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William Shakespeare107 quotes
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. — William Shakespeare · 1616To 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 heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. 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. — William Shakespeare · 1616My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep. The more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite. — William Shakespeare · 1597What 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? — William Shakespeare · 1616Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. — William Shakespeare · 1616Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy. — William Shakespeare · 1616All 107 quotes →Sophocles16 quotes
For God hates utterly
The bray of bragging tongues. — Sophocles · 442 BCReason is God's crowning gift to man. — Sophocles · 442 BCHow dreadful knowledge of the truth can be
When there's no help in truth! — Sophocles · 430 BCThe greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves. — Sophocles · 430 BCOur ship of state, which recent storms have threatened to destroy, has come safely to harbor at last. — Sophocles · 442 BCA woman's vows I write upon the wave. — Sophocles · 400 BCAll 16 quotes →Johann Wolfgang von Goethe11 quotes
One lives but once in this world. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1774Who strives always to the utmost,
For him there is salvation. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1808The deed is all, the glory nothing. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1832Two souls dwell, alas! in my breast. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1808Man will err while yet he strives. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1808Law is mighty, mightier necessity. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1808All 11 quotes →Aeschylus8 quotes
For he does not wish to appear the bravest, but to be the bravest. — Aeschylus · 467 BCFor few there are among men in whom it is inborn to admire without envy a friend's good fortune. — Aeschylus · 458 BCZeus, author of all, worker of all! For what is brought to pass for mortal men save by will of Zeus? What herein is not wrought of god? — Aeschylus · 458 BCFor where is goodwill greater than from guest to host? — Aeschylus · 458 BCNo, death would be better, for that would be a milder lot than tyranny. — Aeschylus · 458 BCBut ever-ageing Time teaches all things. — Aeschylus · 424 BCAll 8 quotes →Euripides8 quotes
Mere cleverness is not wisdom. — Euripides · 405 BCLeave no stone unturned. — Euripides · 430 BCThere is one thing alone
that stands the brunt of life throughout its course:
a quiet conscience. — Euripides · 428 BCLove distills desire upon the eyes,
love brings bewitching grace into the heart
of those he would destroy.
I pray that love may never come to me
with murderous intent,
in rhythms measureless and wild.
Not fire nor stars have stronger bolts
than those of Aphrodite sent
by the hand of Eros, Zeus' child. — Euripides · 428 BCNever shall I say that marriage brings more joy than pain. — Euripides · 438 BCO sleep's enchantment, friend and helper against sickness. — Euripides · 408 BCAll 8 quotes →John Dryden5 quotes
Pains of love be sweeter far
Than all other pleasures are. — John Dryden · 1669There is a pleasure sure,
In being mad, which none but madmen know! — John Dryden · 1680Dead men tell no tales. — John Dryden · 1680I am as free as nature first made man,
Ere the base laws of servitude began,
When wild in woods the noble savage ran. — John Dryden · 1670And he who servilely creeps after sense,
Is safe, but ne'er will reach an Excellence. — John Dryden · 1669John Milton5 quotes
Boast not of what thou would'st have done, but do
What then thou would'st. — John Milton · 1671Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end;
Not wedlock-treachery. — John Milton · 1671Just are the ways of God,
And justifiable to men;
Unless there be who think not God at all. — John Milton · 1671Apt words have power to suage
The tumours of a troubled mind. — John Milton · 1671Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power,
After offence returning, to regain
Love once possessed. — John Milton · 1671Friedrich Schiller4 quotes
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. — Friedrich Schiller · 1801What's not forbidden to do make bold. — Friedrich Schiller · 1798It is wise to disclose what cannot be concealed. — Friedrich Schiller · 1787Many a crown shines spotless now
That yet was deeply sullied in the winning. — Friedrich Schiller · 1798Christopher Marlowe3 quotes
Was this the face that launched a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss! — Christopher Marlowe · 1593I count religion but a childish toy, and hold there is no sin but ignorance. — Christopher Marlowe · 1593Accurst be he that first invented war. — Christopher Marlowe · 1587John Webster2 quotes
I know death hath ten thousand several doors
For men to take their exits. — John Webster · 1614Vain the ambition of kings
Who seek by trophies and death things
To leave a living name behind,
And weave but nets to catch the wind. — John Webster · 1619Pierre Corneille2 quotes
A service beyond all recompense
Weighs so heavy that it almost gives offense. — Pierre Corneille · 1674Do your duty, and leave the outcome to the Gods. — Pierre Corneille · 1640Ben Jonson1 quote
Twas only fear first in the world made gods. — Ben Jonson · 1603George Chapman1 quote
Give me a spirit that on this life's rough sea
Loves t' have his sails filled with a lusty wind,
Even till his sail-yards tremble, his masts crack,
And his rapt ship run on her side so low
That she drinks water, and her keel plows air. — George Chapman · 1608Nathaniel Lee1 quote
When the sun sets, shadows, that showed at noon
But small, appear most long and terrible. — Nathaniel Lee · 1679Thomas Kyd1 quote
My son-and what's a son? A thing begot
Within a pair of minutes, thereabout,
A lump bred up in darkness. — Thomas Kyd · 1592Thomas Otway1 quote
What mighty ills have not been done by woman!
Who was 't betrayed the Capitol? -A woman!
Who lost Mark Antony the world? -A woman!
Who was the cause of a long ten years' war,
And laid at last old Troy in ashes? -Woman!
Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman! — Thomas Otway · 1680Victor Hugo1 quote
Popularity? It is glory's small change. — Victor Hugo · 1838