Measure for Measure, one of the three Shakespeare plays that will be presented in the region of Montreal this fall (the others are Love's Labour's Lost and Henry V), begins with a very thought-provoking moment. The Duke Vincentio wants to recuse himself from his duties for a while, and the person that he is asking to replace him, Angelo, is being told the following: When we are born with abilities, it is our moral obligation to share them. Here's the original:

Thyself and thy belongings

Are not thine own so proper as to waste

Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.

Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,

Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues

Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike

As if we had them not.

Exquisite, isn't it? Imagine a world where all people have the chance to reach their potentials, and to let the results "go forth" of them, like Shakespeare did. ("'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.")

Here are the links for the productions mentioned above:

Measure for Measure - http://www.mcgill.ca/english/moyse/

Love's Labour's Lost - http://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/theatre-box-office/performances

Henry V - http://www.persephoneproductions.org/