Pity's akin to love; and every thought
Of that soft kind is welcome to my soul.
_Oroonoko, Act_ ii. _Sc_. 2. T. SOUTHERNE.
My friend, I spy some pity in thy looks;
O, if thine eye be not a flatterer,
Come thou on my side, and entreat for me,
As you would beg, were you in my distress:
A begging prince what beggar pities not?
_King Richard IV., Act_ i. _Sc_. 4. SHAKESPEARE.
My pity hath been balm to heal their wounds,
My mildness hath allayed their swelling griefs.
_King Henry VI., Pt. III. Act_ iv. _Sc_. 8. SHAKESPEARE.
Pity is the virtue of the law,
And none but tyrants use it cruelly.
_Timon of Athens, Act_ iii. _Sc_. 5. SHAKESPEARE.
Soft pity never leaves the gentle breast
Where love has been received a welcome guest.
_The Duenna, Act_ ii. _Sc_. 3. R.B. SHERIDAN.