William Shakespeare

"How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world."

"Under the greenwood tree,Who loves to lie with me And tune his merry note,Unto the sweet bird's throat;Come hither, come hither, come hither. Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather."

"And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. I would not change it."

"Me, poor man, my library Was dukedom large enough."

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life;For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes,When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,To grunt and sweat under a weary life,But that the dread of something after death,The undiscover'd country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of?Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry,And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd!"

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine."

"All things that are, are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd."

"There's little of the melancholy element in her, my lord: she is never sad but when she sleeps; and not ever sad then; for I have heard my daughter say, she hath often dreamt of unhappiness, and waked herself with laughing."

"True, I talk of dreams,Which are the children of an idle brain,Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,Which is as thin of substance as the air,And more inconstant than the wind, who woos Even now the frozen bosom of the north,And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence,Turning his side to the dew-dropping south."

"If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended,That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme,No more yielding but a dream,Gentles, do not reprehend:If you pardon, we will mend:And, as I am an honest Puck,If we have unearned luck Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,We will make amends ere long;Else the Puck a liar call;So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends,And Robin shall restore amends."

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

"Educated men are so impressive!"

"“When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,I all alone beweep my outcast state And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,Desiring this man's art and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings. a”"

"“He that is thy friend indeed,He will help thee in thy need:If thou sorrow, he will weep;If thou wake, he cannot sleep:Thus of every grief in heart He with thee doth bear a part. These are certain signs to know Faithful friend from flattering foe.”"

"“There's an old saying that applies to me: you can't lose a game if you don't play the game. (Act 1, scene 4)”"

"“My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;Coral is far more red than her lips' red;If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,But no such roses see I in her cheeks;And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound;I grant I never saw a goddess go;My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.”"

"“Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.”"

"“Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus; and we petty men Walk under his huge legs, and peep about To find ourselves dishonourable graves.”"

"“O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!Dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb!Despised substance of divinest show!Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st,A damned saint, an honourable villain!O nature, what hadst thou to do in hell;When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend In mortal paradise of such sweet flesh?Was ever book containing such vile matter So fairly bound? O that deceit should dwell In such a gorgeous palace!”"