William Shakespeare

Greatest playwright in English

Early Modern influential 138 sayings

Sayings by William Shakespeare

What, have I 'scaped love-letters in the holiday-time of my beauty, and am I now a subject for your mouth?

c. 1598-1599 — Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 1
Humorous Unverifiable

I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn'd, or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree.

c. 1596-1597 — Henry IV, Part 1, Act 3, Scene 1
Humorous Unverifiable

You are a cur.

c. 1589-1593 — The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 4, Scene 4
Humorous Unverifiable

I am a very foolish fond old man.

c. 1606 — King Lear, Act 4, Scene 7
Humorous Unverifiable

Away, you dog! you are a coward and a villain.

c. 1592-1593 — Richard III, Act 1, Scene 3
Humorous Unverifiable

I see you are a cunning man, but what of that?

c. 1601-1602 — Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 3
Humorous Unverifiable

A man may see how this world goes with no eyes.

c. 1606 — King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6
Humorous Unverifiable

Villain, I have done thy mother.

1594 — From 'Titus Andronicus', a shocking and violent line.
Controversial Unverifiable

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.

1599 — From 'Julius Caesar', rejecting fatalism.
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1605 — From 'All's Well That Ends Well', advocating cautious morality.
Controversial Unverifiable

Frailty, thy name is woman!

1601 — From 'Hamlet', a misogynistic line.
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1601 — From 'Hamlet', describing overwhelming grief.
Controversial Unverifiable

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.

1595 — From 'Richard II', lamenting lost opportunities.
Controversial Unverifiable

The worst is not, so long as we can say, 'This is the worst.'

1606 — From 'King Lear', suggesting despair is relative.
Controversial Unverifiable

The devil take order! I'll to the throng: Let life be short, else shame will be too long.

1599 — From 'Henry V', embracing recklessness.
Controversial Unverifiable

Men's vows are women's traitors.

1611 — From 'Cymbeline', a cynical view of male promises.
Controversial Unverifiable

The world is grown so bad that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.

1592 — From 'Richard III', describing moral decay.
Controversial Unverifiable

The love of heaven makes one heavenly.

1604 — From 'Measure for Measure', suggesting divine influence.
Controversial Unverifiable