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"It is the stars,
The stars above us, govern our conditions."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Kent, in King Lear, act 4, sc. 3, l. 32-3.
"Conditions" means natures, dispositions. |
"'Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball,
The sword, the mace, the crown imperial,
The intertissued robe of gold and pearl,
...
Not all these, laid in bed majestical,
Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave
Who with a body filled and vacant mind
Gets him to rest, crammed with distressful bread."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. King Henry, in Henry V, act 4, sc. 1, l. 260-2, 266-70.
The poor laborer whose food is earned by hard toil (hence "distressful") sleeps easier than a king, for all his luxury. |
"I'll read enough
When I do see the very book indeed
Where all my sins are writ, and that's myself."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. King Richard, in Richard II, act 4, sc. 1, l. 273-5.
On being pressed to read a list of his crimes. |
"'Tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age,
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburdened crawl toward death."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Lear, in King Lear, act 1, sc. 1, l. 38-41. |
"Love wrought these miracles."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Lucentio, in The Taming of the Shrew, act 5, sc. 1, l. 124.
Speaking of the devices by which he has deceived Bianca's father and married her. |
"Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Macbeth, in Macbeth, act 3, sc. 2, l. 55. |
"Thus do the hopes we have in him touch ground
And dash themselves to pieces."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Mowbray, in Henry IV, Part 2, act 4, sc. 1, l. 17-8.
On Northumberland's failure to support the rebels. |
"Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whilst like a puffed and reckless libertine
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Ophelia, in Hamlet, act 1, sc. 3, l. 47-51.
To her brother, Laertes, who has been urging her not listen to Hamlet's advances; "ungracious" means lacking grace; "puffed" means bloated; "recks" means heeds; "rede" means advice. |
"But there, where I have garnered up my heart,
Where either I must live or bear no life;
The fountain from the which my current runs
Or else dries up: to be discarded thence,
Or keep it as a cistern for foul toads
To knot and gender in!"
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Othello, in Othello, act 4, sc. 2, l. 57-62.
"Knot and gender" means copulate and breed; the foulness is all in Othello's imagination. |
"Shall we be merry? As merry as crickets, my lad."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Poins, in Henry IV, Part 1, act 2, sc. 4, l. 89.
Hal and his companions at the tavern in Eastcheap. |
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William Shakespeare
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