Why, why is this? Think’st thou I’d make a life of jealousy,
To follow still the changes of the moon
With fresh suspicions? No; to be once in doubt
Is once to be resolved: exchange me for a goat,
When I shall turn the business of my soul
To such exsufflicate and blown surmises,
Matching thy inference. ‘Tis not to make me jealous
To say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company,
Is free of speech, sings, plays and dances well;
Where virtue is, these are more virtuous:
Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw
The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt;
For she had eyes, and chose me.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Othello’s speech to Iago warning about the dangers of the "green-eyed monster" jealousy shows his excessive pride. Claiming that he will not be destroyed by jealousy, he proudly asserts that Desdemona had eyes to see that he was black and she chose him. In declaring that he is beyond jealousy Othello shows one of his fatal flaws, his hubris, which eventually helps bring about his downfall.