William Shakespeare, the illustrious bard of Avon, remains a timeless figure whose works continue to resonate with audiences across the globe. His masterful storytelling, rich characterizations, and profound insights into human nature have inspired countless individuals, making his quotes a treasure trove of wisdom and wit. In this article, we delve into ten themed collections of Shakespearean quotes, each capturing different facets of life and human emotions. From love and friendship to ambition and mortality, these quotes offer valuable lessons and reflections, echoing through the corridors of literary history and into our modern world. Join us as we explore the enduring legacy of Shakespeare and how his words still hold relevance today.
Love Quotes
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
"Whoever loved that loved not at first sight?"
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."
"But love is blind, and lovers cannot see."
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate."
"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."
"If music be the food of love, play on."
"Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom."
"Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts."
"Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs."
"A lover's eyes will gaze an eagle blind."
Friendship Quotes
"Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find."
"A friend should bear his friend's infirmities."
"I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends."
"Keep thy friend under thy own life's key."
"He hath a heart as sound as a bell, and his tongue is the clapper; for what his heart thinks, his tongue speaks."
"Though I am not naturally honest, I am sometimes so by chance."
"It is a good divine that follows his own instructions."
"I am one who loved not wisely but too well."
"Such friends as we desire, we seldom are; such friends as we are, we seldom desire."
"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, and still, gently, allows you to grow."
"Listen to many, speak to a few."
"I would not wish any companion in the world but you."
Life Quotes
"All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players."
"Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man."
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow."
"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once."
"Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more."
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."
"How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?"
"To be, or not to be: that is the question."
"What is past is prologue."
"No legacy is so rich as honesty."
"Nothing can come of nothing."
Ambition Quotes
"Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other."
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
"Beware the ides of March."
"When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools."
"Oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it promises."
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
"Desire of having is the sin of covetousness."
"Men at some time are masters of their fates."
"Ambition is a vice, for it must laugh many with a good propaganda lined with glittering fool's gold."
"The crown of ambition is by death always outdone."
"I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching."
Wisdom Quotes
"Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit."
"Wisdom cries out in the streets and no man regards it."
"Brevity is the soul of wit."
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."
"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment."
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
"Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast."
"What’s done is done."
"Listen to many, speak to a few."
"Experience is the teacher of all things."
Dream Quotes
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come."
"I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was."
"The dreamers often lie."
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt."
"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
"The lunatic, the lover, and the poet are of imagination all compact."
"Dreams, indeed, are ambition."
"I am dying, Egypt, dying; the rest is silence."
"To sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there’s the rub."
"The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream."
Fear Quotes
"Fear is the mind-killer."
"And often fear of what we do not know keeps us from doing what we want."
"Conscience doth make cowards of us all."
"My affections are most humble; I have no ambition to see a goodlier man."
"In time we hate that which we often fear."
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win."
"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them."
"True nobility is exempt from fear."
"Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind; the thief doth fear each bush an officer."
"Fearless minds climb soonest into crowns."
"What’s done is done."
"Awake! fear hath been struck."
Power Quotes
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
"The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream."
"Power shall not bring back the expulsion's spell."
"The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power."
"Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven."
"My mind is king of all kingdoms, assure me that."
"What, courage man! What though care killed a cat; thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care."
"The power to defend ourselves is reserved to our king alone."
"Power is by way of prove to better man’s defense."
"False face must hide what false heart doth know."
"Women may fall when there's no strength in men."
"Who chooses me shall gain what many men desire."
Mortality Quotes
"To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache."
"Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love."
"It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
"The moment of dissolution fades swiftly."
"All that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity."
"Death is a fearful thing."
"The valiant never taste of death but once."
"Nothing in this world is a random harmony, fitly with discord, with griefiege blended."
"Death lies on her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field."
"An untimely death’s untimely sorrow befalls."
"Fie, the hardhearted shall forever about a dear death speak story."
"For I must go and fight and fright the enemies we deadly hate"
Trust Quotes
"Trust not appearances, deceive on the merciless ground."
"To thine own self be true."
"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears."
"When we mean to build, we first survey the plot, then draw the model."
"The worst men of all do well to walk the night."
"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come."
"And in bad trust adrift upon trust in the goodly man."
"They say, best men are molded out of faults; and for the most, become much more the better for being a little bad."
"Beware the thrall of untrust, it may consume, seep through gloom and doom."
"Let's not trust the faint of heart; our secrets swiftly bestow the fox with deeds of the art."
"Trust that man in life no more, on steps path or truth speaking"
"Ever trust thy brother’s brother"
Final words
Through the lens of Shakespeare's quotes, we catch a timeless glimpse of human nature. Shakespeare’s piercing insight into life, love, friendship, ambition, wisdom, dreams, fear, power, mortality, and trust resonates deeply with the universal experiences shared by people across cultures and generations. His eloquence and empathy for the human condition offer us words that encourage reflection and soul-searching at any given turn in our lives. The quotes curated here allow us to ponder our own beliefs, explore meanings, and perhaps provide a guiding hand through life's complexities. Even as centuries pass, his powerful prose provides fresh perspectives to modern challenges, instilling a sense of resilience, self-discovery, and unwavering faith in the virtues of humanity. As we part from this tapestry of wisdom, may these treasured words inspire us to examine both our lives and our connections with others, and to embrace Shakespeare's enduring legacy as a beacon of light for the soul's journey.
浙公网安备
33010002000092号
浙B2-20120091-4