Your FAVORITE quote from Shakespeare!

[JBI]

Cry havoc! Let slip the dogs of war. - Julius Caesar.

[Charles Darnay]

favourite quote for comical reasons:

"What, you egg!" - Macbeth IV.ii

Favourite quote for poetical reasons:

Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam,
The seasons' difference, as the icy fang
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind,
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body,
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
'This is no flattery: these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am.'
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life exempt from public haunt
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones and good in every thing.
I would not change it.
-As You Like It - II.i

[Trystan]

"I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands,
organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same
food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases,
heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter
and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If
you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?
And if you wrong us, do we not revenge? If we are like you in the
rest, we will resemble you in that." - Shylock, Merchant of Venice

I loved how Al Pacino performed this in the 2004 movie, he was awesome.

[chasestalling]

Thou whoreson zed! Thou unnecessary letter!

[SnipSnap]

Two short ones from Macbeth I always enjoy:

Oh, how full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife.

and:

It will have blood, they say. Blood will have blood.

Both spoken by Macbeth. Both ominous.

[superhero99]

"As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport."
-King Lear

[dramasnot6]

"What, you egg!" - Macbeth IV.ii

Classic.

[djy78usa]

... These wounds I had on Crispin's Day...

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day

Henry V, Act IV, Scene 3

[Lioness_Heart]

What is Saint Crispin's day? As in, who is st Crispin and why is his day significant?

Sorry if I'm being woefully ignorant

[shakespeare87]

My favourite quote is:

A little more than kin, and less than kind.

Hamlet, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2.

[djy78usa]

What is Saint Crispin's day? As in, who is st Crispin and why is his day significant?

Sorry if I'm being woefully ignorant

Saint Crispin's day actually celebrated two people, Crispin and Crispian (hense the two spellings in the speech). They are the patron saints of cobblers, tanners, and leather workers. The holiday used to be celebrated on October 25th, the day on which The Battle of Agincourt (the battle Henry V is speaking about) was fought in 1415.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Crispin

Incidently, The Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944) and The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854) also occured on October 25th.

[Lioness_Heart]

Saint Crispin's day actually celebrated two people, Crispin and Crispian (hense the two spellings in the speech). They are the patron saints of cobblers, tanners, and leather workers. The holiday used to be celebrated on October 25th, the day on which The Battle of Agincourt (the battle Henry V is speaking about) was fought in 1415.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Crispin

Incidently, The Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944) and The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854) also occured on October 25th.

Ah... thank-you! Is it just a coiincidence that Agincourt is on that day, or is there some significance? I probably mean more in a Shakespearian way, as in, do you think there was a particular reason for its mention in the speech (other than that the battle was on the day)? Perhaps Henry V is trying to draw the troops together, making everyone feel equal and valued by calling on two of the saints of working-class industry?

Just a thought... sorry, Drama, if I'm deviating from the topic, I'll find another postworthy quote soon...

[RobinHood3000]

"O that he were here to write me down an ***!
But masters, remember that I am an ***."

Act IV Scene ii

You took the words right out of my mouth before I even thought of speaking them.

[Abdiel]

Wow! These quotes are all so wonderful. My question is: is there such a thing as a bad Shakespeare quote? I mean, every line he wrote was stunning, so you can't exactly find anything bad (unless you cut a line off part way: To be or not to....)

[bazarov]

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.

Othello:
Our bodies are our gardens, to the which
our wills are gardeners: so that if we will plant
nettles, or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up
thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs, or
distract it with many, either to have it sterile
with idleness, or manured with industry, why, the
power and corrigible authority of this lies in our
wills.