William Shakespeare is arguably the most celebrated writer in the English language to have ever lived. Read some of the best William Shakespeare quotes, sayings, and lines from his famous plays and verses.
These beautiful quotations by Shakespeare on life, love, friendship, death, and more are absolutely timeless.
He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon” (or simply “the Bard”).
In addition to his plays, Shakespeare wrote numerous sonnets, which are 14-line poems, known for their intricate wordplay and emotional depth. Shakespeare was a master of both tragedy and comedy in his works.
Shakespeare’s words were so special that he made up new words and phrases that became part of the English language. Imagine inventing words like “eyeball”, “all’s well that ends well.”, and “bedroom”!
Some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language
People from all around loved his plays and poems, and even today, his stories are still performed on stage, and his words are read by people who want to experience his incredible imagination.
Top 10 William Shakespeare Quotes
- “All that glisters is not gold.” — Shakespeare
- “No legacy is so rich as honesty.” — Shakespeare
- “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” — Shakespeare
- “Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.” — Shakespeare
- “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” — Shakespeare
- “The fault…is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” — Shakespeare
- “Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.” — Shakespeare
- “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” — Shakespeare
- “If we are true to ourselves, we can not be false to anyone.” — Shakespeare
- “‘Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.” — Shakespeare
Famous Shakespeare Quotations
- “What is past is prologue.” — William Shakespeare
- “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” — Shakespeare
- “Be great in act, as you have been in thought.” — Shakespeare
- “What’s done can’t be undone.” — William Shakespeare (Macbeth)
- “Nothing can come of nothing.” — William Shakespeare (King Lear)
- “When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain.” — Shakespeare (Richard II)
- “I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.” — Shakespeare
- “Our bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners.” — Shakespeare (Othello)
- “How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.” — Shakespeare
- “Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” — Shakespeare
Best of William Shakespeare Quotes
- “Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge.” — Shakespeare
- “This above all; to thine own self be true.” — Shakespeare
- “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” — Shakespeare
- “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” — Shakespeare
- “Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.” — Shakespeare
- “The better part of valor is discretion.” ― Shakespeare, Henry IV
- “Now is the winter of our discontent.” ― Shakespeare, Richard III
- “Strong reasons make strong actions.” ― William Shakespeare
- “Let life be short, else shame will be too long.” ― Shakespeare, William, Henry V
- “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” — Shakespeare (Merchant Of Venice)
Inspirational Shakespeare Quotes About Life
- “I bear a charmed life.” — Shakespeare
- “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” — Shakespeare
- “Such as we are made of, such we be.” — Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
- “All things are ready if our mind be so.” — Shakespeare, Henry V
- “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” — Shakespeare, Hamlet
- “Words without thoughts never to heaven go.” — Shakespeare, Hamlet
- “Pleasure and action make the hours seem short.” — Shakespeare, Othello
- “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” — Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
- “In time we hate that which we often fear.” — Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
- “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts.” — Shakespeare
Romantic Shakespeare Love Quotes
- “If music be the food of love, play on.” — Shakespeare
- “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” — Shakespeare
- “I am one who loved not wisely but too well.” — Shakespeare
- “They do not love that do not show their love.” — Shakespeare
- “Love is too young to know what conscience is.” — Shakespeare
- “One beautiful heart is better than thousand beautiful faces.” — Shakespeare
- “The sight of lovers feedeth those in love.” — Shakespeare, As You Like It
- “The course of true love never did run smooth.” — A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- “I would not wish any companion in the world but you.” — Shakespeare
- “Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.” — Shakespeare
- “Don’t waste your love on somebody, who doesn’t value it.” — Shakespeare
- “I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.” — Shakespeare
- “I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say ‘I love you,”― Shakespeare, Henry V
- “Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly. Then your love would also change.”
Shakespeare Quotes On Friendship
- “Boldness be my friend.” — Shakespeare
- “If money go before, all ways do lie open.” — Shakespeare
- “Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.” — Shakespeare
- I do love nothing in the world so well as you- is not that strange?” ― Shakespeare
- “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” — Shakespeare
- “Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find.” — Shakespeare
- “For to be wise and love exceeds man’s might.” ― Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
- “I must be cruel only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.” — Shakespeare
- “Love is begun by time, And time qualifies the spark and fire of it.”— Shakespeare, Hamlet
- “Love me or hate me, both are in my favor. For if you love me I will always be in your heart; if you hate me I will always be in your mind.” — Shakespeare
Quotes By William Shakespeare
- “Brevity is the soul of wit.” — Shakespeare (Hamlet)
- “Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.” — Shakespeare
- “One may smile, and smile, be a villain.” — Shakespeare (Hamlet)
- “Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.” — Shakespeare
- “Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.” — Shakespeare
- “Beauty itself doth of itself persuade The eyes of men without orator.” ― Shakespeare
- “And oftentimes excusing of a fault doth make the fault the worse by the excuse.” — Shakespeare
- “How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”
- “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”
- “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up o-er wrought heart and bids it break.”
Iconic Quotes From Shakespeare
These amazing quotes showcase Shakespeare’s ability to capture deep emotions, universal truths, and timeless wisdom through his words.
- “Thought is free.” — William Shakespeare
- “Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” — William Shakespeare
- “Conscience doth make cowards of us all.” — William Shakespeare
- “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.” — William Shakespeare
- “Many a true word hath been spoken in jest.” — William Shakespeare
- “April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” — William Shakespeare
- “Let me be that I am and seek not to alter me.” — William Shakespeare
- “The Devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape.” — William Shakespeare
- “For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; lillies that fester smell far worse than weeds.” — William Shakespeare
- “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-ey’d monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” — William Shakespeare
Best Shakespearean Sayings
- “Men should be what they seem.” — Shakespeare
- “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” — Shakespeare
- “He jests at scars that never felt a wound.” — Shakespeare
- “In black ink my love may still shine bright.” — Shakespeare
- “The tempter or the tempted, who sins most?” — Shakespeare
- “Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs.” — Shakespeare
- “Love sought is good, but given unsought, is better.” — Shakespeare
- “Go to your bosom: Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.” — Shakespeare
- “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.”— Shakespeare
- “Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom.” — Shakespeare
Funny Shakespeare Quotes
- “My pride fell with my fortunes.” — Shakespeare
- “Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.” — Shakespeare
- “I will praise any man that will praise me.” — Shakespeare
- “I wish my horse had the speed of your tongue.” — Shakespeare
- “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” — Shakespeare
- “He that loves to be flattered is worthy o’ the flatterer.” — Shakespeare
- “God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.” — Shakespeare
- “Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive performance?” — Shakespeare
- “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — Shakespeare
- “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” — William Shakespeare (Julius Ceaser)
Shakespeare Quotes
- “I dote on his very absence.” — Shakespeare
- “Speak low, if you speak love.” — Shakespeare
- “I am not bound to please thee with my answer.” — Shakespeare
- “Your face is a book, where men may read strange matters.” — Shakespeare
- “For which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?” — Shakespeare
- “When I saw you, I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew.” — Shakespeare
- “‘I can see that he’s not in your good books,’ said the messenger. ‘No, and if he were I would burn my library.’” — Shakespeare
- “Never play with the feelings of others, because you may win the game but the risk is that you will surely lose the person for life time.” — William Shakespeare
Julius Caesar Shakespeare Quotes
These quotes capture some of the most memorable lines from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” a tragedy that delves into themes of betrayal, ambition, and the complexities of human nature.
- “Et tu, Brute?” — Julius Caesar
- “Beware the ides of March.” — Soothsayer
- “Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods.” — Brutus
- “Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war.” — Mark Antony
- “The noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times.” — Mark Antony
- “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” — Brutus
- “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” — Mark Antony
- “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” — Julius Caesar
- “The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.” — Julius Caesar
- “Men at some time are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” — Cassius
Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet Quotes
These quotes capture the essence of the tragic love story between Romeo and Juliet, and they remain some of the most memorable lines in literature. Explore more timeless Romeo and Juliet quotes from Shakespeare’s classic tragedy.
- “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” — Juliet, Act 2 Scene I
- “A plague o’ both your houses!” — Mercutio, Act 3 Scene 1
- “Under love’s heavy burden do I sink.” — Romeo, Act 1, Scene 4
- “A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” — Chorus, Prologue
- “These violent delights have violent ends.” — Friar Laurence
- “That which we call a rose ny any other word would smell as sweet.” — Juliet
- “Love is a smoke and is made with the fume of sighs.” — Romeo and Juliet
- “Lovers can do their amorous rites by their own beauties.” — Romeo and Juliet
- “What’s in a name? A rose by any name would smell as sweet.” — Romeo and Juliet
- “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” — Prince Escalus
Conclusion
Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, Shakespeare’s life and works continue to inspire readers around the world. He passed away on April 23, 1616.
For over four centuries, the 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and two long narrative poems penned by William Shakespeare have held onto their importance in literature and culture.
These quotes offer a glimpse into Shakespeare’s insightful and poetic expressions that continue to resonate with people around the world.
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