Happy Shakespeare's Birthday!

If you told me I could ready only one book for the rest of my life, I would without hesitation choose the complete works of Shakespeare. He was brilliant, dramatic, funny, and naughty. He practically reinvented the English language. And I don't know that any writer had more insight into the human condition.

Is there anything we need to know about parents and children that isn't contained in King Lear? Or anything about ambition and power that isn't included in Macbeth?

Let's hear of a few of your favorite Shakespeare quotations, in honor of the Bard. I'll start (from memory, so forgive me if they're slightly off):

"How much sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!" (Lear)

"If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly" (Macbeth)

"Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms" (Midsummer Night's Dream)

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akindheart · 61-69, F

i have the complete compilation waiting to be read. on a personal note, my 9th great uncle was one of Shakespeares Original Kings Men.

now about that quote:
hou sodden-witted lord; thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows.
Thersites to Ajax in “Troilus and Cressida”
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Away, you three-inch fool!
Curtis to Grumio in “The Taming of the Shrew”
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I do desire we may be better strangers.
Orlando to Jaques in “As You Like It”
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There’s no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune.
Falstaff to Mistress Quickly in “Henry IV”
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Villain, I have done thy mother.
Aaron to Chiron and Demetrius in “Titus Andronicus”
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Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!
Timon to Apemantus in “Timon of Athens”
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Either thou art most ignorant by age, or thou wert born a fool.
Leontes to Antigonus in “The Winter’s Tale”
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More of your conversation would infect my brain, being the herdsmen of the beastly plebeians: I will be bold to take my leave of you.
Menenius to Brutus and Sicinius in “Coriolanus”
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What, you are as a candle, the better part burnt out.
Chief Justice to Falstaff in “Henry IV”
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He's a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise-breaker, the owner of no one good quality.
A French nobleman about Parolles in “All’s Well That Ends Well”
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I am sick when I do look on thee.

Harmonium1923 · 51-55, M

@akindheart Thanks! I’ve got to remember that one from As You Like It! 🤣

DrWatson · 70-79, M

"Peace? I hate the word!
As I hate Hell, Montagues, and thee!"

(Romeo and Juliet)

In that one line, Shakespeare communicates everything we need to know about the character of Tybalt, as soon as we meet him in the opening scene.

People love to quote "Shakespearean insults", and while I love this line ( not because of the sentiment expressed, but because of the [i]way[/i] it is expressed), it does not transfer outside of the context of the play.

So, I finally got an opportunity to post it! 😌

bijouxbroussard · F

"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash. ’Tis something, nothing:
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed."
(Othello)

"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."
(The Merchant of Venice)

ChampagneOnIce · 51-55, F

[i]This above all: to thine own self be true.[/i]
- Hamlet

[i]Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.[/i]
- Henry V

[i]The course of true love never did run smooth.[/i]
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Harmonium1923 · 51-55, M

@ChampagneOnIce Wonderful selection!

Bumbles · 51-55, M

An amazing version…

[media=https://youtu.be/q6CLdCl9TB0]

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