Both Uses of
abstinence
in
Measure for Measure
- I have deliver'd to Lord Angelo,— A man of stricture and firm abstinence,— My absolute power and place here in Vienna, And he supposes me travell'd to Poland; For so I have strew'd it in the common ear, And so it is received.†
Scene 1.4 *
- Not so, not so: his life is parallel'd Even with the stroke and line of his great justice; He doth with holy abstinence subdue That in himself which he spurs on his power To qualify in others: were he meal'd With that which he corrects, then were he tyrannous; But this being so, he's just.†
Scene 4.2
Definition:
-
(abstinence) choosing not to do something -- typically refraining from something such as alcohol or sex for self-benefit