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

A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket!

I saw a smith stand with his hammer, thus,
The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool.

King John (1598)

Fairies, black, grey, green, and white,
You moonshine revellers, and shades of night.

They bore him barefac'd on the bier;
* * * * *
And in his grave rain'd many a tear.

List his discourse of war, and you shall hear
A fearful battle render'd you in music.

Henry V (1599)

A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigged,
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively have quit it.

I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace.

Henceforth I'll bear
Affliction till it do cry out itself,
Enough, enough, and die.

King Lear (1608)

His art with nature's workmanship at strife,
As if the dead the living should exceed.

Venus and Adonis (1593)

Think him as a serpent's egg
Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.

Julius Cæsar (1599)

What mean these masterless and gory swords
To lie discolour'd by this place of peace?

Violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.

Fare thee well;
The elements be kind to thee, and make
Thy spirits all of comfort!

But when I tell him he hates flatterers,
He says he does, being then most flattered.

Julius Cæsar (1599)

My master is of churlish disposition
And little recks to find the way to heaven
By doing deeds of hospitality.

My plenteous joys,
Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves
In drops of sorrow.

Macbeth (1605)

What peremptory, eagle-sighted eye
Dares look upon the heaven of her brow,
That is not blinded by her majesty?

Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me.

No metal can,
No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness
Of thy sharp envy.

Let fame, that all hunt after in their lives,
Live register'd upon our brazen tombs.

Attribution

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