Julius Caesar Cassius Quotes

Cassius

Quote 4

CASSIUS
I know where I will wear this dagger then;
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius.
Therein, you gods, you make the weak most strong;
Therein, you gods, you tyrants do defeat.
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
If I know this, know all the world besides,
That part of tyranny that I do bear
I can shake off at pleasure.                        Thunder still. (1.3.92-103)

Cassius has already proposed his plan of conspiracy, yet here he brings up the fact that he could take his own life and be free no matter what else happened. This is eerie given his death later in the play. It seems Cassius has a prophetic sense of how the entire matter will end for him and takes the opportunity to tell us that he accepts that fate nobly.

Cassius

Quote 5

CASSIUS
Brutus, I do observe you now of late.
I have not from your eyes that gentleness
And show of love as I was wont to have.
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
Over your friend that loves you.

BRUTUS
Cassius,
Be not deceived. If I have veiled my look,
I turn the trouble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexèd I am
Of late with passions of some difference,
Conceptions only proper to myself,
Which give some soil, perhaps, to my behaviors.
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved
(Among which number, Cassius, be you one)
Nor construe any further my neglect
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men. (1.2.37-53)

It's obvious that male bonds are a big deal to the characters in the play. When Cassius asks Brutus why he's been so distant lately, Brutus goes out of his way to apologize to his pal for neglecting their friendship. 

Cassius

Quote 6

CASSIUS
And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus.
Were I a common laugher, or did use
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester; if you know
That I do fawn on men and hug them hard
And after scandal them, or if you know
That I profess myself in banqueting
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous. (1.2.77-84)

Here Cassius tries to convince Brutus that he would make a better leader than Brutus' friend, Julius Caesar. Although Cassius claims he would never try to manipulate a friend, his excessive flattery seems to suggest otherwise.