Vol. 08 · Shakespeare ·Macbeth, Act I.v ·Lady Macbeth
"The milk of human kindness."
Not quite the line.
How it's usually quoted
"The milk of human kindness."
What Shakespeare actually wrote
"Yet do I fear thy nature; / It is too full o' the milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way." Lady Macbeth — Macbeth, Act I.v
Why it matters
Lady Macbeth is complaining — the milk-of-kindness is a flaw, not a virtue. Popular use inverts her meaning by praising what she was criticising.
More from the canon.
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