Quoting plays is an art that brings the dramatic world of theater into everyday language. From Shakespearean classics to modern productions, memorable lines can capture universal truths and emotions. This article explores how to integrate these quotes into various contexts, enhancing communication, and adding literary flair. Each section provides a selection of 12 quotes from iconic plays, with thematic subtitles to guide you. Enjoy the quotes and discover how they might inspire, entertain, or provide insight into life’s complexities.
Quotes to Inspire
"To thine own self be true." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." - As You Like It, William Shakespeare
"What is past is prologue." - The Tempest, William Shakespeare
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on." - The Tempest, William Shakespeare
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." - Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
"This above all: to thine own self be true." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"The better part of Valour, is Discretion." - Henry IV, Part 1, William Shakespeare
"Brevity is the soul of wit." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." - Henry IV, Part 2, William Shakespeare
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." - Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
"Be not afraid of greatness." - Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
"Boldness be my friend." - Cymbeline, William Shakespeare
Quotes on Love
"The course of true love never did run smooth." - A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind." - A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" - Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare
"One is never too old for a bit of romance." - Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep." - Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
"The heart was made to be broken." - Pickford, Irish Playwright
"The soul of all is harmony." - Aristophanes
"Love sought is good, but given unsought is better." - Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
"Out of the depths of sorrow, joy can grow." - The Rainmaker, N. Richard Nash
"Friendship is constant in all other things, save in the office and affairs of love." - Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare
"If music be the food of love, play on." - Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
"Love is a familiar; love is a devil." - Love's Labour's Lost, William Shakespeare
Quotes on Life's Meaning
"The purpose of life is a life of purpose." - The Matchmaker, Thornton Wilder
"What a piece of work is man!" - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"O brave new world, that has such people in’t!" - The Tempest, William Shakespeare
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player." - Macbeth, William Shakespeare
"The readiness is all." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"The wheel of fortune is ever turning." - The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
"Experience is by industry achieved." - The Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare
"Life is a journey, not a destination." - Henry David Thoreau
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"To die, to sleep—to sleep, perchance to dream." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." - Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
"All that glitters is not gold." - The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare
Quotes for Humor
"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" - A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde
"Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit." - Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come." - The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare
"I am one who loved not wisely but too well." - Othello, William Shakespeare
"I am a man, more sinned against than sinning." - King Lear, William Shakespeare
"He that has and a little tiny wit, with hey, ho, the wind and the rain." - Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
"The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brother's soul, being in heaven." - Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
"In jest, there is truth." - King Lear, William Shakespeare
"Do you not know that I am a woman? When I think, I must speak." - As You Like It, William Shakespeare
"No legacy is so rich as honesty." - All's Well That Ends Well, William Shakespeare
Quotes for Wisdom
"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." - As You Like It, William Shakespeare
"The empty vessel makes the loudest sound." - Henry V, William Shakespeare
"Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it." - Mockingbird, Harper Lee
"All knowledge is precious whether or not it serves the slightest human use." - Noël Coward
"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates
"The greatest wealth is to live content with little." - Plato
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"To be, or not to be, that is the question." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"In time we hate that which we often fear." - Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare
"Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." - Henry IV, Part 2, William Shakespeare
"You know who you are, but know not who you could be." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
Quotes on Friendship
"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow." - William Shakespeare
"He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare." - Emerson
"Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find." - William Shakespeare
"Friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it." - Marcus Tullius Cicero
"A friend is what the heart needs all the time." - Henry Van Dyke
"There is magic in sincere forgiveness - magic to heal." - Richard Paul Evans
"A friend to all is a friend to none." - Aristotle
"To me, fair friend, you never can be old." - Sonnet 104, William Shakespeare
"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one." - C.S. Lewis
"The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it." - Hubert Humphrey
"Love is full of cares." - Othello, William Shakespeare
"Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make an old wife a new wedding." - Henry IV, William Shakespeare
Quotes for Leadership
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown." - Henry IV, Part 2, William Shakespeare
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." - Henry IV, Part 2, William Shakespeare
"He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander." - Aristotle
"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." - John C. Maxwell
"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." - Measure for Measure, William Shakespeare
"Nothing will work unless you do." - Maya Angelou
"I bear a charmed life." - Macbeth, William Shakespeare
"To be gentle of demeanour and strong of heart." - Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
"No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity." - Richard III, William Shakespeare
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." - Henry IV, Part 2, William Shakespeare
"I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office." - Thomas Jefferson
"Fortune and love favor the brave." - Ovid
Quotes for Reflection
"Give thy thoughts no tongue." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"Life is but a stage where every man must play a part." - As You Like It, William Shakespeare
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." - All's Well That Ends Well, William Shakespeare
"The earth has music for those who listen." - George Santayana
"We are all fools in love." - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
"Sweet are the uses of adversity." - As You Like It, William Shakespeare
"Peace is seldom found in a troubled mind." - Phineas Fletcher
"When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools." - King Lear, William Shakespeare
"Everyone ought to know that you ought to be honest and kind." - Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
"Expectation is the root of all heartache." - Shakespeare
"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world." - Bill Wilson
"Some say that the age of chivalry is past, that the spirit of romance is dead. The age of chivalry is never past, so long as there is a wrong left unredressed on earth." - Charles Kingsley
Quotes on Courage
"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." - Measure for Measure, William Shakespeare
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." - Benjamin Franklin
"I will not be afraid of death and bane, till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane." - Macbeth, William Shakespeare
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Though he be but little, he is fierce." - A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare
"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." - Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
"To lead people, walk behind them." - Lao Tzu
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde
"For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night." - Sonnet 30, William Shakespeare
"Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York." - Richard III, William Shakespeare
"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid." - Franklin P. Jones
"Be like the lily, whose sweet white head no hunter’s arrows wound." - Cymbeline, William Shakespeare
Quotes for Change
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood." - Marie Curie
"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao Tzu
"The readiness is all." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions." - Leonardo da Vinci
"Our life is what our thoughts make it." - Marcus Aurelius
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." - Winston Churchill
"All great changes are preceded by chaos." - Deepak Chopra
"The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention." - John Burroughs
"Courage flaunts but it’s kindness that lingers." - Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand
"Every action has its pleasures and its price." - Socrates
"Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." - The Spice, Frank Herbert
"Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." - John F. Kennedy
Final words
Incorporating quotes from plays into our everyday conversations can provide insights, inspire courage, and offer comfort. Each line crafted by playwrights carries a slice of human life and emotion, spanning ages and cultures, thus making them universally relatable. Sharing these quotes not only champions literary genius but also enriches our personal expression. From love and friendship to leadership and change, the wealth of knowledge captured in these quotes from plays is invaluable. They serve as reminders of the shared experiences of humanity and the timeless nature of our thoughts and feelings. Allow these quotes to guide, elevate, and inspire your journey as they echo the grand tapestry of life and art.
Discover over 100 insightful tips and guidelines on how to quote plays accurately and effectively. Master the art of play citation and enhance your literary skills with our comprehensive guide.
