Considered the greatest English-language writer in history and known as the English national poet, William Shakespeare produced more plays than any other playwright. Here are some compilations of William Shakespeare Quotes from him and his play including hamlet, Julius Caesar, Othello, The tempest, and many more.
Short Biography of William Shakespeare
Shakespeare is now mainly known as one of the great English dramatists, however much of his literary reputation during his lifetime was based on his poetic works, most notably Ovid’s narrative poems Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucretia(1594). Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy throughout his life, and in 1623 two of his former theater colleagues published the First Folio, a collection of his dramatic works, which included all but the two plays now recognized by Shakespeare.
Most of Shakespeare’s greatest plays after 1599 were written for the world, including Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. After 1594, Shakespeare’s plays were exclusively performed by a company affiliated with a group of actors known as “Lord Chamberlain”, which became a major London company. Royal records from 1601 show that Shakespeare was recognized at the court of King James I as a member and bridegroom of the Royal Troupe, which performed seven of Shakespeare’s plays there.
Today, countless theater festivals around the world celebrate his work, students memorize his eloquent poetry, and scholars rethink the million words of text he composed. His works have been translated into every major living language and presented more often than the works of any other playwright.
“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
“We know what we are, but not what we may be.”
“Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find.”
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”
“My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break.”
“By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.”
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
“Don’t waste your love on somebody, who doesn’t value it.”
“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”
“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
“Listen to many, speak to a few.”
“One may smile, and smile, and be a villain. ”
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
“Conscience doth make cowards of us all.”
“Presume not that I am the thing I was.”
“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me.”
“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.”
“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs.”
“Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. ”
“These violent delights have violent ends.”
“Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.”
“Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.”
“Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.”
“All’s well that ends well.”
“If we are true to ourselves, we can not be false to anyone.”
“Be great in act, as you have been in thought.”
“Be great in act, as you have been in thought.”
“Men in rage strike those that wish them best.”
“Some are born mad, some achieve madness, and some have madness thrust upon ’em.”
“Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.”
“So full of artless jealousy is guilt, It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.”
“Journeys end in lovers meeting.”
“All things are ready, if our mind be so.”
“Things without all remedy should be without regard: what’s done is done.”
“Come what come may, time and the hour run through the roughest day.”
“it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance”
“I say there is no darkness but ignorance.”
“And worse I may be yet: the worst is not So long as we can say. This is the worst.”
“Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.”
“Let us not burthen our remembrance with. A heaviness that’s gone.”
“Time travels at different speeds for different people. I can tell you who time strolls for, who it trots for, who it gallops for, and who it stops cold for.”