---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A rotten case abides no handling."
description: "\"A rotten case abides no handling.\" — William Shakespeare"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/william-shakespeare-4_case_a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling-2798696_2798696.jpg"
---

#  A rotten case abides no handling.

![“A rotten case abides no handling.” quote by William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/william-shakespeare-4_case_a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling-2798696_2798696.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/william-shakespeare-4_case_a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling-2798696_2798696.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/william-shakespeare-4_case_a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling-2798696_2798696.jpg)

> “A rotten case abides no handling.”

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A warning that a corrupt situation cannot be ignored and must be addressed decisively.

**In simple terms:** Corruption must be confronted.

Key Takeaway

Act against injustice promptly.

Themes

corruption justice morality action integrity

Mood

serious thoughtful

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- theatrical drama
- classic literature
- political commentary

Key Concepts

ethical responsibility political decay social reform

Questions to Reflect On

- What are the signs of a rotten system?
- How can you act ethically in a corrupt environment?

A Different Perspective

Overt action may cause unintended harm.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Abides Handling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abides-handling-3432553/) [Case](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/case/) [Case Abides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/case-abides-3432552/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Rotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rotten/) [Rotten Case](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rotten-case-3432551/)

## Related quotes

> [Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day And make me travel forth without my cloak, To let base clouds o'ertake me in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/why-didst-thou-promise-such-a-beauteous-day-and-make-me-travel-forth/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape, In forms imaginary, th' unguided days And rotten times that you shall look upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-blood-weeps-from-my-heart-when-i-do-shape-in-forms-imaginary-th/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize As the dead carcasses of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/you-common-cry-of-curs-whose-breath-i-hate-as-reek-o-the-rotten-fens/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [There's small choice in rotten apples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/there-s-small-choice-in-rotten-apples/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/something-is-rotten-in-the-state-of-denmark/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-devil-can-cite-scripture-for-his-purpose-an-evil-soul-producing/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [If you're Obama, can you imagine being lectured to about honesty and integrity from a convicted perjurer, Bill Clinton? My gosh, folks, I mean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/if-you-re-obama-can-you-imagine-being-lectured-to-about-honesty-and/)

[Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/)

> [People often assume New York City is no place to keep a dog. This is certainly what my parents told me when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-abramson/people-often-assume-new-york-city-is-no-place-to-keep-a-dog-this-is/)

[Jill Abramson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-abramson/)

> [The lessons of history would suggest that civilisations move in cycles. You can track that back quite far - the Babylonians, the Sumerians, followed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-lessons-of-history-would-suggest-that-civilisations-move-in/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [The first case I sat on... was Citizens United. Talk about being thrown in. Needless to say, if I was scared before, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/the-first-case-i-sat-on-was-citizens-united-talk-about-being-thrown/)

[Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/)

> [ The facts of the case will always have the better of \[an\] argument. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-facts-of-the-case-will-always-have-the-better-of-an-argument/)

[Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/)

> [In my case I don't mind playing a character that irritates people or makes people question my sanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/in-my-case-i-don-t-mind-playing-a-character-that-irritates-people-or/)

[Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/)

> [In case of doubt, do a little more than you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mitchell/in-case-of-doubt-do-a-little-more-than-you-have-to/)

[Warren Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mitchell/)

> [Athletes at all ages are bigger and stronger than ever before. And they are being encouraged - sometimes even incentivized, as we recently learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-jain/athletes-at-all-ages-are-bigger-and-stronger-than-ever-before-and/)

[Naveen Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-jain/)

> [If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-you-followed-the-media-you-d-think-that-everybody-in-africa-was/)

[Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/)

## More by William Shakespeare

> [Let us kill all lawyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-kill-all-lawyers/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-tiger-s-heart-wrapped-in-a-woman-s-hide/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Divers philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/divers-philosophers-hold-that-the-lips-is-parcel-of-the-mouth/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; Being purg'd, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-is-a-smoke-made-with-the-fume-of-sighs-being-purg-d-a-fire/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Ask God for temp'rance. That's th' appliance only Which your disease requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ask-god-for-temp-rance-that-s-th-appliance-only-which-your-disease/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [“Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies Which busy care draws in the brains of men; Therefore thou sleep’st so sound. Julius Caesar (2.1.248-251)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-hast-no-figures-nor-no-fantasies-which-busy-care-draws-in-the/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Truth needs no color; beauty, no pencil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/truth-needs-no-color-beauty-no-pencil/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Have you not heard it said full oft, A woman's nay doth stand for naught?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/have-you-not-heard-it-said-full-oft-a-woman-s-nay-doth-stand-for/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Omittance is no quittance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/omittance-is-no-quittance/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [“Yes, madam: yet I cannot choose but laugh, To think it should leave crying and say 'Ay.' And yet, I warrant, it had upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/yes-madam-yet-i-cannot-choose-but-laugh-to-think-it-should-leave/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-take-thee-at-thy-word-call-me-but-love-and-i-ll-be-new-baptized/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

[Explore all 5,604 William Shakespeare quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

## More Case quotes

> [Luckily, the bullet that hit my chest never got to me. It was stopped by a silver case I got for my brother's wedding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/luckily-the-bullet-that-hit-my-chest-never-got-to-me-it-was-stopped/)

[James Doohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-doohan/)

> [A lot of young guys coming up in this league, they're given the spotlight right away, depending on draft stature or whatever the case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desean-jackson/a-lot-of-young-guys-coming-up-in-this-league-they-re-given-the/)

[DeSean Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desean-jackson/)

> [Apparently, there are all sorts of reasons why your hair might stop growing, including split ends, breakage and overuse of heated styling tools -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-reid/apparently-there-are-all-sorts-of-reasons-why-your-hair-might-stop/)

[Susanna Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-reid/)

> [Just in case you forgot, I'm always here for you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-a-bad-bish/just-in-case-you-forgot-i-m-always-here-for-you/)

[Im\_a\_bad\_bish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-a-bad-bish/)

> [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/)

[Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/)

> [If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-you-followed-the-media-you-d-think-that-everybody-in-africa-was/)

[Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/)

> [In many traditions, hawks are sacred: Apollo's messengers for the Greeks, sun symbols for the ancient Egyptians and, in the case of the Lakota…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/in-many-traditions-hawks-are-sacred-apollo-s-messengers-for-the/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [Most of black America is in housing projects, without jobs, living on welfare. And this is not the case in 'The Cosby Show,' because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/most-of-black-america-is-in-housing-projects-without-jobs-living-on/)

[August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/)

> [Athletes at all ages are bigger and stronger than ever before. And they are being encouraged - sometimes even incentivized, as we recently learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-jain/athletes-at-all-ages-are-bigger-and-stronger-than-ever-before-and/)

[Naveen Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-jain/)

> [I was a big Nancy Drew reader. Nancy figures it out. Case closed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/i-was-a-big-nancy-drew-reader-nancy-figures-it-out-case-closed/)

[Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/)

> [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/)

[Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/)

> [The rules and principles of case law have never been treated as final truths but as working hypotheses, continually retested in those great laboratories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-n-cardozo/the-rules-and-principles-of-case-law-have-never-been-treated-as-final/)

[Benjamin N. Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-n-cardozo/)

> [If I don't think something's worth saying, I don't think it's quite there, I'd rather just not say it, to be honest. In that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/if-i-don-t-think-something-s-worth-saying-i-don-t-think-it-s-quite/)

[Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/)

> [I have to give a lot of credit to David Stern to open up the league, but also in my case, Jerry West and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vlade-divac/i-have-to-give-a-lot-of-credit-to-david-stern-to-open-up-the-league/)

[Vlade Divac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vlade-divac/)

> [My mother tongue is Punjabi, but my first language is Urdu, which was the case with the people in undivided Punjab.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gulzar/my-mother-tongue-is-punjabi-but-my-first-language-is-urdu-which-was/)

[Gulzar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gulzar/)

[Browse all 1,378 Case quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/case/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "A rotten case abides no handling.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Shakespeare"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Case"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/william-shakespeare-4_case_a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling-2798696_2798696.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/william-shakespeare-4_case_a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling-2798696_2798696.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/william-shakespeare-4_case_a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling-2798696_2798696.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A rotten case abides no handling.” — William Shakespeare",
                "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": "William Shakespeare",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "A rotten case abides no handling.",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-rotten-case-abides-no-handling/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
