Shakespeare on Ethics

Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee;Corruption wins not more than honesty.Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s,Thy God’s, and truth’s; then if thou fall’st, O Cromwell,Thou fall’st a blessed martyr!William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII, Act iii. Sc. 2.