William Shakespeare Inspirational Quotes
William Shakespeare's reputation as dramatist and poet actor is unique and he is considered by many to be the greatest playwright of all time, although many of the facts of his life remain mysterious.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised on 26 April 1564. His father was a glovemaker and wool merchant and his mother, Mary Arden, the daughter of a well-to-do local landowner. Shakespeare was probably educated in Stratford's grammar school.
The next documented event in Shakespeare's life is his marriage in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, daughter of a farmer. The couple had a daughter the following year and twins in 1585. There is now another gap, referred to by some scholars as 'the lost years', with Shakespeare only reappearing in London in 1592, when he was already working in the theatre.
Shakespeare's acting career was spent with the Lord Chamberlain's Company, which was renamed the King's Company in 1603 when James succeeded to the throne. Among the actors in the group was the famous Richard Burbage.
The partnership acquired interests in two theatres in the Southwark area of London, near the banks of the Thames - the Globe and the Blackfriars.
Shakespeare's poetry was published before his plays, with two poems appearing in 1593 and 1594, dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. Most of Shakespeare's sonnets were probably written at this time as well.
Records of Shakespeare's plays begin to appear in 1594, and he produced roughly two a year until around 1611. His earliest plays include 'Henry VI' and 'Titus Andronicus'. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Richard II' all date from the mid to late 1590s.
Some of his most famous tragedies were written in the early 1600s including 'Hamlet', 'Othello', 'King Lear' and 'Macbeth'. His late plays, often known as the Romances, date from 1608 onwards and include 'The Tempest'.
Listen to many, Speak to a few.Shakespeare spent the last five years of his life in Stratford, by now a wealthy man. He died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623 and is known as 'the First Folio'.
William Shakespeare Inspirational Quotes
- The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.
- Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.
- It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. Time is very slow for those who wait,
- Very fast for those who are scared,
- Very long for those who lament, Very short for those who celebrate,
- But for those who love, time is eternal.
- There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. If you love and get hurt, love more.
- If you love more and hurt more, love even more.
- If you love even more and get hurt even more, love some more until it hurts no more...
- Nothing will come of nothing; we must dare mighty things.
- Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.
- A light heart lives long.
- Neither a borrower nor a lender be: For loan oft loses both itself and friend. ’Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.
- Brevity is the soul of wit.
- O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil.
- When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions. The course of true love never did run smooth.
- I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.
- Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake- its everything except what it is!
- Beware the ides of March.
- With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. The object of Art is to give life a shape.
- Love me or hate me, both are in my favor…If you love me, I'll always be in your heart…
- If you hate me, I'll always be in your mind. Expectation is the root of all heartache.
- Love is the greatest of dreams, yet the worst of nightmares. All's well if all ends well.
- One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
- Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.
- What's done cannot be undone.
- A young woman in love always looks like patience on a monument smiling at grief. People’s good deeds we write in water. The evil deeds are etched in brass.
- Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.
- No legacy is so rich as honesty.
- When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.
- Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.
- There are three people in yourself:Who people think you are, Who you think you are, and who you really are.
- Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love. Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.
- I wish my horse had the speed of your tongue. What a piece of work is a man!
- How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties!
- In form and moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel!
- In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world!
- The paragon of animals!
- And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
- I must be cruel only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.
- Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow. Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
- Life is as tedious as twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.
- Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones.
- Speak low, if you speak love.