Brush up your Shakespeare

“Brush up your Shakespeare,
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare
And the women you will wow”.                     Thank you Cole Porter

And I was wowed.  Given  my love of Shakespeare and great wordsmiths of note, it was not difficult to be persuaded to go to an open air production of The Merchant of Venice this past week.  It was stunning.  Portia and Shylock were the standout characters and performers and I was particularly moved with Shylocks most famous recitation:

I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions;  fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?  And if you wrong us, do we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.

I was reminded that our Creed in POWERtalk International is “To foster free and open discussion which shall be without bias on all subjects - whether political, social, economic, racial or religious.” 

In this and all things we improve communication throughout the world.  With our organisation in 26 countries on this great planet of ours, we do well to remind ourselves of Shylocks words of wisdom.

As ‘Brevity is the Soul of Wit’ that’s it.