Hast thou a favourite quote by the bard Shakespeare?

"To be or not to be? Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or by taking arms against a sea of troubles, to end them?" I think thats right.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" First line of one of the most beautiful sonnets ever written. I vaguely remember studying it as part of my English A-Level and loved it.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air.
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And ,like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
Prospero Act 4 The Tempest.

Strangely comforting and also now- one for the bankers I think!

What light through yonder window breaks.It is the east and Juliet is the sun,Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon,who is already sick and pale with grief,That thou her maid art far more fair than she.(Romeo and Juliet)

Or from Hamlet:

"His wisdom prates as from a wicker-cage".

(Hamlet comparing Polonius to a parrot).

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

From Hamlet

Hard choice - this or the Saint Crispen's Day Speech from Henry V, both of which I love, as both bring a lump to the throat.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

If only everyone agreeded

'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'

HAMLET

All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts

I love the Shakespeare quote- "I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed!" hehe

My favourite is "to thine own self be true", a line to live your life by!

Action is eloquence

Once more unto the breach dear friends.....

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts.

Always loved this from the seven ages of Man and the last line
"Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste,
sans everything" which is so moving

From The Merchant of Venice
"The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes..."

Daph, Seven ages of Man is one of my favourites as well, I was going to include it but didn't have time.

It seems very apt as we age.

My favourite comes from As You Like It......The fool doth think he is wise but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

"I know not how to tell thee who I am. My name, dear saint, is hateful to thyself. Had I it written, I would tear the word." From Romeo and Juliet.

parting is such sweet sorrow

Not forgetting those wonderful insults, of which there are many :

'Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's tongue, you bull's pizzle, you stock-fish! O for breath to utter what is like thee! you tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bowcase; you vile standing-tuck!
1 Henry IV

A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson, glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition.
King Lear

HERMIA
“Puppet”? Why so?—Ay, that way goes the game.
Now I perceive that she hath made compare
Between our statures. She hath urged her height,
And with her personage, her tall personage,
Her height, forsooth, she hath prevailed with him.—
And are you grown so high in his esteem
Because I am so dwarfish and so low?
How low am I, thou painted maypole? Speak.
How low am I? I am not yet so low
But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes.
A Midsummer Nights Dream

This life, which had been the tomb of his virtue and of his honour, is but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

from Henry V

Once more unto the breach dear friends
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood

it's the third and fourth line which mean the most to me

I am a man more sinned against than sinning

from King Lear when he has been deserted by his daughters - a very poignant speech