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William Shakespeare

Writer

William Shakespeare was one of the greatest writers in history, whose works have shaped literature, language, and storytelling for centuries. His words explore love, ambition, power, tragedy, and the complexity of human nature. The following quotes capture Shakespeare’s timeless insight and the enduring relevance of his poetic genius.
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Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day.
From Richard II
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
From Julius Caesar
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Men must endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither.
Ripeness is all.
From King Lear
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Can no prayers pierce thee?

SHYLOCK: No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
There's little of the melancholy element in her, my lord: she is never sad but when she sleeps; and not ever sad then; for I have heard my daughter say, she hath often dreamt of unhappiness, and waked herself with laughing.
From Much Ado About Nothing
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
From Macbeth
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational, Life
La vida es mi tortura y la muerte será mi descanso.
From Romeo and Juliet
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
The course of true love never did run smooth.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah! do not, when my heart hath ‘scaped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquered woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite,
But in the onset come: so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune’s might;
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide,
By self-example mayst thou be denied.
From Sonnets
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
So may the outward shows be least themselves:
The world is still deceived with ornament.
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil? In religion,
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?
There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
One pain is lessened by another’s anguish. ... Take thou some new infection to thy eye, And the rank poison of the old will die.
From Romeo and Juliet
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
Who knows himself a braggart, let him fear this, for it will come to pass that every braggart shall be found an ass.
From The Complete Works
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Funny
With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
From Shakespeare's Sonnets
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Cordelia! stay a little. Ha! What is't thou say'st? Her voice was ever soft.
From King Lear
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
These are the ushers of Martius: before him
He carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears.
Death, that dark spirit, in's nervy arm doth lie,
Which being advanc'd, declines, and then men die.
From Coriolanus
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Sir, I am a true laborer: I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good, content with my harm; and the greatest of my pride is to see my ewes graze and my lambs suck.
From As You Like It
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Success
Life... is a paradise to what we fear of death.
From Measure for Measure
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
Of all knowledge, the wise and good seek mostly to know themselves.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day.
From Richard II
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
From Julius Caesar
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Men must endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither.
Ripeness is all.
From King Lear
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Can no prayers pierce thee?

SHYLOCK: No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
There's little of the melancholy element in her, my lord: she is never sad but when she sleeps; and not ever sad then; for I have heard my daughter say, she hath often dreamt of unhappiness, and waked herself with laughing.
From Much Ado About Nothing
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
From Macbeth
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational, Life
La vida es mi tortura y la muerte será mi descanso.
From Romeo and Juliet
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
The course of true love never did run smooth.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah! do not, when my heart hath ‘scaped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquered woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite,
But in the onset come: so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune’s might;
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide,
By self-example mayst thou be denied.
From Sonnets
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
So may the outward shows be least themselves:
The world is still deceived with ornament.
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil? In religion,
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?
There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
One pain is lessened by another’s anguish. ... Take thou some new infection to thy eye, And the rank poison of the old will die.
From Romeo and Juliet
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
Who knows himself a braggart, let him fear this, for it will come to pass that every braggart shall be found an ass.
From The Complete Works
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Funny
With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
From Shakespeare's Sonnets
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Cordelia! stay a little. Ha! What is't thou say'st? Her voice was ever soft.
From King Lear
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
These are the ushers of Martius: before him
He carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears.
Death, that dark spirit, in's nervy arm doth lie,
Which being advanc'd, declines, and then men die.
From Coriolanus
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Sir, I am a true laborer: I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good, content with my harm; and the greatest of my pride is to see my ewes graze and my lambs suck.
From As You Like It
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Success
Life... is a paradise to what we fear of death.
From Measure for Measure
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
Of all knowledge, the wise and good seek mostly to know themselves.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day.
From Richard II
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
From Julius Caesar
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Men must endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither.
Ripeness is all.
From King Lear
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Can no prayers pierce thee?

SHYLOCK: No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
There's little of the melancholy element in her, my lord: she is never sad but when she sleeps; and not ever sad then; for I have heard my daughter say, she hath often dreamt of unhappiness, and waked herself with laughing.
From Much Ado About Nothing
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
From Macbeth
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational, Life
La vida es mi tortura y la muerte será mi descanso.
From Romeo and Juliet
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
The course of true love never did run smooth.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah! do not, when my heart hath ‘scaped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquered woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite,
But in the onset come: so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune’s might;
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide,
By self-example mayst thou be denied.
From Sonnets
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Relationships
So may the outward shows be least themselves:
The world is still deceived with ornament.
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil? In religion,
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?
There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
One pain is lessened by another’s anguish. ... Take thou some new infection to thy eye, And the rank poison of the old will die.
From Romeo and Juliet
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Other
Who knows himself a braggart, let him fear this, for it will come to pass that every braggart shall be found an ass.
From The Complete Works
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Funny
With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
From The Merchant of Venice
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Happiness
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
From Shakespeare's Sonnets
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Cordelia! stay a little. Ha! What is't thou say'st? Her voice was ever soft.
From King Lear
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
These are the ushers of Martius: before him
He carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears.
Death, that dark spirit, in's nervy arm doth lie,
Which being advanc'd, declines, and then men die.
From Coriolanus
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Death
Sir, I am a true laborer: I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good, content with my harm; and the greatest of my pride is to see my ewes graze and my lambs suck.
From As You Like It
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Success
Life... is a paradise to what we fear of death.
From Measure for Measure
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
Of all knowledge, the wise and good seek mostly to know themselves.
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Philosophical
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