Browse 9 quotations connecting William Shakespeare with Trust, with meanings, source notes and related themes.
Each quotation is included because its central idea connects with this theme, not simply because one matching word appears in the sentence.
Sources represented here include Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Keeping the work and source note beside each quotation makes differences in setting, speaker and emphasis easier to see.
Sources represented here include Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Love is described as complicated rather than frictionless, which makes the line a durable reminder against idealizing relationships.
Source note: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, Scene 1; Lysander says this to Hermia while describing the obstacles that repeatedly frustrate lovers. It is character dialogue inside their threatened relationship.
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
The advice combines generosity with judgment: goodwill can be broad while trust remains selective.
Source note: All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 1, Scene 1; the Countess gives Bertram compact advice about conduct before he leaves.
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles.”
Friendly appearance can conceal harmful intent, so trust should consider patterns of conduct rather than expressions alone.
Source note: Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3.
“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
The phrase holds affection and pain together: separation hurts precisely because the relationship being left is valued.
Source note: Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2; Juliet speaks as the lovers part for the night.
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!”
Romeo’s first reaction to Juliet turns visual beauty into illumination, showing how admiration changes the way the surrounding scene is perceived.
Source note: Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”
The line questions whether labels and inherited identities should determine the value or reality of the person beneath them.
Source note: Act 2, Scene 2; Juliet separates Romeo from the social meaning of his family name.
“It is twice blest: it blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”
Mercy is described as reciprocal in effect: it helps the recipient, but it also changes the moral character of the person who chooses to give it.
Source note: The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1; Portia explains why mercy benefits both sides.
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Love is treated as an appetite that can be intensified through beauty, sensation, and repeated emotional stimulation.
Source note: Act 1, Scene 1; Orsino opens the play by comparing music and appetite.
“I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.”
Sebastian responds to Antonio’s costly loyalty with repeated thanks while also admitting that words alone are an inadequate repayment for practical care.
Source note: Twelfth Night, Act 3, Scene 3, Project Gutenberg #1526. Sebastian says this to Antonio after Antonio explains that fear for Sebastian’s safety drove him to follow despite the danger of returning to Illyria; it is character dialogue, not Shakespeare autobiography.