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

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken and so die.

Most dangerous
Is that temptation that doth goad us on
To sin in loving virtue.

Measure for Measure (1603)

Now entertain conjecture of a time
When creeping murmur and the poring dark
Fills the wide vessel of the universe.

Henry V (1599)

I will chide no breather in the world but myself, against whom I know most faults.

Master, go on, and I will follow thee,
To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty.

Thou lead them thus,
Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.

When love begins to sicken and decay,
It useth an enforced ceremony,
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith.

Julius Cæsar (1599)

I know a discontented gentleman,
Whose humble means match not his haughty mind.

Richard III (1591)

Thyself shalt see the act:
For, as thou urgest justice, be assur'd
Thou shalt have justice more than thou desir'st.

Men should be what they seem;
Or those that be not, would they might seem none!

Othello (1603)

The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation; that away,
Men are but gilded loam or painted clay.

Richard II (1595)

Thy death-bed is no lesser than thy land
Wherein thou liest in reputation sick.

Richard II (1595)

His nature is too noble for the world:
He would not flatter Neptune for his trident,
Or Jove for's power to thunder.

How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!

Let me embrace thee, sour adversity,
For wise men say it is the wisest course.

For there was never yet philosopher
That could endure the toothache patiently.

Some griefs show much of love;
But much of grief shows still some want of wit.

Romeo and Juliet (1597)

Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis offer'd,
Shall never find it more.

Though music oft hath such a charm
To make bad good, and good provoke to harm.

Measure for Measure (1603)

This act is as an ancient tale new told;
And, in the last repeating, troublesome,
Being urged at a time unseasonable.

King John (1598)

Attribution

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