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"There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Duncan, in Macbeth, act 1, sc. 4, l. 12-13 (1623).
Referring to the original Thane of Cawdor, in whom Duncan had put his misplaced trust. |
"O for breath to utter what is like thee! you tailor's yard,
you sheath, you bowcase, you vile standing tuck."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Falstaff, in Henry IV, Part 1, act 2, sc. 4, l. 246-8.
Insulting Hal; "tuck" means rapier. |
"He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's oath."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Fool, in King Lear, act 3, sc. 6, l. 18-9. |
"Old fools are babes again, and must be used
With checks as flatteries."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Goneril, in King Lear, act 1, sc. 3, l. 19-20.
Speaking about her father, King Lear, and varying the proverb "an old man is twice a child"; "checks" or rebukes are the flattery they require. |
"Assume a virtue if you have it not."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Hamlet, in Hamlet, act 3, sc. 4, l. 151 (1604).
Speaking to his mother Gertrude. |
"Let thy song be love. This love will undo us all."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Helen, in Troilus and Cressida, act 3, sc. 1, l. 110-11.
Calling on Pandarus to sing; "undo" = ruin. |
"O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves!"
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Iago, in Othello, act 3, sc. 3, l. 169-70.
The clash of love and suspicion in Othello. |
"This fellow will but join you together as they join
wainscot; then one of you will prove a shrunk panel, and
like green timber warp, warp."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Jaques, in As You Like It, act 3, sc. 3, l. 86-9.
To Touchstone, who has invited an illiterate priest to marry him to Audrey. |
"This advertisement is five days old."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. King Henry, in Henry IV, Part 1, act 3, sc. 2, l. 172.
"Advertisement" means information. |
"If we are marked to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. King Henry, in King Henry V, act 4, sc. 3.
Before the Battle of Agincourt. |
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William Shakespeare
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