That reverend vice, that grey iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in years. -King Henry IV. Part I. Act ii. read more

That reverend vice, that grey iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in years. -King Henry IV. Part I. Act ii. Sc. 4.

I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety. -King Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 2.

I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety. -King Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 2.

A parlous boy. -King Richard III. Act ii. Sc. 4.

A parlous boy. -King Richard III. Act ii. Sc. 4.

Renowned Spenser, lie a thought more nigh
To learned Chaucer, and rare Beaumont lie
A little nearer read more

Renowned Spenser, lie a thought more nigh
To learned Chaucer, and rare Beaumont lie
A little nearer Spenser, to make room
For Shakespeare in your threefold, fourfold tomb.

Thyself and thy belongings Are not thine own so proper as to waste Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee. read more

Thyself and thy belongings Are not thine own so proper as to waste Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee. Heaven doth with us as we with torches do, Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues Did not go forth of us, 't were all alike As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends The smallest scruple of her excellence But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines Herself the glory of a creditor, Both thanks and use. -Measure for Measure. Act i. Sc. 1.

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet Are of imagination all compact: One sees more devils than vast hell can read more

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet Are of imagination all compact: One sees more devils than vast hell can hold, That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic, Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt: The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven; And as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name. Such tricks hath strong imagination, That if it would but apprehend some joy, It comprehends some bringer of that joy; Or in the night, imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear! -A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act v. Sc. 1.

No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en; In brief, sir, study what you most affect. -The Taming of the read more

No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en; In brief, sir, study what you most affect. -The Taming of the Shrew. Act i. Sc. 1.

To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast Fits a dull fighter and a keen read more

To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest. -King Henry IV. Part I. Act iv. Sc. 2.

Had I a dozen sons, each in my love alike and none less dear than thine and my good Marcius, read more

Had I a dozen sons, each in my love alike and none less dear than thine and my good Marcius, I had rather eleven die nobly for their country than one voluptuously surfeit out of action. -Coriolanus. Act i. Sc. 3.