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William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare Quotes

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Famous William Shakespeare Quotes

“To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover'd country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.--Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd!”

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Book:Hamlet
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“What infinite heart's-ease Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy! And what have kings, that privates have not too, Save ceremony, save general ceremony? And what art thou, thou idle ceremony? What kind of god art thou, that suffer'st more Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers? What are thy rents? what are thy comings in? O ceremony, show me but thy worth! What is thy soul of adoration? Art thou aught else but place, degree and form, Creating awe and fear in other men? Wherein thou art less happy being fear'd Than they in fearing. What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet, But poison'd flattery? O, be sick, great greatness, And bid thy ceremony give thee cure! Think'st thou the fiery fever will go out With titles blown from adulation? Will it give place to flexure and low bending? Canst thou, when thou command'st the beggar's knee, Command the health of it? No, thou proud dream, That play'st so subtly with a king's repose; I am a king that find thee, and I know 'Tis not the balm, the sceptre and the ball, The sword, the mace, the crown imperial, The intertissued robe of gold and pearl, The farced title running 'fore the king, The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp That beats upon the high shore of this world, No, not all these, thrice-gorgeous ceremony, Not all these, laid in bed majestical, Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave, Who with a body fill'd and vacant mind Gets him to rest, cramm'd with distressful bread; Never sees horrid night, the child of hell, But, like a lackey, from the rise to set Sweats in the eye of Phoebus and all night Sleeps in Elysium; next day after dawn, Doth rise and help Hyperion to his horse, And follows so the ever-running year, With profitable labour, to his grave: And, but for ceremony, such a wretch, Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep, Had the fore-hand and vantage of a king. The slave, a member of the country's peace, Enjoys it; but in gross brain little wots What watch the king keeps to maintain the peace, Whose hours the peasant best advantages.”

LifeValuesHumanityWorkSocietyMankindKingsSatisfactionEqualityFulfillmentEmptinessFlatteryCeremonyRoyaltyPeasantsExaltationMeaninglessnessPurpose In LifeBurdensAdulationHonorsFeudal SocietyPompEmpty Form
Book:Henry V
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“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

LoveLifeInspirationalMatterCharacterWisdomCommunityHurtHonestyIdentityTrustWise WordsWords Of WisdomIntegrityAnd LoveTrue LoveCaringBetrayalDeceptionHypocrisyLive ByDistrustSonnetPlaywrightGreat LoveTrust YourselfCriminal MindGood AdviceMistrustTrustworthinessTrust No OneShort LoveLove And TrustWrong PersonBeautiful LoveTrust IssuesBest Ever LovePublic TrustRomeo And Juliet LoveWrong PathCuffsTrust And RespectInteracting With OthersTrust LoveTrust And BelieveTrust HonestyNo TrustHim And HerTrust And HonestyBetrayal Of TrustMutual TrustTrusting YouDeserve LoveLive For YourselfHard To TrustWrong LoveHamlet LoveNight LoveTrust And FriendshipTrust RespectWrong GuyWrong ImpressionWhom To Trust
Book:Plays of William Shakespeare
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“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.”

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Author:William Shakespeare
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“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

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Author:William Shakespeare
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“And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.”

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Author:William Shakespeare
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“There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”

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Author:William Shakespeare
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“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”

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Book:The Pictorial edition of the works of Shakspere, ed. by C. Knight. [8 vols., including a vol. entitled William Shakspere, by C. Knight].
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“Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life.”

MenLifeCharacterHonorDearEvery ManYour HonorPrecious StonesCondolence MessageDear LifeSympathy Messages
Book:The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare: With a Life of the Poet, and Notes, Original and Selected; Together with a Copious Glossary
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“We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

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Author:William Shakespeare
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“Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.”

LifeLittlesMadeDreamScienceLife IsSpiritActorsStuffSleepBehindsVisionAirCloudsTemplesGlobesFabricTowersOur DreamsGorgeousPalacesSolemnFadedTempestI Had A DreamRacksJust A DreamPageantThin AirVisions And DreamsLife Is A DreamLife And DreamsSleep And DreamSleep DreamFabric Of Life
Author:William Shakespeare
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“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.”

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Author:William Shakespeare
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“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

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Author:William Shakespeare
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