From knock-knock jokes to the wild goose chase, we owe many of our most-used and best-loved phrases to the talent of the Bard. His words are timeless in their direct wisdom, their witty humour, and their surprising applicability to modern life. We’ve collected some of our favourite William Shakespeare quotes for when you want to think about life’s big questions, wax poetic on the nature of love, or just need a good laugh.
Quotes on Time
Even in short lines and quick transitions, Shakespeare crafted remarks on the nature of time that are striking and thought-provoking. Though it seems humans insist on fighting time, Shakespeare consistently returns to themes of its inescapability and ability to shape our psyche, whether for better or for worse.
1. “In time we hate that which we often fear.” – William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
2. “We are time's subjects, and time bids be gone.” – William, Henry IV, Part 2
3. “All other doubts, by time let them be clear'd: Fortune brings in some boats, that are not steered.” – William Shakespeare, Cymbeline
4. “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.” – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
5. “Come what come may, time and the hour run through the roughest day.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth
6. “How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”- William Shakespeare, Othello
7. “Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear; seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
8. “There are many events in the womb of time, which will be delivered.” – William Shakespeare, Othello
9. “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” – William Shakespeare, Richard II
10. “Summer's lease hath all too short a date.” – William Shakespeare, The Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare
11. “And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence; Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.” – William Shakespeare, The Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare
12. “Many a man his life hath sold but my outside to behold. Gilded tombs do worms enfold.” – William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
13. “What's past is prologue.” – William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Shakespeare Quotes on Love
His characters may not be known for making the most logical decisions when it comes to love, but Shakespeare made sure they knew how to express and discuss it. These quotes articulate tender sentiments, as well as some of love’s occasionally harsh universal truths.
14. “One fairer than my love! The all-seeing sun ne'er saw her match since first the world begun.” – William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
15. “The course of true love never did run smooth.” – William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
16. “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” – William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
17. “A lover’s eyes will gaze an eagle blind. A lover’s ear will hear the lowest sound.” – William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost
18. “And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays.” – William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
19. “Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like a thorn.” – William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
20. “What's mine is yours, and what is yours is mine.” – William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
21. “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken.” - William Shakespeare, The Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare
22. “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.” – William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
23. “Love sought is good, but given unsought better.” – William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
24. “They do not love that do not show their love.” - Wlliam Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona
25. “Journeys end in lovers meeting, every wise man’s son doth know." – William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare Quotes on Life
Shakespeare had a lot to say about life: its nature, its purpose, and its pitfalls. He mused often on what it means to live a good life, how to try to do so, and whether or not it’s all worth it in the end.
26. “And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.” – William Shakespeare, As You Like It
27. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." – William Shakespeare, As You Like It
28. “No legacy is so rich as honesty.” – William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well
29. “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
30. “This above all; to thine own self be true.” - William Shakespeare, Hamlet
31. “For there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
32. “Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.” – William Shakespeare, Henry VIII
33. “Thou know'st the first time that we smell the air we wawl and cry. When we are born we cry, that we are come to this great state of fools.” – William Shakespeare, King Lear
34. “Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth
35. “Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing.” – William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
36. “Life is as tedious as twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.” – William Shakespeare, King John
37. “Life every man holds dear; but the brave man holds honour far more precious-dear than life.” – William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
38. “We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” – William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Shakespeare Quotes with Biting Wit
It can be tough to come up with a creative insult right when you need one. Luckily, most of Shakespeare’s funniest lines double as excellent put-downs.
39. “I do desire we may be better strangers.” - William Shakespeare, As You Like It
40. “You are not worth another word else I’d call you knave.” – William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well
41. “In his brain—which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage—he hath strange places crammed with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms.” – William Shakespeare, As You Like It
42. “He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. He that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.” – William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
43. “I pray you, do not fall in love with me, for I am falser than vows made in wine. Besides, I like you not.” – William Shakespeare, As You Like It
44. “I never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire.” – William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1
45. "[Thine] face is not worth sunburning." – William Shakespeare, Henry V
46. “You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face.” - William Shakespeare, King Lear
47. “‘O, let me kiss that hand!’... ‘Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality.’” – William Shakespeare, King Lear
48. “How well he's read, to reason against reading!” – William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost
49. “What, you egg!” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth
50. “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me.” – William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
51. “There's many a man has more hair than wit.” – William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors
52. “Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows.” – William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
