200+ William Shakespeare Quotes – Most Memorable Quotes

William Shakespeare, a famous writer, has impacted literature with his deep thoughts and beautiful writing.

The most popular William Shakespeare quotes are looked at in this article. We will discuss how his words are still important in literature and life.

Shakespeare’s quotes touch upon the complexities of human nature, love, ambition, and the human condition. These timeless words can evoke emotions, provoke thought, and inspire action. Shakespeare’s quotes contain a lot of wise advice. You can find comfort in love problems, think deeply about life, or appreciate the beauty of his language.

Come and explore the Best Quotes by William Shakespeare. Please find out how his words still matter today and affect our understanding of literature, theater, and life.

Most Popular William Shakespeare Quotes

But the comfort is, you shall be called to no more payments, fear no more tavern-bills. – William Shakespeare

 

The wheel comes full circle. – William Shakespeare

 

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. – William Shakespeare

 

We know what we are, but know not what we may be. – William Shakespeare

To be, or not to be: that is the question. – William Shakespeare

 

Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting. – William Shakespeare

 

This above all: to thine own self be true. – William Shakespeare

 

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

 

Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. – William Shakespeare

 

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

 

Now is the winter of our discontent. – William Shakespeare

Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? – William Shakespeare

 

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. – William Shakespeare

 

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. – William Shakespeare

 

God has given you one face, and you make yourself another. – William Shakespeare

 

My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break. – William Shakespeare

 

What ‘s gone and what ‘s past help Should be past grief. – William Shakespeare

You are a lover. Borrow Cupid’s wings and soar with them above a common bound. – William Shakespeare

 

What a terrible era in which idiots govern the blind. – William Shakespeare

 

All that glitters is not gold. – William Shakespeare

 

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. – William Shakespeare

 

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. – William Shakespeare

 

Love is too young to know what conscience is. – William Shakespeare

 

We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with asleep. – William Shakespeare

Think’st thou, Hortensio, though her father is very rich, any man is so very a fool to be married to hell? – William Shakespeare

 

Better three hours too soon than a minute too late. – William Shakespeare

 

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. – William Shakespeare

 

Give every man thy ear but few thy voice. – William Shakespeare

 

Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow. – William Shakespeare

 

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. – William Shakespeare

 

It’s not enough to speak but to speak true. – William Shakespeare

 

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
― William Shakespeare

 

The course of true love never did run smooth. – William Shakespeare

 

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

 

Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. – William Shakespeare

 

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. – William Shakespeare

 

Full fathom five thy father lies, of his bones, are coral made. Those are pearls that were his eyes. Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange. – William Shakespeare

 

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. – William Shakespeare

 

Never play with the feelings of others, because you may win the game but the risk is that you will surely lose the person for a lifetime. – William Shakespeare

 

Love like a shadow flies when substance love pursues. – William Shakespeare

 

The common curse of mankind, – folly and ignorance. – William Shakespeare

 

Don’t waste your love on somebody who doesn’t value it. – William Shakespeare

 

The Eyes are the window to your soul. – William Shakespeare

 

The lady doth protest too much, methinks. – William Shakespeare

 

No legacy is so rich as honesty. – William Shakespeare

 

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. – William Shakespeare

 

Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love. – William Shakespeare

 

Whiles, I am a beggar, I will rail and say there is no sin but to be rich; and being rich, my virtue then shall be to say there is no vice but beggary. – William Shakespeare

Read More: 230+ Aristotle Quotes

My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go. – William Shakespeare

 

Love me or hate me, both are in my favor, if you love me, I’ll always be in your heart, if you hate me, I’ll always be in your mind. – William Shakespeare

 

If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? – William Shakespeare

 

Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. – William Shakespeare

 

All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players. – William Shakespeare

 

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. ― William Shakespeare

 

 We know what we are, but know not what we may be. – William Shakespeare

 

Love sought is good, but given unsought, is better. – William Shakespeare

 

A man can die but once. – William Shakespeare

 

How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child! – William Shakespeare

 

By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap to pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon, or dive into the bottom of the deep, where fathom-line could never touch the ground, and pluck up drowned honor by the locks. – William Shakespeare

 

Love is blind, and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit. – William Shakespeare

 

We came into the world like brother and brother; And now let’s go hand in hand, not one before another. – William Shakespeare

 

Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings. – William Shakespeare

 

How bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes! – William Shakespeare

 

Hell is empty and all the devils are here. – William Shakespeare

 

Have more than you show, Speak less than you know. – William Shakespeare

 

By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. Open, locks, Whoever knocks! – William Shakespeare

 

When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry. – William Shakespeare

 

The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. – William Shakespeare

 

As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with words. – William Shakespeare

 

With a good leg and a good foot, uncle, and money enough in his purse, such a man would win any woman in the world, if a’ could get her good-will. ― William Shakespeare

 

Brevity is the soul of wit. ― William Shakespeare

 

I always feel happy, you know why? Because I don’t expect anything from anyone, expectations always hurt. Life is short, so live your life, be happy and keep smiling. – William Shakespeare

 

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. – William Shakespeare

 

Who could refrain that had a heart to love, and in that heart, courage, to make love known? ― William Shakespeare

 

Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find. ― William Shakespeare

 

One-touch of nature makes the whole world kin. ― William Shakespeare

 

I am one who loved not wisely but too well. ― William Shakespeare

 

To do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottage princes’ palaces. ― William Shakespeare

 

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. ― William Shakespeare

 

You speak an infinite deal of nothing. ― William Shakespeare

 

I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks. – William Shakespeare

 

Have more than thou showest, speak less than thou knowest, lend less than thou owest. ― William Shakespeare

 

When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions. ― William Shakespeare

 

The expectation is the root of all heartache. ― William Shakespeare

 

When I got enough confidence, the stage was gone. When I was sure of losing, I won. When I needed people the most, they left me. When I learned to dry my tears, I found a shoulder to cry on. And when I mastered the art of hating, somebody started loving me. ― William Shakespeare

 

Fair is foul and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. – William Shakespeare

 

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. ― William Shakespeare

 

Strong reasons make strong actions. ― William Shakespeare

 

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound. ― William Shakespeare

 

Money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate. ― William Shakespeare

 

Men of few words are the best men. ― William Shakespeare

 

If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not speak then to me. ― William Shakespeare

 

Just live for yourself and before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you pray, forgive. Before you hurt, feel. Before you hate, love. Before you quit, try. Before you die, live. – William Shakespeare

 

I would give all my fame for a pot of ale, and safety. – William Shakespeare

 

Whoever loved that loved not at first sight? ― William Shakespeare

 

Though she be but little, she is fierce! ― William Shakespeare

 

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing. ― William Shakespeare

 

If music be the food of love play on. ― William Shakespeare

 

As merry as the day is long. ― William Shakespeare

 

What’s in a name? A rose by any name would smell as sweet. ― William Shakespeare

 

I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind. ― William Shakespeare

 

It is a wise father that knows his own child. – William Shakespeare

 

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. ― William Shakespeare

 

Nature teaches beasts to know their friends. ― William Shakespeare

 

They do not love that do not show their love. ― William Shakespeare

 

If we are true to ourselves, we can not be false to anyone. ― William Shakespeare

 

These violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume. – William Shakespeare

 

Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains. ― William Shakespeare

 

Nothing ventured, nothing gain. ― William Shakespeare

 

Go wisely and go slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall. ― William Shakespeare

 

For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. ― William Shakespeare

 

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue. ― William Shakespeare

 

Always the wrong person gives you the right lesson in life. – William Shakespeare

 

If I lose mine honor, I lose myself. ― William Shakespeare

 

Pleasure and action make the hours seem short. – William Shakespeare

 

When you depart from me sorrow abides, and happiness takes his leave. ― William Shakespeare

 

Lord, what fools these mortals be! ― William Shakespeare

 

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god. ― William Shakespeare

 

The better part of valor is discretion. – William Shakespeare

 

Nothing will come of nothing. – William Shakespeare

 

Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day. – William Shakespeare

 

A ministering angel shall my sister be. – William Shakespeare

 

How soon this mightiness meets misery; And if you can be merry then. – William Shakespeare

 

Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. – William Shakespeare

 

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. – William Shakespeare

 

Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall. – William Shakespeare

 

Beware the Ides of March. – William Shakespeare

 

Let every eye negotiate for itself and trust no agent. – William Shakespeare

 

How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees? – William Shakespeare

 

The meaning of life is to find your gift; the purpose of your life is to give it away. – William Shakespeare

 

If thou wilt lends this money…lend it rather to thine enemy, who, if he breaks, thou mayst with better face exact the penalty. – William Shakespeare

 

Suit the action to the word, the word to the action. – William Shakespeare

 

Time is very slow for those who wait. Very fast for those who are scared. Very long for those who celebrate. But for those who love, time is eternal. – William Shakespeare

 

To do a great right do a little wrong. – William Shakespeare

 

Speak low if you speak love. – William Shakespeare

 

I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it. ― William Shakespeare

 

The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream. – William Shakespeare

 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. – William Shakespeare

 

He doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs, and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves. – William Shakespeare

 

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. – William Shakespeare

 

There is one pain I often feel, which you will never know. It is caused by the absence of you. – William Shakespeare

 

Conscience is but a word that cowards use, devised at first to keep the strong in awe. – William Shakespeare

 

To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on. – William Shakespeare

 

In time we hate that which we often fear. – William Shakespeare

 

I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed! – William Shakespeare

 

This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle… This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. – William Shakespeare

 

Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind. – William Shakespeare

 

The object of art is to give life a shape. – William Shakespeare

 

Things are done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear. – William Shakespeare

 

He that dies pays all debts. – William Shakespeare

 

A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow. – William Shakespeare

 

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet are of imagination all compact. – William Shakespeare

 

Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend. – William Shakespeare

 

Conscience doth make cowards of us all. ― William Shakespeare

 

O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention. – William Shakespeare

 

Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps. – William Shakespeare

 

Lads and girls all must, as chimney-sweepers, come to dust. – William Shakespeare

 

Thoughts are but dreams till their effects be tried. – William Shakespeare

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. – William Shakespeare

 

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes, hasten to their end. – William Shakespeare

 

Be great in act, as you have been in thought. – William Shakespeare

 

Words spoken can not be recalled so think twice before you speak. – William Shakespeare

 

There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face. – William Shakespeare

 

I must be cruel, only to be kind. – William Shakespeare

 

Love comforteth like sunshine after rain. – William Shakespeare

 

When Love speaks, the voice of all the gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony. – William Shakespeare

 

He lends out money gratis and brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice. – William Shakespeare

 

Talking isn’t doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well, and yet words are not deeds. – William Shakespeare

 

It is the stars, The stars above us, govern our conditions. – William Shakespeare

 

Death lies on her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field. – William Shakespeare

 

Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head. – William Shakespeare

 

I  am a man more sinned against than sinning. – William Shakespeare

 

Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed. – William Shakespeare

 

Sit by my side, and let the world slip: we shall ne’er be younger. – William Shakespeare

 

My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones, nor to be seen: my crown is called content, a crown it is that seldom kings enjoy. – William Shakespeare

 

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving. – William Shakespeare

 

Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge. – William Shakespeare

 

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

 

Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends. – William Shakespeare

 

If money goes before, all ways do lie open. – William Shakespeare

 

Teach me how I should forget to think. – William Shakespeare

 

The robbed that smiles steal something from the thief. – William Shakespeare

 

Everyone can master a grief but he that has it. – William Shakespeare

 

As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport. – William Shakespeare

 

A grandma’s name is little less in love than is the doting title of a mother. – William Shakespeare

 

We suffer a lot the few things we lack and we enjoy too little the many things we have. – William Shakespeare

 

We cannot conceive of matter being formed of anything since things require a seed to start from… Therefore there is not anything that returns to nothing, but all things return dissolved into their elements. – William Shakespeare

 

Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast. – William Shakespeare

 

Money is a good soldier, and will on. – William Shakespeare

 

Make not your thoughts your prisons. – William Shakespeare

 

Whether ‘this 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? – William Shakespeare

 

Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs. – William Shakespeare

 

I had rather have a fool make me merry than experience makes me sad. – William Shakespeare

 

One may smile, and smile, and be a villain. – William Shakespeare

 

False face must hide what the false heart doth know. – William Shakespeare

 

I was seeking for a fool when I found you. – William Shakespeare

 

When we are born we cry that we come to this great stage of fools. – William Shakespeare

 

Absence from those we love is self from self – a deadly banishment. – William Shakespeare

 

Women speak two languages – one of which is verbal. – William Shakespeare

 

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself. – William Shakespeare

 

Why, but there’s many a man hath more hair than wit. – William Shakespeare

 

The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. – William Shakespeare

 

Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear. – William Shakespeare

 

Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye. – William Shakespeare

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No, I will be the pattern of all patience; I will say nothing. – William Shakespeare

 

I do desire we may be better strangers. – William Shakespeare

 

It is a good divine that follows his own instructions. -William Shakespeare

 

Time does not have the same appeal for everyone. – William Shakespeare

 

Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. – William Shakespeare

 

More of your conversation would infect my brain. – William Shakespeare

 

The desire of having is the sin of covetousness. – William Shakespeare

 

I love the name of honor more than I fear death. – William Shakespeare

 

Love is the greatest of dreams, yet the worst of nightmares. – William Shakespeare

 

But if it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive. – William Shakespeare

 

The most peaceable way for you, if you do take a thief, is, to let him show himself what he is and steal out of your company. – William Shakespeare

 

I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking: I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment. – William Shakespeare

 

To unpathed waters, undreamed shores. – William Shakespeare

 

What is past is prologue. – William Shakespeare