Shakespeare: A Book of Quotations

by William Shakespeare, Paul Negri (Editor), Joslyn Pine (Editor)

With over 500 offerings from the most quoted writer in the English language, this modestly priced volume provides a luxurious assortment of memorable and profound thoughts. Conveniently arranged by topic, the source of each quote is fully identified for subjects ranging from love and marriage to truth, beauty, death, music, and more.

Genres: Shakespeare, Classics, Reference, Fiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"And so from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, and then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot; and thereby hangs a tale."
--William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean, he's a genius, so I didn't have a lot to add. I appreciated reading these outside of their original contexts because they were pithy and held up on their own, excepting a few about women.

"Love lack'd a dwelling, and made him her place; And when in his fair parts she did abide, She was new lodged and and newly deified."
A Lover's Complaint

"Time's glory is to calm contending kings, To unmask falsehood and bring truth to light, To stamp the seal of time in aged things, To wake the morn and sentinel the night, To wrong the wronger till he render right, To ruinate proud buildings with thy hours And smear with dust their glittering golden towers."
The Rape of Lucrece

And of course, "out damned spot! Out I say!"
"Double double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble."
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

[Zach]

This is a fine little collection of Shakespeare quotes organized by general themes. Great for a quick read and a quick reference. Also, a fun way to try to pick which Shakespeare text you want to re/read!


Here's a favorite:


To know the cause why music was ordain'd! Was it not to refresh the mind of man after his studies or his usual pain? (The Taming of the Shrew)

[Willie Shakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic. What can you say about Shakespeare? He was so far ahead of his time no one could have comprehended it. This little book is a great example of how he influences our lives hundreds of years after he lived. Amazing.

[Jessa Lee Mercedes Melo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of William Shakespeare’s most memorable quotes. This is a great way to pick which of his works to read. Every quote I loved was apart of my top reads by him! I do believe some really good ones were left out which is why I rated it four stars.

[Carlotta]

have only read Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet, as well as a collection of Shakespeare's sonnets; therefore, i'm very uninitiated in the Cult of Shakespeare as it were! so reading this was a true treat.

[lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

🥰

[Myhte]

but you, O you,
So perfect and so peerless, are created
Of every creature’s best!

If I must die,
I will encounter darkness as a bride,
And hug it in mine arms.

I am a feather for each wind that blows.

Even so must I run on, and even so stop.
What surety of the world, what hope, what stay,
When this was now a king, and now is clay?

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

Friends, come hither:
I am so lated in the world, that I
Have lost my way for ever:

Nay, had she been true,
If heaven would make me such another world
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite,
I’d not have sold her for it.

O Imogen, Thou hast lost by this a kingdom.
- No, my lord; I have got two worlds by ‘t.

O mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O, stay and hear; your true love’s coming,
That can sing both high and low:
Trip no further, pretty sweeting;
Journeys end in lovers meeting,
Every wise man’s son doth know.

[Jayme · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably one of my favorite books!!! Two of my favorite things (Shakespeare and quotes)combined in one book!!! It's amazing!

[M.S. Blues · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3 ⭐️) I enjoyed this collection! Good read :)