · Act 1, Scene 2
Apemantus speaks this after watching the courtiers and flatterers circle Timon at the feast, his disgust at the entire social machinery at its peak. The line matters because it is the play's clearest statement of its thesis—that the whole system of obligation and reciprocal flattery is corrupt, and that the honest man is the fool. Apemantus is the only one speaking truth.
When we for recompense have praised the vile, It stains the glory in that happy verse Which aptly sings the good.
When we praise the worthless in exchange for a reward, It ruins the honor in that happy poem Which rightly praises the good.
Second Lord · Act 1, Scene 1
The Poet speaks this while reciting his own work to Timon, ironically describing exactly what he is doing in that moment. The line matters because it names the mechanism of the play—how money poisons truth and turns praise into a commodity. It reveals that even the artists know they are lying, which makes their betrayal later all the more calculated.
