How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #4
LE BRET
You weep?
CYRANO
(Quickly)
Oh, not that ever! No,
That would be too grotesque—tears trickling down
All the long way along this nose of mine?
I will not so profane the dignity
of sorrow. Never any tears for me!
Why, there is nothing more sublime than tears,
Nothing!—Shall I make them ridiculous
In my poor person? (I.587-593)
Cyrano has such respect for the dignity of sorrow that he dares not defame it with his ugly crying face. This respect for tears is one of his most deeply held values.
Quote #5
DE GUICHE
I suppose you have written a tragedy—
They all have.
LE BRET (Aside to Cyrano)
Now at last you’ll have it played—
Your "Agrippine!"
DE GUICHE
Why not? Take it to him.
CYRANO (Tempted)
Really—
DE GUICHE
He is himself a dramatist;
Let him rewrite a few lines here and there,
he’ll approve the rest.
CYRANO (His face falls again.)
Impossible.
My blood curdles to think of altering
One comma.
DE GUICHE
Ah, but when he likes a thing
He pays well.
CYRANO
Yes—but not so well as I—
When I have made a line that sings itself
So that I love the sound of it—I pay
Myself a hundred times. (II.335-346)
Cyrano shows his integrity by refusing to sell himself and his work to the Cardinal for money. He loves his craft so much that he staunchly refuses to let anyone alter a single word of it.