Shakespeare’s creativity has given rise to many memorable quotes which are used even today. In this Penlighten article, we put forth a collection of famous quotes from one of Shakespeare’s greatest works of art, Hamlet.
Did You Know?
Hamlet, or The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is Shakespeare’s longest play.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a tragedy he wrote sometime between 1599 and 1601, is considered a masterpiece in the field of literature. The historic play recounts Prince Hamlet’s tactics of seeking revenge against his uncle Claudius, who killed his father, King Hamlet, and seized the throne. Exploring subjects like treachery, revenge, and moral corruption, Shakespeare captured the attention of the whole world with his splendid creativity.
Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest poets and playwrights the world has seen. His greatness in the creative field can be seen in his spectacular works. His plays, like Hamlet and Macbeth, are still considered the greatest works of creativity in the world. Even today, centuries after they were written, his plays captivate audiences throughout the world. Such is their popularity, that many of them have been translated into different languages and many have been adapted by others.
Famous Quotes from Hamlet
To 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?
― Hamlet
Let me be cruel, not unnatural:
I will speak daggers to her, but use none;
― Hamlet
You would play upon me;
you would seem to know my stops;
you would pluck out the heart of my mystery;
you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass;
and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ;
yet cannot you make it speak.
― Hamlet
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.
Farewell. My blessing season this in thee.
― Polonius
My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.
― Claudius
A little more than kin and less than kind.
― Hamlet
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads
And recks not his own rede.
― Ophelia
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel only to be kind.
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.
― Hamlet
Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange and unnatural.
― Ghost
I am but mad north-north-west.
When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.
― Hamlet
When sorrows come, they come not single spies
But in battalions.
― Claudius
Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew and dog will have his day.
― Hamlet
Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged.
His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy..
― Hamlet
A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.
― Horatio
Doubt thou the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love.
― Hamlet
Nay, then, let the devil wear black,
for I’ll have a suit of sables.
― Hamlet
Why, then, ’tis none to you,
for there is nothing either good or bad,
but thinking makes it so.
To me it is a prison.
― Hamlet
Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.
― Polonius
These were some famous quotes from one of the greatest plays in English, Hamlet. Written by the Bard of Avon, these quotes have successfully immortalized the play as well as the playwright in the world of literature.
