And thus I clothe my naked villany
With odd old ends stol’n forth of holy writ,
And seem a saint when most I play the devil.

These lines are spoken by Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III), in a private aside/soliloquy early in Shakespeare’s history play. Having just manipulated those around him, Richard reflects on his method: he borrows the language and fragments of Scripture (“holy writ”) to disguise his ambitions and cruelty. The moment belongs to the play’s sustained portrayal of Richard as a self-conscious Machiavel—someone who not only commits villainy but also analyzes his own techniques of deception. The speech underscores the political and religious atmosphere of late medieval England as dramatized by Shakespeare, where public piety can be weaponized as a mask for ruthless power-seeking.

Richard admits that his evil depends on performance. By “clothing” his “naked villany” with “odd old ends” of Scripture, he turns sacred language into a costume—an outward show that makes him “seem a saint” while he “play[s] the devil.” The quote highlights hypocrisy as a deliberate strategy: morality is not merely violated but cynically imitated to win trust and disarm suspicion. Shakespeare also points to the persuasive power of religious rhetoric in public life, suggesting how easily revered texts can be reduced to slogans and deployed for self-interest. The chilling force of the lines lies in Richard’s pride in his own duplicity.