--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Well, I will scourge those apes, And to…" description: "\"Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous eyes oppose a mirror, As large as is the stage whereon we act; Where they shall see the time's ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/ben-jonson-1371_apes_well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-th_390408.png" --- # Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous… ![“Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous eyes oppose a mirror, As large as is the stage whereon we act; Where they shall see the time's deformity Anatomised in every nerve, and sinew, With constant courage, and contempt of fear.” quote by Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/ben-jonson-1371_apes_well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-th_390408.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/ben-jonson-1371_apes_well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-th_390408.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/ben-jonson-1371_apes_well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-th_390408.png) > “Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous eyes oppose a mirror, As large as is the stage whereon we act; Where they shall see the time's deformity Anatomised in every nerve, and sinew, With constant courage, and contempt of fear.” [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Boldness and self‑confidence can expose the absurdities of society when faced directly. **In simple terms:** Courage reveals truth. Key Takeaway Speak boldly to challenge falsehoods. Themes courage critique social commentary Mood defiant critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - public debate - artistic performance - social activism - personal confrontation Key Concepts self‑confidence satire truth exposure Questions to Reflect On - When will you confront a societal flaw? - How can you balance boldness with respect? A Different Perspective Boldness may provoke backlash or misunderstanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Therefore, when I considered this carefully, the contempt which I had to fear because of the novelty and apparent absurdity of my view, nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/therefore-when-i-considered-this-carefully-the-contempt-which-i-had/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [“Yet I am still somewhat hampered. I cannot free myself from that strong, commanding voice which speaks to me, or from that mysterious power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-grabi-ski/yet-i-am-still-somewhat-hampered-i-cannot-free-myself-from-that/) Stefan Grabiński > [No person who is well bred, kind and modest is ever offensively plain; all real deformity means want for manners or of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/no-person-who-is-well-bred-kind-and-modest-is-ever-offensively-plain/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [Most of the reasons for late-term abortions have to do with severe fetal deformities, but when I found out that dwarfism was also a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-richardson/most-of-the-reasons-for-late-term-abortions-have-to-do-with-severe/) [John H Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-richardson/) > [We know great Nature's pow'r, Mother of things, whose vast unbounded sway From the deep centre all around extends Wide to the flaming barriers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/we-know-great-nature-s-pow-r-mother-of-things-whose-vast-unbounded/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [In such a world as this, with such hearts as ours, weakness is wickedness in the long run. Whoever lets himself be shaped and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/in-such-a-world-as-this-with-such-hearts-as-ours-weakness-is/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) > [All our distinctions ire accidental; beauty and deformity, though personal qualities, are neither entitled to praise nor censure; yet it so happens that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/all-our-distinctions-ire-accidental-beauty-and-deformity-though/) [Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/) > [He had a head which statuaries loved to copy, and a foot the deformity of which the beggars in the streets mimicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/he-had-a-head-which-statuaries-loved-to-copy-and-a-foot-the-deformity/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [In all human love it must be realized that every man promises a woman, and every woman promises a man that which only God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/in-all-human-love-it-must-be-realized-that-every-man-promises-a-woman/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Information leads to transformation. If you are not inspired by being informed, you will expire by becoming deformed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/information-leads-to-transformation-if-you-are-not-inspired-by-being/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [I refuse the title of artist to those who owe their reputations to a physical deformity. I regard them as buffoons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-bernhardt/i-refuse-the-title-of-artist-to-those-who-owe-their-reputations-to-a/) [Sarah Bernhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-bernhardt/) > [Physical deformity, calls forth our charity. But the infinite misfortune of moral deformity calls forth nothing but hatred and vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/physical-deformity-calls-forth-our-charity-but-the-infinite/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [What’s with her?” says the painter. “She’s mad because she’s a woman,” Jon says. This is something I haven’t heard for years, not since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/what-s-with-her-says-the-painter-she-s-mad-because-she-s-a-woman-jon/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [By all means, there should be no children when either mother or father suffers from such diseases as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, cancer, epilepsy, insanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/by-all-means-there-should-be-no-children-when-either-mother-or-father/) [Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/) > [Rewards and punishments, to speak frankly, are the desk of the soul, that is, a means of enslaving a child's spirit, and better suited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/rewards-and-punishments-to-speak-frankly-are-the-desk-of-the-soul/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) ## More by Ben Jonson > [Soul of the Age! The applause! delight! the wonder of our stage! My Shakespeare, rise; I will not lodge thee by Chaucer, or Spenser,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/soul-of-the-age-the-applause-delight-the-wonder-of-our-stage-my/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Ambition, like a torrent, never looks back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/ambition-like-a-torrent-never-looks-back/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Heaven prepares good men with crosses; but no ill can happen to a good man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/heaven-prepares-good-men-with-crosses-but-no-ill-can-happen-to-a-good/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The dignity of truth is lost with much protesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-dignity-of-truth-is-lost-with-much-protesting/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [True melancholy breeds your perfect fine wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/true-melancholy-breeds-your-perfect-fine-wit/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Leave a kiss but in the cup, and I'll not look for wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/leave-a-kiss-but-in-the-cup-and-i-ll-not-look-for-wine/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [All discourses but my own afflict me; they seem harsh, impertinent, and irksome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/all-discourses-but-my-own-afflict-me-they-seem-harsh-impertinent-and/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [“drink to the cause, and pure vapours”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/drink-to-the-cause-and-pure-vapours/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Spread yourself upon his bosom publicly, whose heart you would eat in private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/spread-yourself-upon-his-bosom-publicly-whose-heart-you-would-eat-in/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [That old bald cheater, Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/that-old-bald-cheater-time/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Rich apparel has strange virtues; it makes him that hath it without means esteemed for an excellent wit; he that enjoys it with means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/rich-apparel-has-strange-virtues-it-makes-him-that-hath-it-without/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Each petty hand Can steer a ship becalm'd; but he that will Govern and carry her to her ends, must know His tides, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/each-petty-hand-can-steer-a-ship-becalm-d-but-he-that-will-govern-and/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The way to rise is to obey and please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-way-to-rise-is-to-obey-and-please/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The covetous man never has money. The prodigal will have none shortly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-covetous-man-never-has-money-the-prodigal-will-have-none-shortly/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Fortune, that favors fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/fortune-that-favors-fools/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) [Explore all 249 Ben Jonson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) ## More Apes quotes > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) J. Lee Thompson > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-philosophize-the-mountain-is-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous eyes oppose a mirror, As large as is the stage whereon we act; Where they shall see the time's deformity Anatomised in every nerve, and sinew, With constant courage, and contempt of fear.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ben Jonson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-these-courteous-eyes-oppose-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Apes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-these-courteous-eyes-oppose-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/ben-jonson-1371_apes_well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-th_390408.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/ben-jonson-1371_apes_well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-th_390408.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/ben-jonson-1371_apes_well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-th_390408.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous eyes oppose a mirror, As large as is the stage…” — Ben Jonson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ben Jonson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Well, I will scourge those apes,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-these-courteous-eyes-oppose-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-these-courteous-eyes-oppose-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```