William Shakespeare

Greatest playwright in English

Early Modern influential 138 sayings

Sayings by William Shakespeare

I will make a star-chamber matter of it.

c. 1597-1601 — The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 1, Scene 1
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

What, you egg! Young fry of treachery!

c. 1606 — Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 2
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Give me your hand, Terrestrial cherubim!

c. 1606-1607 — Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Scene 13
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.

c. 1599-1602 — Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

O, that I were a horse, and that my neigh were like a trumpet!

c. 1599 — Henry V, Act 2, Scene 2
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

c. 1591 — Henry VI, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 2
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

I am not bound to please thee with my answer.

c. 1596-1599 — The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is To have a thankless child!

c. 1605-1606 — King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.

c. 1599-1602 — Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

My salad days, When I was green in judgment: cold in blood,

c. 1606-1607 — Antony and Cleopatra, Act 1, Scene 5
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

c. 1595-1596 — A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 2
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Though she be but little, she is fierce!

c. 1595-1596 — A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 2
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

If music be the food of love, play on.

c. 1601-1602 — Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 1
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I am a man more sinned against than sinning.

c. 1605-1606 — King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Out, damned spot! Out, I say!

c. 1606 — Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.

c. 1610-1611 — The Tempest, Act 4, Scene 1
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

The course of true love never did run smooth.

c. 1595-1596 — A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scene 1
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players.

c. 1599-1600 — As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

Methinks I smell an April day in January.

c. 1595-1596 — A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 1
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

What, in the devil's name, is the world come to?

c. 1599-1602 — Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable