William Shakespeare Quotes

3,205 Sourced Quotes

And then he drew a dial from his poke,
And, looking on it with lack-luster eye,
Says very wisely, "It is ten o'clock;
Thus may we see," quoth he, "how the world
wags."

William Shakespeare
Constant you are,
But yet a woman: and for secrecy,
No lady closer; for I well believe
Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know;
And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.

William Shakespeare
He's of the colour of the nutmeg. And of the heat of the ginger.... he is pure air and fire; and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him, but only in patient stillness while his rider mounts him; he is indeed a horse, and all other jades you may call beasts.

William Shakespeare
A breath thou art,
Servile to all the skyey influences.

William Shakespeare
Unbidden guests
Are often welcomest when they are gone.

William Shakespeare
Eat no onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath.

William Shakespeare
Base men being in love have then a nobility in their natures more than is native to them.

William Shakespeare
Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter,
In sleep a king, but, waking, no such matter.

William Shakespeare
With one auspicious and one dropping eye,
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,
In equal scale weighing delight and dole.

William Shakespeare
A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond justice rails upon yon simple thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

William Shakespeare
And all this day an unaccustomed spirit lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts.

William Shakespeare
I am not mad; I would to heaven I were! For then, 'tis like I should forget myself; O, if I could, what grief should I forget!

William Shakespeare
But flies an eagle flight, bold and forth on, Leaving no tract behind.

William Shakespeare
O! who can hold a fire in his hand By thinking on the frosty Caucasus? Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite By bare imagination of a feast? Or wallow naked in December snow By thinking on fantastic summer's heat? O, no! the apprehension of the good Gives but the greater feeling to the worse.

William Shakespeare
'Tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no sin for a man to labor in his vocation.

William Shakespeare
I am one, my liege,
Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Have so incens'd that I am reckless what I do to spite the world.

William Shakespeare
Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?

William Shakespeare
Like to the Pontick sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on To the Propontic and the Hellespont,
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace, Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love,
Till that a capable and wide revenge
Swallow them up.

William Shakespeare
Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, a face without a heart?

William Shakespeare
I'll follow thee and make a heaven of hell,
To die upon the hand I love so well

William Shakespeare
Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself.

William Shakespeare
But shall we wear these glories for a day? Or shall they last, and we rejoice in them?

William Shakespeare
And give to dust that is a little gilt
More laud than gilt o'er-dusted.

William Shakespeare
Why should we pay tribute? If Caesar can hide the sun from us with a blanket, or put the moon in his pocket, we will pay him tribute for light; else, sir, no more tribute.

William Shakespeare
Were I the Moor I would not be Iago. In following him I follow but myself; Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, But seeming so for my peculiar end. For when my outward action doth demonstrate The native act and figure of my heart In compliment extern, 'tis not long after But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at. I am not what I am

William Shakespeare
Faith, there hath been many great men that have flattered the people who ne'er loved them.

William Shakespeare
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.

William Shakespeare
First Witch: When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch: When the hurly-burly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.

William Shakespeare
Let none presume To wear an undeserved dignity. O! that estates, degrees, and offices Were not deriv'd corruptly, and that clear honor Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer.

William Shakespeare
Let us not burden our remembrances
With a heaviness that's gone.

William Shakespeare