Will's Quotes o' the Day
The "Will's Quote o' the Day" script seen on the SRC home page uses 138 quotes from the plays. These change automatically on a daily rotation. I picked the quotes because they're famous. Or, in some cases, because they're pithy. Or in some other cases, because they simply struck me the right way at the time I was choosing them. Anyway, the full gamut of quotes is presented below.
From lowest place when virtuous things proceed,
The place is dignified by the doer's deed.
— All's Well that Ends Well, Act II, sc. iii
No legacy is so rich as honesty.
— All's Well that Ends Well, Act III, sc. v
I am fire and air; my other elements
I give to baser life.
— Antony and Cleopatra, Act V, sc. ii
O, how full of briers is this working-day world!
— As You Like It, Act I, sc. iii
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
— As You Like It, Act II, sc. vii
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.
— As You Like It, Act V, sc. i
Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.
— Coriolanus, Act II, sc. i
Some griefs are medicinable.
— Cymbeline, Act III, sc. ii
How hard it is to hide the sparks of nature!
— Cymbeline, Act III, sc. iii
Frailty, thy name is woman!
— Hamlet, Act I, sc. ii
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
— Hamlet, Act I, sc. iii
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.
— Hamlet, Act I, sc. iii
Brevity is the soul of wit.
— Hamlet, Act II, sc. ii
Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.
— Hamlet, Act II, sc. ii
The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
— Hamlet, Act II, sc. ii
To be, or not to be: that is the question.
— Hamlet, Act III, sc. i
O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!
— Hamlet, Act III, sc. i
Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
— Hamlet, Act V, sc. ii
If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work.
— Henry IV, Part 1, Act I, sc. ii
Company, villanous company, hath been the spoil of me.
— Henry IV, Part 1, Act III, sc. iii
He hath eaten me out of house and home.
— Henry IV, Part 2, Act II, sc. i
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...!
— Henry V, Act III, sc. i
Men of few words are the best men.
— Henry V, Act III, sc. ii
Every subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's soul is his own.
— Henry V, Act IV, sc. i
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.
— Henry VI, Part 2, Act I, sc. ii
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
— Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, sc. ii
O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!
— Henry VI, Part 3, Act I, sc. iv
I charge thee, fling away ambition:
By that sin fell the angels.
— Henry VIII, Act III, sc. ii
Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues
We write in water.
— Henry VIII, Act IV, sc. ii
Beware the ides of March.
— Julius Caesar, Act I, sc. ii
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers.
— Julius Caesar, Act II, sc. i
When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
— Julius Caesar, Act II, sc. ii
Et tu, Brute! Then fall Caesar!
— Julius Caesar, Act III, sc. i
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
— Julius Caesar, Act III, sc. i
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of war.
— Julius Caesar, Act III, sc. i
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
— Julius Caesar, Act III, sc. ii
And oftentimes excusing of a fault
Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse.
— King John, Act IV, sc. ii
How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds
Make deeds ill done!
— King John, Act IV, sc. ii
Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
— King Lear, Act I, sc. i
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!
— King Lear, Act I, sc. iv
I am a man
More sinned against than sinning.
— King Lear, Act III, sc. ii
The worst is not
So long as we can say, "This is the worst."
— King Lear, Act IV, sc. i
As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods.
They kill us for their sport.
— King Lear, Act IV, sc. i
When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools.
— King Lear, Act IV, sc. vi
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us.
— King Lear, Act V, sc. iii
Never durst poet touch a pen to write
Until his ink were tempered with Love's sighs.
— Love's Labour's Lost, Act IV, sc. iii
A jest's prosperity lies in the ear
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
Of him that makes it.
— Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, sc. ii
Fair is foul, and foul is fair.
— Macbeth, Act I, sc. i
Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
— Macbeth, Act I, sc. iii
I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.
— Macbeth, Act I, sc. vii
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
— Macbeth, Act II, sc. i
Glamis hath murdered sleep, and there Cawdor
Shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!
— Macbeth, Act II, sc. ii
A little water clears us of this deed.
— Macbeth, Act II, sc. ii
There's daggers in men's smiles.
— Macbeth, Act II, sc. iii
Blood will have blood.
— Macbeth, Act III, sc. iv
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
— Macbeth, Act IV, sc. i
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
— Macbeth, Act IV, sc. i
Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.
— Macbeth, Act IV, sc. i
When our actions do not,
Our fears do make us traitors.
— Macbeth, Act IV, sc. ii
What's done cannot be undone.
— Macbeth, Act V, sc. i
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day....
— Macbeth, Act V, sc. v
Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.
— Measure for Measure, Act II, sc. i
The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept.
— Measure for Measure, Act II, sc. ii
The miserable have no other medicine,
But only hope.
— Measure for Measure, Act III, sc. i
Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.
— Measure for Measure, Act III, sc. i
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
— The Merchant of Venice, Act I, sc. iii
All that glisters is not gold.
— The Merchant of Venice, Act II, sc. vii
Here will be an old abusing of God's patience and the king's English.
— The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act I, sc. iv
Why, then the world 's mine oyster,
Which I with sword will open.
— The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II, sc. ii
The course of true love never did run smooth.
— A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act I, sc. i
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
— A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, sc. ii
Cupid is a knavish lad,
Thus to make poor females mad.
— A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, sc. ii
My Oberon! what visions have I seen!
Methought I was enamoured of an ass.
— A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act IV, sc. i
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.
— A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, sc. i
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
— A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, sc. i
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,-
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, sc. iii
But words are words; I never yet did hear
That the bruised heart was pierced through the ear.
— Othello, Act I, sc. iii
If it were now to die,
'Twere now to be most happy.
— Othello, Act II, sc. i
O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil!
— Othello, Act II, sc. ii
Come, come, good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used; exclaim no more against it.
— Othello, Act II, sc. ii
How poor are they that have not patience!
— Othello, Act II, sc. iii
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
— Othello, Act III, sc. iii
To be direct and honest is not safe.
— Othello, Act III, sc. iii
I understand a fury in your words,
But not the words.
— Othello, Act IV, sc. ii
Kill me to-morrow: let me live to-night!
— Othello, Act V, sc. ii
Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour.
— Richard II, Act I, sc. iii
Teach thy necessity to reason thus;
There is no virtue like necessity.
— Richard II, Act I, sc. iii
The ripest fruit first falls.
— Richard II, Act II, sc. i
You may my glories and my state depose,
But not my griefs; still am I king of those.
— Richard II, Act IV, sc. i
I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.
— Richard II, Act V, sc. ii
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York.
— Richard III, Act I, sc. i
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.
— Richard III, Act I, sc. ii
Was ever woman in this humour wooed?
Was ever woman in this humour won?
— Richard III, Act I, sc. ii
Since every Jack became a gentleman
There's many a gentle person made a Jack.
— Richard III, Act I, sc. iii
So wise so young, they say, do never live long.
— Richard III, Act III, sc. i
Harp not on that string.
— Richard III, Act IV, sc. iv
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
— Richard III, Act V, sc. iii
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
— Richard III, Act V, sc. iv
He that is strucken blind cannot forget
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost.
— Romeo and Juliet, Act I, sc. i
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
— Romeo and Juliet, Act II, sc. ii
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
— Romeo and Juliet, Act II, sc. ii
What 's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
— Romeo and Juliet, Act II, sc. ii
Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
— Romeo and Juliet, Act II, sc. ii
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night.
— Romeo and Juliet, Act III, sc. ii
There's no trust,
No faith, no honesty in men.
— Romeo and Juliet, Act III, sc. ii
Affliction is enamour'd of thy parts,
And thou art wedded to calamity.
— Romeo and Juliet, Act III, sc. iii
There's small choice in rotten apples.
— The Taming of the Shrew, Act I, sc. i
This is the way to kill a wife with kindness.
— The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, sc. i
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband.
— The Taming of the Shrew, Act V, sc. ii
My library
Was dukedom large enough.
— The Tempest, Act I, sc. i
Hell is empty. And all the devils are here.
— The Tempest, Act I, sc. ii
Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.
— The Tempest, Act II, sc. ii
He that dies pays all debts.
— The Tempest, Act III, sc. ii
We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
— The Tempest, Act IV, sc. i
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!
— The Tempest, Act V, sc. i
The strain of man's bred out
Into baboon and monkey.
— Timon of Athens, Act I, sc. i
Like madness is the glory of this life.
— Timon of Athens, Act I, sc. ii
Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.
— Timon of Athens, Act III, sc. v
We have seen better days.
— Timon of Athens, Act IV, sc. ii
O! the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us.
— Timon of Athens, Act IV, sc. ii
If one good deed in all my life I did,
I do repent it from my very soul.
— Titus Andronicus, Act V, sc. iii
Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing.
— Troilus and Cressida, Act I, sc. ii
The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance.
— Troilus and Cressida, Act II, sc. iii
Lechery, lechery; still, wars and lechery: nothing else holds fashion.
— Troilus and Cressida, Act V, sc. ii
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
— Twelfth Night, Act I, sc. i
Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage.
— Twelfth Night, Act I, sc. v
Come away, come away, death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid;
Fly away, fly away breath;
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
— Twelfth Night, Act II, sc. iv
But be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
— Twelfth Night, Act II, sc. v
This fellow's wise enough to play the fool,
And to do that well craves a kind of wit.
— Twelfth Night, Act III, sc. i
O world! how apt the poor are to be proud.
— Twelfth Night, Act III, sc. i
Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.
— Twelfth Night, Act III, sc. i
If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.
— Twelfth Night, Act III, sc. iv
That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man,
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.
— The Two Gentleman of Verona, Act III, sc. i
Come not within the measure of my wrath.
— The Two Gentleman of Verona, Act V, sc. iv
Men are mad things.
— The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act II, sc. ii
It is a heretic that makes the fire,
Not she who burns in't.
— The Winter's Tale, Act II, sc. iii
What's gone and what's past help
Should be past grief.
— The Winter's Tale, Act III, sc. ii
Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance.
— The Winter's Tale, Act IV, sc. iii