from "Troilus and Cressida" Act 3 Scene 3 by William Shakespeare

from Act 3 Scene 3 [lines 146-154]

ULYSSES
Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,
Wherein he puts alms for oblivion,
A great-sized monster of ingratitudes.
Those scraps are good deeds past, which are
Devoured as fast as they are made, forgot
As soon as done.  Perseverance, dear my lord,
Keeps honour bright; to have done is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail
In monumental mock'ry.


Source of the text - William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, edited by David Bevington. Walton-on-Thames: Nelson, 1998.

Bourguignomicon: Ulysses carefully, lovingly describes the cheapness of past deeds now out of fashion, tossed aside by time—amazing metaphor, even for Will.