William Shakespare Quotes

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;
But were we burdened with like weight of pain,
As much or more we should ourselves complain.

Action is eloquence.

And since you know you cannot see yourself,
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,
will modestly discover to yourself,
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With old odd ends, stol'n forth of holy writ;
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

Assume a virtue, if you have it not.

Be great in act, as you have been in thought.

Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind,
As man's ingratitude.

Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood.

For they are yet ear-kissing arguments.

Free from gross passion or of mirth or anger
constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood,
garnish'd and deck'd in modest compliment,
not working with the eye without the ear,
and but in purged judgement trusting neither?
Such and so finely bolted didst thou seem.

Glory is like a circle in the water,
Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself,
Till by broad spreading it disperses to naught.

God bless thee; and put meekness in thy mind, love, charity, obedience, and true duty!

He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself.

His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!

How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees.

How use doth breed a habit in a man.

I am not bound to please thee with my answers.

I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart: but the saying is true 'The empty vessel makes the greatest sound'.

I dote on his very absence.

I feel within me a peace above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet conscience.

I hate ingratitude more in a man
than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness,
or any taint of vice whose strong corruption
inhabits our frail blood.

I must be cruel only to be kind;
Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.

I pray thee cease thy counsel,
Which falls into mine ears as profitless
as water in a sieve.

I pray you bear me henceforth from the noise and rumour of the field, where I may think the remnant of my thoughts in peace, and part of this body and my soul with contemplation and devout desires.

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.

I wish you well and so I take my leave,
I Pray you know me when we meet again.

Ill deeds are doubled with an evil word.

In a false quarrel there is no true valour.

In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility.

In time we hate that which we often fear.

It is not enough to help the feeble up, but to support him after.

Lady you bereft me of all words,
Only my blood speaks to you in my veins,
And there is such confusion in my powers.

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

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

Mine honour is my life; both grow in one; take honour from me and my life is done.

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

Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.

Our bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners.

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie.

Pity is the virtue of the law, and none but tyrants use it cruelly.

Praising what is lost makes the remembrance dear.

See first that the design is wise and just: that ascertained, pursue it resolutely; do not for one repulse forego the purpose that you resolved to effect.

So may he rest, his faults lie gently on him!

Strong reasons make strong actions.

Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.

Sweet are the uses of adversity, which, like a toad, though ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in its head.

The peace of heaven is theirs that lift their swords, in such a just and charitable war.

The sands are number'd that make up my life.

The soul of this man is in his clothes.

The trust I have is in mine innocence,
and therefore am I bold and resolute.

Their understanding
Begins to swell and the approaching tide
Will shortly fill the reasonable shores
That now lie foul and muddy.

Thou art all the comfort,
The Gods will diet me with.

Thou shalt be both the plaintiff and the judge of thine own cause.

Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance.

Thy words, I grant are bigger, for I wear not, my dagger in my mouth.

When griping grief the heart doth wound,
and doleful dumps the mind opresses,
then music, with her silver sound,
with speedy help doth lend redress.

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

We do not keep the outward form of order, where there is deep disorder in the mind.

When we are born, we cry, that we are come
To this great stage of fools.

While thou livest keep a good tongue in thy head.

You cram these words into mine ears against the stomach of my sense.

For aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth.

No legacy is so rich as honesty.

Praising what is lost
Makes the remembrance dear.

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety.

Since Cleopatra died,
I have liv'd in such dishonour that the gods
Detest my baseness.

Hereafter, in a better world than this,
I shall desire more love and knowledge of you.

The little foolery that wise men have makes a great show.

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

True is it that we have seen better days.

No, 'tis slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath
Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie
All corners of the world.

Frailty, thy name is woman!

But to my mind, though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honoured in the breach than the observance.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.