Romeo and Juliet, a timeless tale of love, passion, and tragedy, has enamored audiences for generations. This compilation captures the essence of their story through memorable quotes and reflections, drawing on the intensity of their forbidden love and the profound nature of their words. These quotes showcase not only their passion but also the universal themes of love and fate that resonate deeply within us all. As you delve into these carefully curated quotes, remember the beauty and pain that come with such an enduring story.
Eternal Love Quotes
"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."
"These violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume."
"You are a lover. Borrow Cupid’s wings and soar with them above a common bound."
"The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine."
"So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title."
"Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books, but love from love, toward school with heavy looks."
"With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls; for stony limits cannot hold love out."
"The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, as daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven would through the airy region stream so bright."
"This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, may prove a beauteous flower when next we meet."
"Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; henceforth I never will be Romeo."
"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow."
"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late!"
Tragic Fate Quotes
"O, I am fortune’s fool!"
"Thus with a kiss, I die."
"These times of woe afford no time to woo."
"I fear, too early: for my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date."
"If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed."
"O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss, I die."
"A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents. Come, come away!"
"Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide! Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!"
"Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty."
"I dreamt my lady came and found me dead, strange dream, that gives a dead man leave to think!"
"Seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death!"
"Poor sacrifices of our enmity!"
Forbidden Love Quotes
"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet."
"My only love sprung from my only hate!"
"Is she a Capulet? O dear account! my life is my foe’s debt."
"Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords."
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."
"With love's light wings did I o’erperch these walls; for stony limits cannot hold love out."
"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name."
"The orchard walls are high and hard to climb, and the place death, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here."
"If they do see thee, they will murder thee."
"My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself, because it is an enemy to thee."
"Had I it written, I would tear the word."
"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
The Power of Love Quotes
"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night."
"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
"This love that thou hast shown doth add more grief to too much of mine own."
"Love give me strength! and strength shall help afford."
"For I never saw true beauty till this night."
"How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night, like softest music to attending ears!"
"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."
"O speak again, bright angel! for thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head, as is a wingèd messenger of heaven."
"This day's black fate on more days doth depend; this but begins the woe others must end."
"I will be deaf to pleading and excuses; nor tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses."
"I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo."
"Ah me! How sweet is love itself possessed, when but love's shadows are so rich in joy!"
Lament of Separation Quotes
"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow."
"Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. Good night, good night!"
"The masked night is on my face, else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek for that which thou hast heard me speak tonight."
"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."
"Would through the airy region stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night."
"Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night."
"Think true love acted simple modesty."
"I am afeard, being in night, all this is but a dream, too flattering-sweet to be substantial."
"For stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do that dares love attempt; therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me."
"The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite."
"As is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wondering eyes of mortals."
"What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?"
Destined Paths Quotes
"What must be shall be."
"Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love."
"If love be rough with you, be rough with love; prick love for pricking, and you beat love down."
"I defy you, stars!"
"More light and light—more dark and dark our woes!"
"Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, and vice sometime’s by action dignified."
"Till then, not let us correspond, nor swear to meet, but bear our harmonies unreconciled."
"Is it e'en so? then I defy you, stars!"
"Oh the deadly sin! O rude unthankfulness!"
"O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!"
"A plague a' both your houses! They have made worms' meat of me."
"I have bought the mansion of a love, but not possessed it."
Passion and Longing Quotes
"Desire doth in his deathbed lie."
"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."
"This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, may prove a beauteous flower when next we meet."
"Thy drugs are quick."
"Blind is his love and best befits the dark."
"Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn."
"O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard, being in night, all this is but a dream, too flattering-sweet to be substantial."
"By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am: my name, dear, saint, is hateful to myself."
"I would not for the world they saw thee here."
"Love's heralds should be thoughts, which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams."
"The earth, that's nature's mother, is her tomb; what is her burying grave, that is her womb."
"If love be blind, it best agrees with night."
Youth and Innocence Quotes
"Ah, the world’s a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."
"Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast."
"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take."
"The sweetest honey is loathsome in its own deliciousness and in the taste confounds the appetite."
"For you and I are past our dancing days."
"I will bite my thumb at them, which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it."
"It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."
"Tempt not a desperate man."
"Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes."
"Shall I believe that unsubstantial Death is amorous, and that the lean abhorred monster keeps thee here in dark to be his paramour?"
"The earth, that’s nature’s mother, is her tomb."
"Jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops."
Conflict and Family Feud Quotes
"O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!"
"A plague a’ both your houses!"
"My life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love."
"The day is hot, the Capels are abroad."
"For this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households' rancor to pure love."
"This neighbor air, and of our maiden blush; the gentle sentence of our Jupiter!"
"Thou villain Capulet!—Hold me not; let me go."
"For I will raise her statue in pure gold."
"Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."
"O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon."
"I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues."
"Twixt my extremes and me, there is no limit."
Wisdom and Wit Quotes
"True, I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy."
"He jests at scars that never felt a wound."
"When love speaks, the voice of all the gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony."
"Oh fortune, fortune! All men call thee fickle."
"Draw, if you be men."
"Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill."
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life."
"The weakest goes to the wall."
"How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath to say to me that thou art out of breath?"
"Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast."
"By giving liberty unto thine eyes; examine other beauties."
"The more thou givest of it, the infinite of the love in thee expanded."
Final words
Romeo and Juliet's story remains one of the most telling allegories of love, highlighting the fervent expressions of deep affection amidst grievous circumstances. Through their beautifully tragic words, we gain insight into the depth of their passion and the poignant beauty of their fleeting union. As you ponder these quotes, reflect on the complexity of human emotions and the common threads of love, pain, and destiny that bind all of humanity. Timeless and universally impactful, the words of Romeo and Juliet serve as a reminder of the eternal dance between love and fate.
Explore over 100 timeless quotes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, perfect for study, inspiration, and sharing.
