Site uses cookies to provide basic functionality.

OK
1 ▲ ▼
Link Quote Stars Tags Author
5a7d9b8 You speak an infinite deal of nothing. shakespeare William Shakespeare
31935ec These violent delights have violent ends And in their triump die, like fire and powder Which, as they kiss, consume shakespeare William Shakespeare
8e6aed4 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no, it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wand'ring barque, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. shakespeare poetry William Shakespeare
6a841a1 To die, to sleep - To sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub, For in this sleep of death what dreams may come... death-and-dying shakespeare hamlet William Shakespeare
4658b9f With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. laughter shakespeare happiness William Shakespeare
129715b Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines, And too often is his gold complexion dimm'd: And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance or natures changing course untrimm'd; By thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee. shakespeare youth William Shakespeare
818cd84 Et tu, Brute? shakespeare brutus julius-caesar William Shakespeare
78920f8 Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast. shakespeare wisdom William Shakespeare
c139791 O serpent heart hid with a flowering face! Did ever a dragon keep so fair a cave? Beautiful tyrant, feind angelical, dove feather raven, wolvish-ravening lamb! Despised substance of devinest show, just opposite to what thou justly seemest - A dammed saint, an honourable villain! shakespeare hate poetry love William Shakespeare
c1393dd Some are born great, others achieve greatness. shakespeare William Shakespeare
3dcc72c Sweets to the sweet. shakespeare love William Shakespeare
d90e251 Lord Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words. Lord Polonius: What is the matter, my lord? Hamlet: Between who? Lord Polonius: I mean, the matter that you read, my lord. shakespeare literature William Shakespeare
2e79628 Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps. shakespeare William Shakespeare
9d285de Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit. shakespeare William Shakespeare
7302044 Are you sure/That we are awake? It seems to me/That yet we sleep, we dream shakespeare William Shakespeare
1318256 Some are born mad, some achieve madness, and some have madness thrust upon 'em. madness shakespeare mad insane william-shakespeare Emilie Autumn
f377af7 [Thine] face is not worth sunburning. shakespeare henry-v William Shakespeare
6249424 Actors are so fortunate. They can choose whether they will appear in tragedy or in comedy, whether they will suffer or make merry, laugh or shed tears. But in real life it is different. Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualifications. Our Guildensterns play Hamlet for us, and our Hamlets have to jest like Prince Hal. The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast. shakespeare satire Oscar Wilde
3bc8372 I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest. shakespeare William Shakespeare
2a06702 [Thou] mad mustachio purple-hued maltworms! shakespeare henry-iv William Shakespeare
086dc9d But what if Shakespeare? and Hamlet? were asking the wrong question? What if the real question is not whethe shakespeare inspirational Gayle Forman
3be3323 This goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! 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? shakespeare piece-of-work quintessence-of-dust soliloquy william-shakespeare William Shakespeare
411de15 If there really had been a Mercutio, and if there really were a Paradise, Mercutio might be hanging out with teenage Vietnam draftee casualties now, talking about what it felt like to die for other people's vanity and foolishness. shakespeare futility Kurt Vonnegut
0f8ccfb All causes shall give way: I am in blood Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er. shakespeare halfway wade macbeth William Shakespeare
a0ba852 Often, a school is your best bet-perhaps not for education but certainly for protection from an undead attack. revenge shakespeare prospero tempest mercy zombies school Max Brooks
ffef2ec What needs my for his honoured bones, The labor of an age in piled stones, Or that his hallowed relics should be hid Under a star-y-pointing pyramid? Dear son of memory, great heir of fame, What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name? shakespeare poetry hallowed pyramid relics labor fame honour heir william-shakespeare memory John Milton
7b088fd Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now shakespeare hate love inspirational uplifting William Shakespeare
fd1d050 Why should we place Christ at the top and summit of the human race? Was he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than ? Was he wiser, did he meet death with more perfect calmness, than ? Was he more patient, more charitable, than ? Was he a greater philosopher, a deeper thinker, than ? In what respect was he the superior of ? Was he gentler than , more universal than ? Were his ideas of human rights and duties superior to those of ? Did he express grander truths than ? Was his mind subtler than 's? Was his brain equal to 's or 's? Was he grander in death - a sublimer martyr than ? Was he in intelligence, in the force and beauty of expression, in breadth and scope of thought, in wealth of illustration, in aptness of comparison, in knowledge of the human brain and heart, of all passions, hopes and fears, the equal of , the greatest of the human race? shakespeare kindness wisdom bruno epicurus gautama-buddha giordano-bruno laozi zeno zeno-of-citium zoroaster cicero baruch-spinoza epictetus spinoza buddha buddhism socrates stoicism patience isaac-newton johannes-kepler kepler newton william-shakespeare Robert G. Ingersoll
e99ba16 Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls: 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. shakespeare good-name standing libel reputation slander value society theft values William Shakespeare
849f268 "Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,-- For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. shakespeare witches witch William Shakespeare
9999af0 Thou art a very ragged Wart. shakespeare henry-iv William Shakespeare
0e87075 It was one of those cases where you approve the broad, general principle of an idea but can't help being in a bit of a twitter at the prospect of putting it into practical effect. I explained this to Jeeves, and he said much the same thing had bothered Hamlet. shakespeare humor jeeves hesitation hamlet P.G. Wodehouse
b30f486 The Play's the Thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King. shakespeare scene-2 play hamlet theater William Shakespeare
f092bfe The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves. shakespeare the-fault-in-our-stars william-shakespeare William Shakespeare
2d3da70 Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. shakespeare William Shakespeare
a43baaa And therefore, -- since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, -- I am determined to prove a villain, And hate the idle pleasures of these days. shakespeare William Shakespeare
dcd2f1e I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on the other. shakespeare macbeth William Shakespeare
bd95f1f "To paraphrase Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear, and all those guys, "I wish I had known this some time ago." irony shakespeare humor Roger Zelazny
8a33362 I have lived one step away from losing my mind for years. I am quick and accurate in spotting unstable streaks in others. shakespeare бард lily cozy mystery Charlaine Harris
50d343b Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again. shakespeare othello William Shakespeare
31b8b9f Who knows himself a braggart, let him fear this, for it will come to pass that every braggart shall be found an ass. shakespeare humor braggart bragging parroles ass humility pride William Shakespeare
8462ca0 The very stone one kicks with one's boot will outlast Shakespeare. shakespeare Virginia Woolf
64089e5 The sweetest honey is loathsome in its own deliciousness. And in the taste destroys the appetite. Therefore, love moderately. shakespeare william-shakespeare William Shakespeare
2028dbd Tax not so bad a voice to slander music any more than once. shakespeare music William Shakespeare
4f526b0 Life... is a paradise to what we fear of death. shakespeare philosophy William Shakespeare
b81ec34 Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee, And for thy maintenance; commits his body To painful labor, both by sea and land; To watch the night in storms, the day in cold, Whilst thou li'st warm at home, secure and safe; And craves no other tribute at thy hands But love, fair looks, and true obedience- Too little payment for so great a debt. Such duty as the subject owes the prince, Even such a woman oweth to her husband; And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour, And no obedient to his honest will, What is she but a foul contending rebel, And graceless traitor to her loving lord? I asham'd that women are so simple 'To offer war where they should kneel for peace, Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway, When they are bound to serve, love, and obey. Why are our bodies soft, and weak, and smooth, Unapt to toil and trouble in the world, But that our soft conditions, and our hearts, Should well agree with our external parts? shakespeare marriage poem William Shakespeare
ff8f2c8 Your face, my thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters. To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't. shakespeare William Shakespeare
b67a766 "I suppose the fundamental distinction between Shakespeare and myself is one of treatment. We get our effects differently. Take the familiar farcical situation of someone who suddenly discovers that something unpleasant is standing behind them. Here is how Shakespeare handles it in "The Winter's Tale," Act 3, Scene 3: ANTIGONUS: Farewell! A lullaby too rough. I never saw the heavens so dim by day. A savage clamour! Well may I get aboard! This is the chase: I am gone for ever. And then comes literature's most famous stage direction, "Exit pursued by a bear." All well and good, but here's the way I would handle it: BERTIE: Touch of indigestion, Jeeves? JEEVES: No, Sir. BERTIE: Then why is your tummy rumbling? JEEVES: Pardon me, Sir, the noise to which you allude does not emanate from my interior but from that of that animal that has just joined us. BERTIE: Animal? What animal? JEEVES: A bear, Sir. If you will turn your head, you will observe that a bear is standing in your immediate rear inspecting you in a somewhat menacing manner. BERTIE (as narrator): I pivoted the loaf. The honest fellow was perfectly correct. It was a bear. And not a small bear, either. One of the large economy size. Its eye was bleak and it gnashed a tooth or two, and I could see at a g. that it was going to be difficult for me to find a formula. "Advise me, Jeeves," I yipped. "What do I do for the best?" JEEVES: I fancy it might be judicious if you were to make an exit, Sir. BERTIE (narrator): No sooner s. than d. I streaked for the horizon, closely followed across country by the dumb chum. And that, boys and girls, is how your grandfather clipped six seconds off Roger Bannister's mile. Who can say which method is superior?" (As reproduced in )" shakespeare humor stage-directions winters-tale wooster jeeves P.G. Wodehouse
56bbd33 "Do we not each dream of dreams? Do we not dance on the notes of lost sex shakespeare magic rain poems romance sacrifice death dreams music songs life carrack cityisle cityspire desolate fedora haunts horace-walpole mannequins phillip-k-dick puddles specters spectre amnesia androids haunting greek-mythology waking damnation count emily-dickinson magick tempest apocalypse reflections storms masquerade empty science-fiction gothic jazz ships ghosts water piano Nathan Reese Maher
8ea7fbe JAQUES: Rosalind is your love's name? ORLANDO: Yes, just. JAQUES: I do not like her name. ORLANDO: There was no thought of pleasing you when she was christened. shakespeare names humor jaques orlando rosalind William Shakespeare
44d4e21 You are thought here to the most senseless and fit man for the job. shakespeare William Shakespeare
22c6e0b And nothing is, but what is not. shakespeare william William Shakespeare
446daac No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity. But I know none, and therefore am no beast. shakespeare richard-iii pity William Shakespeare
4cdbd66 My Crown is in my heart, not on my head: Not deck'd with Diamonds, and Indian stones: Nor to be seen: my Crown is call'd Content, A Crown it is, that seldom Kings enjoy. shakespeare king-henry-vi kings William Shakespeare
e25b46c They lie deadly that tell you have good faces. shakespeare William Shakespeare
bec0ab8 Yet but three come one more. Two of both kinds make up four. Ere she comes curst and sad. Cupid is a knavish lad. Thus to make poor females mad. shakespeare William Shakespeare
24c57f0 Not like would I write, Not like if I might, Not like at his best, Not like or the rest, Like myself, however small, Like myself, or not at all. shakespeare dante-alighieri homer johann-wolfgang-von-goethe goethe william-shakespeare William Allingham
c068351 If Shakespeare had never existed, he asked, would the world have differed much from what it is today? Does the progress of civilization depend upon great men? Is the lot of the average human being better now that in the time of the Pharaohs? shakespeare Virginia Woolf
3a75092 By my soul I swear, there is no power in the tongue of man to alter me. shakespeare merchant-of-venice William Shakespeare
119d2f8 "It seems only fair," Matthew continued. "A bit of karma, if you will." He twirled the stake again. "Shall we see how long you scream?" "Are you ever going to shut up?" I snapped, fear and irritation filling me in equal measures. "This isn't your monologue, Hamlet. It's the battle scene, in case you've forgotten." His eyes narrowed so fast they nearly sparked. They were the color of honey on fire. One of the others growled like an animal, low in his throat. It made all the hairs on my arms stand straight up. I was going to die for making fun of Shakespeare. My English Lit professor would be so proud." shakespeare Alyxandra Harvey
389e800 O wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful wonderful! And yet again wonderful, and after that, out of all hooping. shakespeare celia wonderful william-shakespeare William Shakespeare
7e25729 Antonio: Will you stay no longer? nor will you not that I go with you? Sebastian: By your patience, no. My stars shine darkly over me; the malignancy of my fate might, perhaps, distemper yours; therefore I shall crave of you your leave that I may bear my evils alone. It were a bad recompense for your love to lay any of them on you. shakespeare stars-shine-darkly twelfth-night city-of-glass William Shakespeare
6a85da9 Hang there like a fruit, my soul, Till the tree die! -Posthumus Leonatus Act V, Scene V shakespeare love reunion William Shakespeare
fa4159a The study of mathematics is apt to commence in disappointment... We are told that by its aid the stars are weighed and the billions of molecules in a drop of water are counted. Yet, like the ghost of Hamlet's father, this great science eludes the efforts of our mental weapons to grasp it. shakespeare stars science grasp molecules mental study ghost math mathematics hamlet william-shakespeare Alfred North Whitehead
48344d3 "I remember the will said, 'May God thy gold refine.' That must be from the Bible." "Shakespeare," Turtle said. All quotations were either from the Bible or Shakespeare." shakespeare funny meta Ellen Raskin
c05ceab So I close this long reflection on what I hope is a not-too-quaveringly semi-Semitic note. When I am at home, I will only enter a synagogue for the or of a friend's child, or in order to have a debate with the faithful. (When I was to be wed, I chose a rabbi named Robert Goldburg, an and a and a , who had married to and had a copy of Marilyn's conversion certificate. He conducted the ceremony in and Annie Navasky's front room, with and as my best of men.) I wanted to do something to acknowledge, and to knit up, the broken continuity between me and my German-Polish forebears. When I am traveling, I will stop at the if it is in a country where Jews are under threat, or dying out, or were once persecuted. This has taken me down queer and sad little side streets in Morocco and Tunisia and Eritrea and India, and in Damascus and Budapest and Prague and Istanbul, more than once to temples that have recently been desecrated by the new breed of racist Islamic gangster. (I have also had quite serious discussions, with Iraqi Kurdish friends, about the possibility of Jews genuinely returning in friendship to the places in northern Iraq from which they were once expelled.) I hate the idea that the dispossession of one people should be held hostage to the victimhood of another, as it is in the Middle East and as it was in Eastern Europe. But I find myself somehow assuming that Jewishness and 'normality' are in some profound way noncompatible. The most gracious thing said to me when I discovered my family secret was by Martin, who after a long evening of ironic reflection said quite simply: 'Hitch, I find that I am a little envious of you.' I choose to think that this proved, once again, his appreciation for the nuances of risk, uncertainty, ambivalence, and ambiguity. These happen to be the very things that 'security' and 'normality,' rather like the fantasy of salvation, cannot purchase. shakespeare india religion annie-navasky arthur-miller bar-and-bat-mitzvah best-man budapest desecration eritrea marilyn-monroe martin-amis morocco prague religious-conversion robert-goldburg steve-wasserman synagogues tunisia victor-saul-navasky jewish-question david-rieff rabbis temples spinoza normality einstein istanbul security salvation poland jewishness eastern-europe kurdish-people middle-east damascus iraq debate atheism islam antisemitism jews germany Christopher Hitchens
c1c5493 I also became a poet, and for one year lived in a Paradise of my own creation; I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated. shakespeare poet Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
5dc5ad2 "I drink to the general joy o' the whole table." Macbeth" shakespeare joy life toast party William Shakespeare
6e3b6be Foul words is but foul wind, and foul wind is but foul breath, and foul breath is noisome; therefore I will depart unkissed. shakespeare foul-words much-ado-about-nothing William Shakespeare
25f4435 Think of Shakespeare and Melville and you think of thunder, lightning, wind. They all knew the joy of creating in large or small forms, on unlimited or restricted canvases. These are the children of the gods. shakespeare writing writers Ray Bradbury
98a5683 "But Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me?" Catherine: "I cannot tell." Henry: "Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate? I'll ask them." shakespeare William Shakespeare
e17fd53 "There is a stillness between us, a period of restlessness that ties my stomach sex shakespeare magic rain poems romance sacrifice death dreams music songs life carrack cityisle cityspire desolate fedora haunts horace-walpole mannequins phillip-k-dick puddles specters spectre amnesia androids haunting greek-mythology waking damnation count emily-dickinson magick tempest apocalypse reflections storms masquerade empty science-fiction gothic jazz ships ghosts water piano Nathan Reese Maher
ffbf722 I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo. theatre shakespeare names poetry inspiration identity life love inspirational new-life birth resurrection theater name William Shakespeare
b6d18a4 Their manners are more gentle, kind, than of our generation you shall find. shakespeare humanity tempest manners William Shakespeare
1344a57 We will meet; and there we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously. Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream. Spoken by Bottom, Act I Sc. 2 shakespeare humor William Shakespeare
62bd6d7 Love is holy. shakespeare love quotes-to-live-by quotes William Shakespeare
1d2061b Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet, And I am proof against their enmity. shakespeare William Shakespeare
0bdb67b She moves me not, or not removes at least affection's edge in me. shakespeare unmoved taming-of-the-shrew William Shakespeare
4c1634d As Shakespeare says, if you're going to do a thing you might as well pop right at it and get it over. shakespeare P.G. Wodehouse
6ea5826 When I do count the clock that tells the time, And see the brave day sunk in hideous night; When I behold the violet past prime, And sable curls all silver'd o'er with white; When lofty trees I see barren of leaves Which erst from heat did canopy the herd, And summer's green all girded up in sheaves Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard, Then of thy beauty do I question make, That thou among the wastes of time must go, Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake And die as fast as they see others grow; And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence. time shakespeare clock sonnet William Shakespeare
cd4e71a A third...candidate for Shakespearean authorship was Christopher Marlowe. He was the right age (just two months older than Shakespeare), had the requisite talent, and would certainly have had ample leisure after 1593, assuming he wasn't too dead to work. shakespeare william-shakespeare Bill Bryson
c86d402 We read the pagan sacred books with profit and delight. With myth and fable we are ever charmed, and find a pleasure in the endless repetition of the beautiful, poetic, and absurd. We find, in all these records of the past, philosophies and dreams, and efforts stained with tears, of great and tender souls who tried to pierce the mystery of life and death, to answer the eternal questions of the Whence and Whither, and vainly sought to make, with bits of shattered glass, a mirror that would, in very truth, reflect the face and form of Nature's perfect self. These myths were born of hopes, and fears, and tears, and smiles, and they were touched and colored by all there is of joy and grief between the rosy dawn of birth, and death's sad night. They clothed even the stars with passion, and gave to gods the faults and frailties of the sons of men. In them, the winds and waves were music, and all the lakes, and streams, and springs,--the mountains, woods and perfumed dells were haunted by a thousand fairy forms. They thrilled the veins of Spring with tremulous desire; made tawny Summer's billowed breast the throne and home of love; filled Autumns arms with sun-kissed grapes, and gathered sheaves; and pictured Winter as a weak old king who felt, like Lear upon his withered face, Cordelia's tears. These myths, though false, are beautiful, and have for many ages and in countless ways, enriched the heart and kindled thought. But if the world were taught that all these things are true and all inspired of God, and that eternal punishment will be the lot of him who dares deny or doubt, the sweetest myth of all the Fable World would lose its beauty, and become a scorned and hateful thing to every brave and thoughtful man. winter perfection shakespeare true grief doubt passion nature joy fear past death dreams music hope life love truth hateful philosophies religion-myths scorn sacred-books brave tender fairy haunted pagan king-lear spring woods fable poetic mountains lake birth smiles deny eternity autumn punishment gods effort tears questions mystery beautiful throne summer thought delight william-shakespeare pleasure Robert G. Ingersoll
f3f4998 "Raphael paints wisdom, Handel sings it, Phidias carves it, writes it, builds it, Columbus sails it, Luther preaches it, shakespeare phidias wren george-washington raphael washington james-watt watt william-shakespeare Ralph Waldo Emerson
b1498a7 Nobody with any real sense of humor *can* write a love story. . . . Shakespeare is the exception that proves the rule. (90-91) love-story shakespeare romance writing L.M. Montgomery
ddae02b Gender mattered a whole lot less to Shakespeare than it seems to matter to us. shakespeare John Irving
2cb476e "History doesn't start with a tall building sex shakespeare magic rain poems romance sacrifice death dreams music songs life carrack cityisle cityspire desolate fedora haunts horace-walpole mannequins phillip-k-dick puddles specters spectre amnesia androids haunting greek-mythology waking damnation count emily-dickinson magick tempest apocalypse reflections storms masquerade empty science-fiction gothic jazz ships ghosts water piano Nathan Reese Maher
fb8c3ee In the State of Denmark there was the odor of decay... irony shakespeare Roger Zelazny
fe1b286 Is it possible that the Pentateuch could not have been written by uninspired men? that the assistance of God was necessary to produce these books? Is it possible that ascertained the mechanical principles of 'Virtual Velocity,' the laws of falling bodies and of all motion; that ascertained the true position of the earth and accounted for all celestial phenomena; that discovered his three laws--discoveries of such importance that the 8th of May, 1618, may be called the birth-day of modern science; that gave to the world the Method of Fluxions, the Theory of Universal Gravitation, and the Decomposition of Light; that , , , and , almost completed the science of mathematics; that all the discoveries in optics, hydrostatics, pneumatics and chemistry, the experiments, discoveries, and inventions of , , and , of , and and of all the pioneers of progress--that all this was accomplished by uninspired men, while the writer of the Pentateuch was directed and inspired by an infinite God? Is it possible that the codes of China, India, Egypt, Greece and Rome were made by man, and that the laws recorded in the Pentateuch were alone given by God? Is it possible that and , , and , and , and all the poets of the world, and all their wondrous tragedies and songs are but the work of men, while no intelligence except the infinite God could be the author of the Pentateuch? Is it possible that of all the books that crowd the libraries of the world, the books of science, fiction, history and song, that all save only one, have been produced by man? Is it possible that of all these, the bible only is the work of God? discoveries progress tragedy libraries poets shakespeare india light writer fiction books inspiration bible science songs intelligence alessandro-volta benjamin-franklin beranger bonaventura-cavalieri bonaventura-francesco-cavalieri burns cavalieri chemistry china copernicus descartes euclid experiments franklin fulton galileo galileo-galilei galvani gottfried-leibniz gottfried-von-leibniz gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz gottfried-wilhelm-von-leibniz greece hydrostatics inventions isaac-newton james-watt johann-von-goethe johannes-kepler kepler laws-of-motion leibniz luigi-aloisio-galvani luigi-galvani math mathematics morse newton nicolaus-copernicus optics pentateuch pierre-jean-de-béranger pioneers pneumatics rene-descartes richard-trevithick robert-burns robert-fulton rome samuel-finley-breese-morse samuel-morse schiller the-bible theory-of-gravity theory-of-universal-gravitation trevethick volta watt Æschylus johann-wolfgang-von-goethe goethe egypt william-shakespeare Robert G. Ingersoll
73e051e ... All who have brought about a state of sex-consciousness are to blame, and it is they who drive me, when I want to stretch my faculties on a book, to seek it in that happy age ... when the writer used both sides of his mind [the male and female sides of his mind] equally. One must turn back to Shakespeare then, for Shakespeare was androgynous; and so were Keats and Sterne and Cowper and Lamb and Coleridge. Shelley perhaps was sexless. Milton and Ben Jonson had a dash too much of the male in them. So had Wordsworth and Tolstoy. shakespeare mind writing keats Virginia Woolf
c6d7790 I sit with and he winces not. Across the color-line I move arm in arm with and , where smiling men and welcoming women glide in gilded halls. From out the caves of the evening that swing between the strong-limbed earth and the tracery of the stars, I summon and ... and they come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the Veil. shakespeare truth aurelius balzac dumas marcus-aurelius veil honoré-de-balzac aristotle william-shakespeare W.E.B. Du Bois
ce112e9 I began with the desire to speak with the dead. shakespeare history education historians knowledge Stephen Greenblatt
6e9cbf3 "She leaves my side and heads deeper into sex shakespeare magic rain poems romance sacrifice death dreams music songs life carrack cityisle cityspire desolate fedora haunts horace-walpole mannequins phillip-k-dick puddles specters spectre amnesia androids haunting greek-mythology waking damnation count emily-dickinson magick tempest apocalypse reflections storms masquerade empty science-fiction gothic jazz ships ghosts water piano Nathan Reese Maher
82ccab0 "One day at Fenner's (the university cricket ground at Cambridge), just before the last war, G. H. Hardy and I were talking about Einstein. Hardy had met him several times, and I had recently returned from visiting him. Hardy was saying that in his lifetime there had only been two men in the world, in all the fields of human achievement, science, literature, politics, anything you like, who qualified for the Bradman class. For those not familiar with cricket, or with Hardy's personal idiom, I ought to mention that "the Bradman class" denoted the highest kind of excellence: it would include Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Newton, Archimedes, and maybe a dozen others. Well, said Hardy, there had only been two additions in his lifetime. One was Lenin and the other Einstein." shakespeare literature politics science bradman-class count-lev-nikolayevich-tolstoy g-h-hardy godfrey-hardy godfrey-harold-hardy lev-nikolayevich-tolstoy vladimir-ilyich-lenin leo-tolstoy vladimir-lenin einstein tolstoy archimedes cambridge lenin isaac-newton newton william-shakespeare C.P. Snow
4679ca1 Consciousness is the materia poetica that Shakespeare sculpts as Michelangelo sculpts marble. We feel the consciousness of Hamlet or Iago, and our own consciousness strangely expands. shakespeare Harold Bloom
91d638b There is a kind of gaping admiration that would fain roll Shakespeare and Bacon into one, to have a bigger thing to gape at; and a class of men who cannot edit one author without disparaging all others. shakespeare conflation francis-bacon editing exaggeration Robert Louis Stevenson
a6fd50b For I am born to tame you, Kate, And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate Comfortable as other household Kates. shakespeare taming-of-the-shrew William Shakespeare
f7e1dfe It is often said that what sets Shakespeare apart is his ability to illuminate the workings of the soul and so on, and he does that superbly, goodness knows, but what really characterizes his work - every bit of it, in poems and plays and even dedications, throughout every portion of his career - is a positive and palpable appreciation of the transfixing power of language. remains an enchanting work after four hundred years, but few could argue that it cuts to the very heart of human behaviour. What it does is take, and give, a positive satisfaction in the joyous possibilities of verbal expression. shakespeare poems dedications four-hundred-years goodness-knows joyous-possibilities transfixing verbal-expression workings-of-the-soul the-soul enchanting human-behavior power-of-language plays human-behaviour possibilities william-shakespeare Bill Bryson
1279e8f In fact a favourite problem of is--Given the molecular forces in a mutton chop, deduce Hamlet or Faust therefrom. He is confident that the Physics of the Future will solve this easily. shakespeare problem future science faust favorite forces johann-wolfgang-von-goethe john-tyndall physics tyndall hamlet goethe william-shakespeare Thomas Henry Huxley
390fd28 Shakespeare 'never owned a book,' a writer for the New York Times gravely informed readers in one doubting article in 2002. The statement cannot actually be refuted, for we know nothing about his incidental possessions. But the writer might just as well have suggested that Shakespeare never owned a pair of shoes or pants. For all the evidence tells us, he spent his life naked from the waist down, as well as bookless, but it is probably that what is lacking is the evidence, not the apparel or the books. shakespeare history Bill Bryson
e9c501f Art is enchantment and artists have the right of spells. ... The success of later Shakespeare is the success of spells, where every element, however uneven, however incredible, is fastened to the next with perfect authority. The enchanted world shimmers but does not waver. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the first of his plays to accomplish this, The Tempest is enchantment's apotheosis. shakespeare spells enchantment Jeanette Winterson
4c8d46b "That's a stupid name! Whirly-gig is much better, I think. Who in their right mind would point at this thing and say, 'I'm going to fly in my Model-A1'. sex shakespeare magic rain poems romance sacrifice death dreams music songs life carrack cityisle cityspire desolate fedora haunts horace-walpole mannequins phillip-k-dick puddles specters spectre amnesia androids haunting greek-mythology waking damnation count emily-dickinson magick tempest apocalypse reflections storms masquerade empty science-fiction gothic jazz ships ghosts water piano Nathan Reese Maher
c31fb9b Miranda opened her eyes in time to see the sunrise. A wash of violent color, pink and streaks of brilliant orange, the container ships on the horizon suspended between the blaze of the sky and the water aflame, the seascape bleeding into confused visions of Station Eleven, its extravagant sunsets the its indigo sea. The lights of the fleet fading into morning, the ocean burning into sky. shakespeare Emily St. John Mandel
168f76e It may take a decade or two before the extent of Shakespeare's collaboration passes from the graduate seminar to the undergraduate lecture, and finally to popular biography, by which time it will be one of those things about Shakespeare that we thought we knew all along. Right now, though, for those who teach the plays and write about his life, it hasn't been easy abandoning old habits of mind. I know that I am not alone in struggling to come to terms with how profoundly it alters one's sense of how Shakespeare wrote, especially toward the end of his career when he coauthored half of his last ten plays. For intermixed with five that he wrote alone, , , , , and , are (written with Thomas Middleton), (written with George Wilkins), and , the lost , and (all written with John Fletcher). shakespeare history-of-thought collaboration teaching James Shapiro
a50f21c "Her gaze wavered towards one of the books on the sales counter beside the register, a hardcover copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet with many of the pages dog-eared and stained with coffee and tea. The store owner caught her looking at it and slid it across the counter towards her. "You ever read Hamlet?" he questioned. "I tried to when I was in high school," said Mandy, picking up the book and flipping it over to read the back. "I mean, it's expected that everyone should like Shakespeare's books and plays, but I just...." her words faltered when she noticed him laughing to himself. "What's so funny, Sir?" she added, slightly offended. "...Oh, I'm not laughing at you, just with you," said the store owner. "Most people who say they love Shakespeare only pretend to love his work. You're honest Ma'am, that's all. You see, the reason you and so many others are put-off by reading Shakespeare is because reading his words on paper, and seeing his words in action, in a play as they were meant to be seen, are two separate things... and if you can find a way to relate his plays to yourself, you'll enjoy them so much more because you'll feel connected to them. Take Hamlet for example - Hamlet himself is grieving over a loss in his life, and everyone is telling him to move on but no matter how hard he tries to, in the end all he can do is to get even with the ones who betrayed him." "...Wow, when you put it that way... sure, I think I'll buy a copy just to try reading, why not?" Mandy replied with a smile." revenge shakespeare grief loss reading diffcult dog-eared bookstore coffee tea geek nerd hamlet classic Rebecca McNutt
7933d87 (...)we all recognize a likeness of Shakespeare the instant we see one, and yet we don't really know what he looked like. It is like this with nearly every aspect of his life and character: He is at once the best known and least known of figures. shakespeare Bill Bryson
130dfa3 "I believe...that to be very poor and very beautiful is most probably a moral failure more than an artistic success. Shakespeare would have done well in any generation because he would have refused to die in a corner; he would have taken the false gods and made them over; he would have taken the current formulae and forced them into something lesser men thought them incapable of. Alive today he would undoubtedly have written and directed motion pictures, plays, and God knows what. Instead of saying, "This medium is not good," he would have used it and made it good. If some people called some his work cheap (which some of it was), he wouldn't have cared a rap, because he would know that without some vulgarity there is no complete man. He would have hated refinement, as such, because it is always a withdrawal, and he was too tough to shrink from anything." integrity shakespeare bravery courage beautiful-losers fresh-ideas great-art lars-von-trier porn-as-art sasha-grey sex-in-cinema struggling-artist struggling-writer refinement the-truth hip-hop courage-to-be-oneself modern-art vulgarity innovation pornography greatness Raymond Chandler
0ee66d1 I have often noticed that we are inclined to endow our friends with the stability of type that literary characters acquire in the reader's mind. No matter how many times we reopen 'King Lear,' never shall we find the good king banging his tankard in high revelry, all woes forgotten, at a jolly reunion with all three daughters and their lapdogs. Never will Emma rally, revived by the sympathetic salts in Flaubert's father's timely tear. Whatever evolution this or that popular character has gone through between the book covers, his fate is fixed in our minds, and, similarly, we expect our friends to follow this or that logical and conventional pattern we have fixed for them. fate shakespeare literature friends literary-references lolita vladimir-nabokov emma-bovary madame-bovary gustave-flaubert king-lear expectations Vladimir Nabokov
b11b793 "Hamlet' dwarfs 'Hamilton' - it dwarfs pretty much everything - but there's a revealing similarity between them. Shakespeare's longest play leaves its audience in the dark about some basic and seemingly crucial facts. It's not as if the Bard forgot, in the course of all those words, to tell us whether Hamlet was crazy or only pretending: He wanted us to wonder. He forces us to work on a puzzle that has no definite answer. And this mysteriousness is one reason why we find the play irresistible. shakespeare musicals plays writing-craft questions Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter
5944ad4 Can you blame me, my dear, for looking on this attachment as a romantic folly inspired by that cursed Shakespeare who will poke his nose where he is not wanted? shakespeare literature romance Fyodor Dostoyevsky
84f931f It is said that [Shakespeare's] time was easier than ours, but I doubt it--no time can be easy if one is living through it. shakespeare living hard-times James Baldwin
3b857a0 The king stood in a pool of blue light, unmoored. shakespeare Emily St. John Mandel
436c519 Imagine the same scene in HAMLET if Pullman had written it. Hamlet, using a mystic pearl, places the poison in the cup to kill Claudius. We are all told Claudius will die by drinking the cup. Then Claudius dies choking on a chicken bone at lunch. Then the Queen dies when Horatio shows her the magical Mirror of Death. This mirror appears in no previous scene, nor is it explained why it exists. Then Ophelia summons up the Ghost from Act One and kills it, while she makes a speech denouncing the evils of religion. Ophelia and Hamlet are parted, as it is revealed in the last act that a curse will befall them if they do not part ways. shakespeare literature his-dark-materials philip-pullman plotting John C. Wright
0715b40 Orr slept. He dreamed. There was no rub. sleep shakespeare Ursula K. Le Guin
fec9a6b In high school, we barely brushed against Ogden Nash, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, or any of the other so-unserious writers who delight everyone they touch. This was, after all, a very expensive and important school. Instead, I was force-fed a few of Shakespeare's Greatest Hits, although the English needed translation, the broad comedy and wrenching drama were lost, and none of the magnificently dirty jokes were ever explained. (Incidentally, Romeo and Juliet, fully appreciated, might be banned in some U.S. states.) This was the Concordance again, and little more. So we'd read all the lines aloud, resign ourselves to a ponderous struggle, and soon give up the plot completely. shakespeare reading learning trivia romeo-and-juliet Bob Harris
2b5d175 Shakespeare is to me the purest voice of nature, and he does no meddle with nature. His plays provide us with the greatest variety of erotic expression, and with Shakespeare eros is the proper term to use. shakespeare love Allan Bloom
38218b4 She looked utterly betrayed, as betrayed as the most betrayed person in Shakespeare. shakespeare humour Miranda July
b1760da The leafless trees, with their black branches stretched hysterically in every direction, looked to him like illustrations of a central nervous system racked by disease: studies of human suffering anatomized against the winter sky. shakespeare anatomy dunbar king-lear nervous-system shakespeare-like Edward St. Aubyn
d6c4d10 Populism may look like an embrace of the have-nots, but in reality it is a form of cynical exploitation. The unscrupulous leader has no actual interest in bettering the lot of the poor. Surrounded from birth with great wealth, his tastes run to extravagant luxuries, and he finds nothing remotely appealing the lives of underclasses... But he sees that they can be made to further his ambition. shakespeare politics Stephen Greenblatt
d1404fe One can forgive Shakespeare anything, except one's own bad lines. shakespeare writing oscar-wilde Peter Ackroyd
e73e57a He [Cade] promises to make England great again. How will he do that? He shows the crowd at once: he attacks education. shakespeare politics Stephen Greenblatt
abf1c9a "I don't remember the whole thing, because it was very long, but Atticus recited it for me once, and there was a line that went like this: "Cry ham hock and let slip the hogs of war!" I know you might not agree, but for me that was the best thing Shakespeare ever wrote." You mean, "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" from Julius Caesar? "No, I don't think that's it. There was ham in there; I'm sure he was talking about ham. They were going to battle hunger." I think you might have been hungry when you heard it, Oberon." shakespeare humour granuaile iron-druid kevin-hearne oberon Kevin Hearne
ab0a60b "Methinks the lady doth protest too much," said Iago. "Methinks the lady protests just the right amount," said Emilia. "Methinks the lady is just getting fucking started protesting." shakespeare humor Christopher Moore
cd997d6 "I'm having my lunch when I hear a familiar hoarse shout, 'Oy Tony!' I whip round, damaging my neck further, to see Michael Gambon in the lunch queue. ... Gambon tells me the story of Olivier auditioning him at the Old Vic in 1962. His audition speech was from Richard III. 'See, Tone, I was thick as two short planks then and I didn't know he'd had a rather notable success in the part. I was just shitting myself about meeting the Great Man. He sussed how green I was and started farting around.' As reported by Gambon, their conversation went like this: Olivier: 'What are you going to do for me?' Gambon: 'Richard the Third.' Olivier: 'Is that so. Which part?' Gambon: 'Richard the Third.' Olivier: 'Yes, but which part?' Gambon: 'Richard the Third.' Olivier: 'Yes, I understand that, but which part?' Gambon: 'Richard the Third.' Olivier: 'But which character? Catesby? Ratcliffe? Buckingham's a good part ...' Gambon: 'Oh I see, beg your pardon, no, Richard the Third.' Olivier: 'What, the King? Richard?' Gambon: ' -- the Third, yeah.' Olivier: "You've got a fucking cheek, haven't you?' Gambon: 'Beg your pardon?' Olivier: 'Never mind, which part are you going to do?' Gambon: 'Richard the Third.' Olivier: 'Don't start that again. Which speech?' Gambon: 'Oh I see, beg your pardon, "Was every woman in this humour woo'd."' Olivier: 'Right. Whenever you're ready.' Gambon: ' "Was ever woman in this humour woo'd -" ' Olivier: 'Wait. Stop. You're too close. Go further away. I need to see the whole shape, get the full perspective.' Gambon: 'Oh I see, beg your pardon ...' Gambon continues, 'So I go over to the far end of the room, Tone, thinking that I've already made an almighty tit of myself, so how do I save the day? Well I see this pillar and I decide to swing round it and start the speech with a sort of dramatic punch. But as I do this my ring catches on a screw and half my sodding hand gets left behind. I think to myself, "Now I mustn't let this throw me since he's already got me down as a bit of an arsehole", so I plough on ... "Was ever woman in this humour woo'd -"' Olivier: 'Wait. Stop. What's the blood?' Gambon: 'Nothing, nothing, just a little gash, I do beg your pardon ...' A nurse had to be called and he suffered the indignity of being given first aid with the greatest actor in the world passing the bandages. At last it was done. Gambon: 'Shall I start again?' Olivier: 'No. I think I've got a fair idea how you're going to do it. You'd better get along now. We'll let you know.' Gambon went back to the engineering factory in Islington where he was working. At four that afternoon he was bent over his lathe, working as best as he could with a heavily bandaged hand, when he was called to the phone. It was the Old Vic. 'It's not easy talking on the phone, Tone. One, there's the noise of the machinery. Two, I have to keep my voice down 'cause I'm cockney at work and posh with theatre people. But they offer me a job, spear-carrying, starting immediately. I go back to my work-bench, heart beating in my chest, pack my tool-case, start to go. The foreman comes up, says, "Oy, where you off to?" "I've got bad news," I say, "I've got to go." He says, "Why are you taking your tool box?" I say, "I can't tell you, it's very bad news, might need it." And I never went back there, Tone. Home on the bus, heart still thumping away. A whole new world ahead. We tend to forget what it felt like in the beginning." shakespeare michael-gambon Antony Sher
9b457ce You don't know yet what money is. Money is power, when you have lived as long as I have. I know, I know. If youth but knew. But what does Shakespeare say? money shakespeare youth James Joyce
221b0b1 The absurdity of these campaign promises is not an impediment to their effectiveness. On the contrary: Cade keeps producing demonstrable falsehoods about his origins and making wild claims about the great things he will do, and the crowds eagerly swallow them. To be sure, his neighbors know that Cade is a congenital liar. shakespeare Stephen Greenblatt
5978971 There is more in the world than is dreamt of in your philosophy, Doctor - or in the Merck Manual. shakespeare philosophy pendergast Douglas Preston
60a4dd1 Shakespeare was a far better psychologist than Freud, and Jane Austen a far better sociologist than Durkheim shakespeare freud sociology creativity psychology Matt Ridley
52191ab I'm not absolutely certain of my facts, but I rather fancy it's Shakespeare - or, if not, it's some equally brainy lad - who says that it's always just when a chappie is feeling particularly top-hole, and more than usually braced with things in general that Fate sneaks up behind him with a bit of lead piping. fate shakespeare chappie lead-piping top-hole P. G. Wodehouse
64f4e67 "The Honorable Ferdy, who had been pondering at intervals all day how his cousin's wife came by such a peculiar name, now introduced a new note into the conversation by saying suddenly, 'Can't make it out at all! You're sure you've got that right, Sherry?' 'Got what right?' 'Hero,' said Ferdy, frowning. 'Look at it which way you like, it don't make sense. For one thing, a hero ain't a female, and for another it ain't a "name." At least,' he added cautiously, 'it ain't one I've ever heard of. Ten to one you've made one of your muffs, Sherry!' 'Oh no, I truly am called Hero!' the lady assured him. 'It's out of Shakespeare.' 'Oh, out of "Shakespeare," is it?' said Ferdy. 'That accounts for my not having heard it before.' 'You're out of Shakespeare too,' said Hero, helping herself liberally from a dish of green peas. 'I am?' Ferdy exclaimed, much struck. 'Yes, in the "Tempest," I think.' 'Well, if that don't beat all!' Ferdy said, looking around at his friends. 'She says I'm out of Shakespeare! Must tell my father that. Shouldn't think he knows." shakespeare hero-wantage name Georgette Heyer
efb4de1 Twenty years earlier, in a life [Kirsten] mostly couldn't remember, she had had a small nonspeaking role in a short-lived Toronto production of King Lear. Now she walked in sandals whose soles had been cut from an automobile tire, three knives in her belt. shakespeare life post-apocalyptic dystopia art play drama Emily St. John Mandel
f5e7c48 ...although the absurdity of the demagogue's rhetoric was blatantly obvious, the laughter it elicited did not for a minute diminish its menace. Cade and his followers will not slink away because the traditional political elite and the entirety of the educated populace regard him as a jackass. shakespeare Stephen Greenblatt
d70eb93 In ordinary times, when a public figure is caught in a lie or simply reveals blatant ignorance of the truth, his standing is diminished. But these are not ordinary times. If a dispassionate bystander were to point out all of Cade's grotesque distortions, mistakes, and downright lies, the crowd's anger would light on the skeptic and not on Cade. shakespeare Stephen Greenblatt
34c6bb0 In my nervous frame of mind I expected to see the ghost of Hamlet wandering on the legendary castle terrace. shakespeare hamlet Jules Verne
6e9b052 Shakespeare grappled again and again with a deeply unsettling question: how is it possible for a whole country to fall into the hands of a tyrant? shakespeare politics new-historicism Stephen Greenblatt
10c4fd9 "I gave you all!" screeched Lear, waving a palsied claw at Regan. "And you took your bloody time giving it, too, you senile old fuck," said Regan." shakespeare humor king-lear paraphrased Christopher Moore
9ade891 As with modern totalitarian regimes, people developed techniques for speaking in code, addressing at one or more removes what most mattered to them. But it was not only caution that motivated Shakespeare's penchant for displacement. He seems to have grasped that he thought more clearly about the issues that preoccupied his world when he confronted them not directly but from an oblique angle. His plays suggest that he could best acknowledge the truth- to possess it fully and not perish of it- through the artifice of fiction or through historical distance. shakespeare politics Stephen Greenblatt
1fcf831 A succession of murders clears the field of most of the significant impediments, actual or potential, to Richard's seizing power. But it is striking that Shakespeare does not envisage the tyrant's climactic accession to the throne as the direct result of violence. To solicit a popular mandate, Richard conducts a political campaign, complete with a fraudulent display of religious piety, the slandering of opponents, and a grossly exaggerated threat to national security. shakespeare politics Stephen Greenblatt
1 ▲ ▼