Sentence No. 84 · 19 June 2026
Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great argument, But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour’s at the stake
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
William Shakespeare — Hamlet (1603) · Read it at Project Gutenberg
What holds this sentence together
The sentence pivots on the contrast between "not to stir without great argument" and "But greatly to find quarrel in a straw." When "not" is answered by "But," the two halves always belong together — the "But" phrase directly reverses the "not" clause, and follows it.
How it appears in Sentle
On Sentle this sentence arrives in 7 pieces, shuffled, with the lines that lead up to it for context. A prince broods on inaction, measuring himself against a marching army. Putting it back in the author’s order is the puzzle — and the order is rarely arbitrary, which is what the note above is about.
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