– William Shakespeare, Hamlet (c. 1600)
Meaning: Hamlet is asking whether it is better to go on living and suffer, or to stop living. Today people use the line, often as a joke, for any difficult choice.
17 quotes explained
William Shakespeare quotes
English playwright and poet (1564–1616)
Quotes by William Shakespeare
Life Life “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
– William Shakespeare, As You Like It (c. 1599)
Meaning: Life is like a play in a theatre, and each of us is an actor who plays different parts as we grow older.
- merely
- – only; just
- players
- – an old word for actors
Love – William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (c. 1595)
Meaning: Real love always meets problems along the way. Difficulties don't mean the love is not real.
- course
- – the way something develops over time
Love – William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116 (1609)
Meaning: Real love does not change just because the other person or the situation changes. It stays constant.
- alters
- – changes
- alteration
- – a change
Love “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”
– William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (c. 1595)
Meaning: We fall in love because of what we imagine and feel, not just what we see. That is why Cupid, the god of love, is shown wearing a blindfold.
- Cupid
- – the Roman god of love, shown as a boy with wings and a bow
Love – William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (c. 1595)
Meaning: Juliet says her love has no limit. The more love she gives Romeo, the more she seems to have.
- bounty
- – generosity; what someone gives freely
- boundless
- – without limits
Friendship “Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel.”
– William Shakespeare, Hamlet (c. 1600)
Meaning: When you have friends who have proved they are loyal, hold on to them as tightly as you can.
- thou hast
- – an old form of "you have"
- grapple
- – hold tightly
- hoops of steel
- – strong metal rings, like those that hold a barrel together
Courage & fear “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”
– William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (1599)
Meaning: A coward suffers again and again by imagining every danger. A brave person only meets death when it really comes, so they live more freely.
- Cowards
- – people who are not brave
- valiant
- – brave (literary)
Change & growth – William Shakespeare, Hamlet (c. 1600)
Meaning: We understand who we are today, but we cannot know who we might become. People can grow and change in surprising ways.
- know not
- – do not know (old English)
Time – William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor (c. 1597)
Meaning: It is better to be very early than even a little late, because being late can ruin your chance.
Time – William Shakespeare, Richard II (c. 1595)
Meaning: King Richard, now in prison, realises that he wasted his time as king, and now time is destroying him in return.
- doth
- – an old form of "does"
- waste
- – (here) make weak and thin; destroy slowly
Wisdom “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
– William Shakespeare, As You Like It (c. 1599)
Meaning: Foolish people are sure they are clever. Wise people know their own limits and mistakes.
- doth
- – an old form of "does"
Wisdom – William Shakespeare, Hamlet (c. 1600)
Meaning: Listen to everyone, but be careful about whom you share your own opinions with.
- thy
- – an old form of "your"
Leadership & work “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.”
– William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (c. 1601)
Meaning: People become important in different ways: some are born into it, some earn it, and some are suddenly given responsibility they didn't ask for.
- thrust upon
- – forced on someone suddenly
- 'em
- – short, informal form of "them"
Leadership & work – William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2 (c. 1598)
Meaning: People with power and responsibility often feel worried and can't relax, because so much depends on them.
- Uneasy
- – worried and unable to rest
Kindness – William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (c. 1597)
Meaning: Mercy can't be forced. It must be given freely and naturally, like soft rain falling from the sky.
- mercy
- – kindness to someone you could punish
- strained
- – here, forced
- droppeth
- – an old form of "drops"
Kindness “Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.”
– William Shakespeare, Macbeth (c. 1606)
Meaning: Lady Macbeth worries that her husband is too gentle to do something cruel to become king. "The milk of human kindness" is still used today for natural kindness.
- thy
- – an old word for "your"
- milk of human kindness
- – natural kindness and care for others
- catch the nearest way
- – take the quickest (and here, most ruthless) route