From
Shakespeare’s Macbeth, 1605:
MACBETH: Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo: down!
Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls. And thy hair,
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first.
A third is like the former. Filthy hags!
Why do you show me this? A fourth! Start, eyes!
What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?
The notion of having to account for one’s earthly deeds is expressed in many parts of the Bible; for example, in Matthew 12.36 (King James Version):
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
See other – phrases and sayings from Shakespeare.