“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Some are born great, others achieve greatness.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“a young woman in love always looks like patience on a monument smiling at grief”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“I say there is no darkness but ignorance.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“O time, thou must untangle this, not I.
It is too hard a knot for me t'untie.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Journeys end in lovers meeting,
Every wise man's son doth know.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Olivia: How does he love me?
Viola: With adoration, with fertile tears,
With groans that thunder love, with sighs of fire.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“She never told her love, but let concealment, like a worm 'i th' bud, feed on her damask cheek. She pinned in thought; and, with a green and yellow melancholy, she sat like Patience on a monument, smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed? We men may say more, swear more; but indeed our shows are more than will; for we still prove much in our vows but little in our love.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“I have unclasp'd to thee the book even of my secret soul.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“In nature there's no blemish but the mind.
None can be called deformed but the unkind.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Well, God give them wisdom that have it; and those that are fools, let them use their talents.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun; it shines everywhere.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“This fellow is wise enough to play the fool;
And to do that well craves a kind of wit:
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practise
As full of labour as a wise man's art
For folly that he wisely shows is fit;
But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Come away, come away, Death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid;
Fly away, fly away, breath,
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white stuck all with yew, O prepare it!
My part of death no one so true did share it.
Not a flower, not a flower sweet,
On my black coffin let there be strewn:
Not a friend, not a friend greet
My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown.
A thousand thousand sighs to save, lay me O where
Sad true lover never find my grave, to weep there!”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“But, indeed, words are very rascals, since bonds [vows] disgraced them."
Viola: "Thy reason, man?"
Feste: "Troth [Truthfully], sir, I can yield you none without words, and words are grown so false, I am loathe to prove reason with them.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Antonio: Will you stay no longer? nor will you not that I go with you?
Sebastian: By your patience, no. My stars shine darkly over me; the malignancy of my fate might, perhaps, distemper yours; therefore I shall crave of you your leave that I may bear my evils alone. It were a bad recompense for your love to lay any of them on you.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Alas, the frailty is to blame, not we
For such as we are made of, such we be”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“For what says Quinapalus? Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Lady, you are the cruel'st she alive
If you will lead these graces to the grave
And leave the world no copy.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
“Where lies your text?
Viola: In Orsino's bosom.
Olivia: In his bosom! In what chapter of his bosom?
Viola: To answer by the method, in the first of his heart.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare
Born place: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, The United Kingdom
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“Governments sacked these obviously incompetent ministers in charge of their Exchequers and passed new laws enforcing the old laws about observing the ancient laws regarding not evading tax laws.”
― quote from NGLND XPX
“If war had taught him anything, it was that it took the people who deserved long and happy lives and gave them short, brutal ones instead.”
― Melissa Grey, quote from The Girl at Midnight
“self-love was the greatest love. It was the only path to true happiness because in the end, if everyone else left, you had to be comfortable with just being you.”
― Erin Noelle, quote from Euphoria
“A lord who knows how to wield men is ten times more fearsome than one who knows only how to wield a sword.”
― Ken Liu, quote from The Grace of Kings
“Governments must be made for human beings as they are, or as they are capable of speedily becoming.”
― John Stuart Mill, quote from On Liberty and Other Essays
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Timaeus/CritiasBookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
