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William Shakespeare quotes

William Shakespeare (1564 to 1616) was an English playwright and poet. Many phrases people use every day first appeared in his plays. Every line below is given with the play, act and scene, so you can check it yourself.

Remember that a line in a play is spoken by a character. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" is the advice of Polonius, a rather pompous father, and not always Shakespeare's own view.

Life and self

  • This above all: to thine own self be true.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

  • All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players.

    William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7

  • We know what we are, but know not what we may be.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5

  • There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

  • To be, or not to be, that is the question.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1

  • We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.

    William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 4, Scene 1

  • What's done cannot be undone.

    William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1

  • Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.

    William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5

  • What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.

    William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2

Love

  • The course of true love never did run smooth.

    William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scene 1

  • Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.

    William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scene 1

  • If music be the food of love, play on.

    William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 1

  • Parting is such sweet sorrow.

    William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2

  • Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

    William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18

  • Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds.

    William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

  • Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

    William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, Act 1, Scene 1

Courage and action

  • Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.

    William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 2, Scene 2

  • The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

    William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2

  • Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt.

    William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act 1, Scene 4

  • Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.

    William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1

  • The better part of valour is discretion.

    William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5, Scene 4

  • Sweet are the uses of adversity.

    William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 1

  • Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.

    William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2, Scene 2

Wisdom and folly

  • Brevity is the soul of wit.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

  • The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

    William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 5, Scene 1

  • All that glisters is not gold.

    William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene 7

  • Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

  • Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

  • Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

  • The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2

  • There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

    William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5

  • Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

    William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, Act 3, Scene 1

  • The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.

    William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1

  • How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

    William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Scene 1

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