William Shakespeare Quotes

1564–1616 England

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.

England
Actors
Playwrights
Poets

Also known as: Shakespeare, Shakespeare, William, Shakespearean, Shakspeare

Random William Shakespeare quote

2,353 quotes

What fates impose, that men must needs abide;
It boots not to resist both wind and tide.

How some men creep in skittish Fortune's hall,
While others play the idiots in her eyes!

Troilus and Cressida (1602)

Hope is a lover's staff; walk hence with that
And manage it against despairing thoughts.

Bell, book and candle shall not drive me back,
When gold and silver becks me to come on.

King John (1598)

Affection is a coal that must be cool'd;
Else, suffer'd, it will set the heart on fire.

Venus and Adonis (1593)

A man in all the world's new fashion planted,
That hath a mint of phrases in his brain.

O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence,
Love takes the meaning in love's conference.

I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than to be one of the twenty to follow mine own teachings.

To weep with them that weep doth ease some deal;
But sorrow flouted at is double death.

For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground,
And tell sad stories of the death of kings.

Richard II (1595)

Unless the old adage must be verified,
That beggars mounted, run their horse to death.

Prithee, friend,
Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear,
The good and bad together.

My heart hath one poor string to stay it by,
Which holds but till thy news be uttered.

King John (1598)

His promises were, as he then was, mighty;
But his performance, as he is now, nothing.

Henry VIII (1613)

Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung
With feigning voice verses of feigning love.

With sad unhelpful tears; and with dimm'd eyes
Look after him, and cannot do him good.

He hath resisted law,
And therefore law shall scorn him further trial
Than the severity of the public power.

The instances that second marriage move
Are base respects of thrift, but none of love.

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve;
Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.

Boys who, being mature in knowledge,
Pawn their experience to their present pleasure.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: William Shakespeare (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.