O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword!
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. In his monologue while Desdemona is asleep, Othello appears to think that he is carrying out justice by killing her. This is ironic, for he has condemned her to death on the flimsiest of evidence and without any fair trial or due process. Justice is personified here as feminine and breath as having the human ability to persuade.