Shakespeare Quotes

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”

The Witches, Macbeth

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”

What seems good ("fair") is actually bad ("foul"), and vice-versa.

“Is this a dagger which I see before me”

Macbeth, Macbeth

“Is this a dagger which I see before me”

Macbeth has a vision of his future acts

"Out, damned spot! out, I say!"

Lady Macbeth, Macbeth

"Out, damned spot! out, I say!"

Lady Macbeth washes off imaginary blood from her attempt to kill King Duncan. Shows her mental state.

"Blood will have blood"

Macbeth, Macbeth

"Blood will have blood"

acts of violence or murder will inevitably lead to more violence and revenge

“Nothing can come of nothing, speak again.”

King Lear, King Lear

“Nothing can come of nothing, speak again.”

If you invest or contribute nothing, you will receive nothing in return. King Lear invests nothing into his kids, gets wrath in return.

“Even now, now, very now, an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe.”

Othello, Iago

“Even now, now, very now, an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe.”

Iago tells Barbantio that Desdemona has a secret marriage.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question”

Hamlet, Hamlet

“To be, or not to be, that is the question”

Hamlet debates killing himself or staying alive. Antic disposition.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

Gertrude, Hamlet

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

Gertrude talking about the player queen.

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

Juliet, Romeo and Juliet

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

Juliet calls out for Romeo after their first meeting, unaware he is in the garden below.

“So foul and fair”

Macbeth, Macbeth

“My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,”

Macbeth, Macbeth

"To win the Moor, were't to renounce his baptism,"

Iago, Othello