Quotes from Richard II

William Shakespeare ·  168 pages

Rating: (15.1K votes)


“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be fear'd and kill with looks,
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,
As if this flesh which walls about our life,
Were brass impregnable, and humour'd thus
Comes at the last and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!

Act 3, Scene 2”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me;
For now hath time made me his numbering clock:
My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar
Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch,
Whereto my finger, like a dial's point,
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears.
Now sir, the sound that tells what hour it is
Are clamorous groans, which strike upon my heart,
Which is the bell: so sighs and tears and groans
Show minutes, times, and hours.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“You may my glories and my state depose,
But not my griefs; still am I king of those.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“No matter where; of comfort no man speak:
Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;
Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II



“This royal throne of kings, this sceptered 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.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“Thus play I in one person many people,
And none contented: sometimes am I king;
Then treasons make me wish myself a beggar,
And so I am: then crushing penury
Persuades me I was better when a king;
Then am I king'd again: and by and by
Think that I am unking'd by Bolingbroke,
And straight am nothing: but whate'er I be,
Nor I nor any man that but man is
With nothing shall be pleased, till he be eased
With being nothing.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“Keep time! How sour sweet music is when time is broke and no proportion kept! So is it in the music of men's lives. I wasted time and now doth time waste me.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“No matter where; of comfort no man speak:
Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;
Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth,
Let's choose executors and talk of wills:
And yet not so, for what can we bequeath
Save our deposed bodies to the ground?
Our lands, our lives and all are Bolingbroke's,
And nothing can we call our own but death
And that small model of the barren earth
Which serves as paste and cover to our bones.
For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be fear'd and kill with looks,
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,
As if this flesh which walls about our life,
Were brass impregnable, and humour'd thus
Comes at the last and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!
Cover your heads and mock not flesh and blood
With solemn reverence: throw away respect,
Tradition, form and ceremonious duty,
For you have but mistook me all this while:
I live with bread like you, feel want,
Taste grief, need friends: subjected thus,
How can you say to me, I am a king?”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“I'll give my jewels for a set of beads,
My gorgeous palace for a hermitage,
My gay apparel for an almsman's gown,
My figured goblets for a dish of wood,
My scepter for a palmer's walking staff
My subjects for a pair of carved saints
and my large kingdom for a little grave.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II



“This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“Mine honor is my life; both grow in one.
Take honor from me, and my life is done.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“For sorrow ends not, when it seemeth done.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“My dear, dear Lord,
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation; that away
Men are but gilded loan or painted clay...
Mine honor is my life; both grow in one;
Take honor from me, and my life is done.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“No deeper wrinkles yet?
Hath sorrow struck
So many blows upon this face of mine
And made no deeper wounds?”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II



“Not all the water in the rough rude sea
Can wash the balm from an anointed King;”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“Each substance of a grief has twenty shadows.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“Discharge my followers; let them hence away,
From Richard's night to Bolingbrooke's fair day.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“The shadow of my sorrow. Let's see, 'tis very true. My griefs lie all within and these external manners of laments are mere shadows to the unseen grief which swells with silence in the tortured soul.
There lies the substance.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II



“I hate the murderer, love him murdered.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me;
For now hath time made me his numb'ring clock;
My thoughts are minutes, and with sighs they jar
Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch,
Whereto my finger, like a dial's point,
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“I'll read enough
When I do see the very book indeed
Where all my sins are writ, and that's myself.
Give me that glass and therein will I read.
No deeper wrinkles yet? Hath sorrow struck
So many blows upon this face of mine
And made no deeper wounds?
O flattering glass,
Like to my followers in prosperity
Thou dost beguile me!”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“Northumberland, thou ladder wherewithal the mounting Bolingbroke ascends my throne.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“More are men's ends mark'd than their lives before:
The setting sun, and music at the close,
As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last,
Writ in remembrance more than things long past”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II



“O that I were a mockery king of snow
Standing before the sun of Bolingbroke
To melt myself away in water drops!”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“My grief lies all within; and these external manner of laments are merely shadows of the unseen grief that swells with silence in the tortur'd soul.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


“L'amor d'homes dolents es converteix en por;
la por en odi, i l'odi fa que l'un, o bé tots dos,
esdevinguin perill d'una mort merescuda.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Richard II


About the author

William Shakespeare
Born place: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, The United Kingdom
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