Below, in my opinion, are some of the most profound and beautiful lines from Shakespeare's plays. I know there exist millions more, and if I had all the time and space in the world, I would gladly compile all of them. But for now, here are some favorites:
1. "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep." - Prospero, The Tempest
2. “I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange?”
- Benedick, Much Ado About Nothing
3. “This above all: to thine ownself be true.
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
- Polonius, Hamlet
4. "If music be the food of love, play on." - Orsino, Twelfth Night
5. “All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.”
- Jaques, As You Like It
6. "Parting is such sweet sorrow." - Juliet, Romeo and Juliet
7. “Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
- Cassius, Julius Caesar
8. "Love is blind, and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit." - Jessica, Merchant of Venice
9. “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
- Macbeth, Macbeth
10. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet, Hamlet
11. "The course of true love never did run smooth." - Lysander, A Midsummer Night's Dream
12. "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." - Touchstone, As You Like It
13. "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind" - Helena, A Midsummer Night's Dream
14. "Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial." - Antony, Julius Caesar
15. "What a piece of work is man." - Hamlet, Hamlet
16. "Though she be but little, she is fierce." - Helena, A Midsummer Night's Dream
17. "Love sought is good, but given unsought better." - Olivia, Twelfth Night
18. "Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be." - Ophelia, Hamlet
19. "Nothing will come of nothing" - Lear, King Lear
20. "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt" - Lucio, Measure for Measure
21. "Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast." - Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet
