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Explore 100+ Famous Hamlet Quotes: Insights from Shakespeare's Masterpiece
William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is a treasure trove of profound wisdom, existential musings, and intricate wordplay. The play's rich text has left an indelible mark on literature and has seeped into various facets of popular culture. This article delves into some of the timeless quotes from "Hamlet," organized under thematic subtitles. Each section explores specific themes, interpreting their underlying significance and how they echo human experiences universally. These selected quotes reveal the depth of Shakespeare's understanding of the human condition and his mastery of the English language. This curated collection invites readers to reflect on life's complexities as seen through the lens of "Hamlet."
Existential Quotes
"To be, or not to be: that is the question."
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties!"
"This above all: to thine own self be true."
"Conscience doth make cowards of us all."
"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions."
"I must be cruel only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind."
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
"Give thy thoughts no tongue."
"Our wills and fates do so contrary run."
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
"What is a man, if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed?"
Quotes on Madness
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
"I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw."
"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go."
"The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body."
"A little more than kin, and less than kind."
"What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, that he should weep for her?"
"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!"
"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go."
"To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to."
"Frailty, thy name is woman!"
"How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!"
"To die, to sleep — To sleep, perchance to dream — ay, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come."
Quotes on Revenge
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."
"Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder."
"I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offenses at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in."
"One may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
"Let me be cruel, not unnatural; I will speak daggers to her, but use none."
"The rest is silence."
"Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I'll do't."
"'Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out contagion to this world."
"O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven."
"I'll be revenged most thoroughly for my father."
"From this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or nothing worth."
"If thou didst ever thy dear father love—"
Quotes on Love and Relationships
"Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love."
"Give me that man that is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him in my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart."
"I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum."
"I do not know why yet I live to say this thing's to do."
"The cat will mew, and the dog will have his day."
"A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, an understanding simple and unschooled."
"I shall the effect of this good lesson keep as watchman to my heart."
"Affection! Pooh! you speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstance."
"Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty!"
"I will wear him in my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart."
"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action."
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend."
Quotes on Power and Corruption
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
"When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause."
"It is not nor it cannot come to good."
"Do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?"
"The Devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape."
"Tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely."
"O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!"
"A king of shreds and patches."
"But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue."
"O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!"
"So oft it chances in particular men that for some vicious mole of nature in them, as in their birth—wherein they are not guilty."
"The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown."
Quotes on Death and Mortality
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy."
"To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub."
"Death, the undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveller returns."
"The rest is silence."
"Our fate, dear Horatio, is only as tragic as the death that concludes it."
"Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might stop a hole to keep the wind away."
"I humbly thank you; well, well, well."
"And therefore as a stranger give it welcome."
"Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."
"The undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveller returns."
"The canker galls the infants of the spring too oft before their buttons be disclosed."
"This fell sergeant, Death, is strict in his arrest."
Quotes on Loyalty and Betrayal
"The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel."
"Get thee to a nunnery."
"He was a man, take him for all in all."
"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause."
"And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
"Farewell, dear mother."
"Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric."
"You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo, before you visit him, to make inquire of his behaviour."
"O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!"
"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all."
"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."
"Keep you in the rear of your affection, out of the shot and danger of desire."
Philosophical Quotes
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
"I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space."
"To be, or not to be: that is the question."
"This above all: to thine own self be true."
"Give me that man that is not passion’s slave."
"What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!"
"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all."
"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!"
"O God! I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams."
"I will speak daggers to her, but use none."
"When we have shuffled off this mortal coil."
"A dream itself is but a shadow."
Quotes on Time and Fate
"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!"
"There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will."
"What is a man, if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed?"
"The readiness is all."
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio."
"Foul deeds will rise, though all the earth o'erwhelm them to men's eyes."
"Our wills and fates do so contrary run."
"We defy augury; there is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow."
"The rest is silence."
"Alas! poor Yorick."
"From this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or nothing worth."
"So oft it chances in particular men that for some vicious mole of nature."
Quotes on Identity and Self-reflection
"This above all: to thine own self be true."
"I am but mad north-north-west."
"What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!"
"To be, or not to be: that is the question."
"When we have shuffled off this mortal coil."
"Give me that man that is not passion’s slave."
"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action."
"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!"
"This above all: to thine own self be true."
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
"What is a man, if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed?"
"To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache."
Final words
Shakespeare's "Hamlet" offers a profound exploration into various dimensions of the human experience through its masterful use of language and philosophical depth. The curated quotes above demonstrate themes of existentialism, madness, revenge, love, power, and more, revealing intricate layers of meaning within the text. Each quote can be seen as a mirror reflecting the nuanced complexities of human emotions and the universal conflicts faced by individuals. The timeless wisdom embedded within "Hamlet" serves as a reminder of Shakespeare's insight into the human psyche and his unparalleled ability to articulate it. As we ponder these quotes, we recognize that while the world has changed since Shakespeare's time, human emotions and dilemmas remain remarkably consistent. These quotes provoke introspection, challenging us to reflect on our own lives and the broader human condition.
Delve into a collection of over 100 renowned quotes from Hamlet, offering profound insights and timeless wisdom. Perfect for enthusiasts of Shakespeare and literature alike.
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