Quote 7
CASSIUS
Caesar said to me 'Dar'st thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood
And swim to yonder point?' Upon the word,
Accoutred as I was, I plungèd in
And bade him follow; so indeed he did.
The torrent roared, and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
And stemming it with hearts of controversy.
But ere we could arrive the point proposed,
Caesar cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!'
I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor,
Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber
Did I the tired Caesar. And this man
Is now become a god, and Cassius is
A wretched creature and must bend his body
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. (1.2.109-125)
In this passage Cassius relates a story that suggests that male friendship, from an early age, is marked by potentially deadly competition and rivalry. When a young Caesar double-dog-dared Cassius, his childhood friend, to swim across the Tiber River, it nearly cost Caesar his life. Cassius saved the "wretched creature" from drowning, so it's infuriating that now he has to bow every time he sees him in the street.
Quote 8
CASSIUS
Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life
Cuts off so many years of fearing death.
BRUTUS
Grant that, and then is death a benefit.
So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridged
His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop,
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords. (3.1.113-119)
After stabbing Caesar in the back (and the guts, arms, legs, and chest), Cassius and Brutus reason that they've done their pal a favor: now that Caesar's dead, he no longer has to worry about dying. Then Brutus has another good idea – the conspirators should wash their hands in their friend's blood to signal that they've freed Rome from tyranny.
Quote 9
CASSIUS
Strike as thou didst at Caesar, for I know
When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him
better
Than ever thou lovedst Cassius. (4.3.116-119)
Cassius sure knows how to fight dirty. When he argues heatedly with Brutus, he throws Brutus' betrayal of Caesar in his friend's face and accuses Brutus of not loving him (Cassius) as much as he loved the man he helped kill. As nasty as he is, we think Cassius raises a valid point. How is one supposed to feel about his so-called pals when best friends think nothing of killing each other over political matters?