Browse 43 quotations connecting William Shakespeare with Words of Wisdom, with meanings, source notes and related themes.
The forty-three Shakespeare quotations tagged Words of Wisdom span eighteen plays, but they are not forty-three independent instructions from the playwright. Thirteen also belong to the narrower Wisdom collection. This broader page asks what happens when a memorable sentence is removed from its dramatic situation. In Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius tells Laertes to be true to himself and to listen more than he speaks; his elaborate counsel is complicated by his own officious conduct. Later, in Act 2, Scene 2, his praise of brevity arrives during a conspicuously long speech. In Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5, Malvolio reads the promise of greatness from a letter that Maria has forged to deceive him. These statements can sound like practical guidance when isolated, yet in performance their speakers, audiences and motives shape what is actually being said.
Other brief lines express uncertainty or moral difficulty rather than a settled rule. Hamlet’s reflections on thought, death and readiness belong to changing circumstances, culminating in the dangerous fencing match of Act 5, Scene 2. Ophelia’s remark about what one may become occurs during her distress in Act 4, Scene 5, not during an optimistic discussion of personal potential. Jaques’s seven-ages speech in As You Like It gives a theatrical picture of life rather than a measurable theory of human development; Duke Senior’s praise of adversity comes from a ruler in exile. In Richard II, the king’s complaint that time has wasted him follows a loss of power. The First Lord in All’s Well That Ends Well considers how virtues and faults mingle in a person. Taken together, these scenes invite reflection on what a speaker knows, fears or has lost; they should not be recast as universally verified psychological lessons.
Even apparently sound advice may conceal a purpose. Cassius’s two familiar claims about human mastery over fate are contiguous lines from one speech recruiting Brutus against Caesar in Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2. Caesar’s bold words about cowardice and death appear while Calpurnia warns him about danger. The caution about glittering gold in The Merchant of Venice is written inside a casket and read by the unsuccessful Prince of Morocco; it is not his own independent judgment. Iago’s famous warning about jealousy in Othello, Act 3, Scene 3, is part of the process by which he plants jealousy in Othello. Likewise, Ulysses’s declaration about a touch of nature making the world kin in Troilus and Cressida concerns people collectively admiring new things, not a straightforward celebration of human solidarity. Characters can describe a problem accurately while exploiting that description to persuade or mislead another person.
The remaining range is just as important: the Countess urges restraint and trust in All’s Well That Ends Well; Helena speaks of initiative within a morally complex courtship; Friar Laurence warns Romeo against haste; Falstaff turns discretion into comic self-defense in Henry IV, Part 1; Malcolm addresses Macduff’s grief amid a call for revenge in Macbeth; and Ford’s preference for arriving early in The Merry Wives of Windsor arises from jealous suspicion. The broader Words of Wisdom collection is therefore best read as a set of questions about judgment, motive, timing, loss and the limits of counsel, not a checklist of maxims. For tightly focused reflections on living well, use Wisdom; for questions about reality and mortality, see Philosophy and Life; for manipulation and appearances, compare Truth; for practical choices, consult Decision and Action. The source, original dramatic speaker and contextual explanation beside each quotation remain essential to interpreting it.
Sources represented here include Hamlet, All’s Well That Ends Well, Julius Caesar.
“Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
Physical size is separated from force of character, giving the line its enduring use as a compact statement of spirited strength.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene 2; Helena describes Hermia during the lovers’ quarrel. Verified in the scan-backed 1918 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Willard Higley Durham; direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act III transcription.
“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.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I, Scene 1; Lysander says this to Hermia while describing the obstacles that repeatedly frustrate lovers. Verified in the scan-backed 1918 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Willard Higley Durham; direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act I transcription.
“No legacy is so rich as honesty.”
The line values trustworthy character above possessions or reputation inherited after death.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act III, Scene 5; Mariana warns Diana about Bertram and says that no legacy is so rich as honesty. Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio; direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act III transcription.
“Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie.”
Before assuming rescue must come from outside, the line asks what capacity, choice, or effort is already available within.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act I, Scene 1; Helena resolves to act rather than ascribe every possibility to fate. Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio (folio spelling “Our remedies oft in our selues do lye”); direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act I transcription.
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
The advice combines generosity with judgment: goodwill can be broad while trust remains selective.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act I, Scene 1; the Countess of Roussillon gives Bertram the counsel “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio (folio spelling “Loue all, trust a few, Doe wrong to none”); direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act I transcription.
“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.”
Human life is pictured as a fabric woven from favorable and painful threads rather than a story made from only one kind of experience.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act IV, Scene 3; the First Lord reflects that human life is woven from good and ill together while discussing Bertram and Parolles. Verified against Wikisource’s 1910 facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio (folio spelling “The webbe of our life, is of a mingled yarne”); direct evidence resolves to the reviewed Act IV transcription.
“Sweet are the uses of adversity.”
Adversity is presented as capable of yielding insight or value even when the experience itself is unwelcome.
As You Like It, Act II, Scene 1, Duke Senior; 1919 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Jack R. Crawford, printed page 24 / Wikisource scan leaf 36. “Sweet are the uses of adversity” occurs in Duke Senior’s Forest of Arden reflection on exile, winter and the lessons he claims to find outside court life. It remains fictional dramatic speech rather than Shakespeare’s autobiographical advice or a modern psychological claim about hardship.
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
The metaphor treats life as a sequence of roles and stages, inviting reflection on identity, aging, and impermanence.
As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7, Jaques; 1919 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Jack R. Crawford, printed page 42 / Wikisource scan leaf 54. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” opens Jaques’s seven-ages speech after Duke Senior compares human suffering with theatrical pageants. The metaphor remains dramatic character speech about roles and aging, not Shakespeare speaking autobiographically.
“The readiness is all.”
The emphasis is not on controlling every outcome but on meeting what comes with preparedness and acceptance.
Act 5, Scene 2.
“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
The line praises compression: saying less can sharpen meaning when the words that remain do real work.
Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2; Polonius says this while promising the King and Queen he will be brief, immediately before continuing at comic length. The dramatic irony is part of the line’s context.
“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
Polonius frames integrity as consistency between inward conviction and outward conduct, although the advice belongs to a fallible fictional counselor.
Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3; Polonius gives Laertes this advice before Laertes leaves for France.
“To be, or not to be: that is the question.”
The line condenses an existential dilemma into a question about endurance, action, fear, and the unknown consequences of death.
Act 3, Scene 1; Hamlet weighs existence against suffering and uncertainty.
“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”
Listening broadly while speaking selectively is presented as a practical discipline for judgment, relationships, and self-control.
Act 1, Scene 3; Polonius advises Laertes before his departure.
“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”
The line leaves room between present identity and future possibility, making it useful for reflection on change and potential.
Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5; Ophelia speaks during her disrupted state, so the line remains dramatic dialogue rather than Shakespearean autobiography.
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
The line separates events from the judgments people place on them, a useful distinction for thinking about perception and response.
Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2; Hamlet says this to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern while explaining that Denmark feels like a prison to him. The line is dramatic dialogue, not a detached psychological proposition by Shakespeare.
“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.”
Difficulty often feels cumulative: one loss can arrive alongside others, making the burden larger than any isolated event.
Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5; Claudius describes multiple troubles arriving together after Polonius’s death.
“The better part of valour is discretion.”
Courage is balanced with judgment here: avoiding a needless danger can sometimes be wiser than performing bravery for appearance.
Henry IV, Part 1, Act V Scene 4; reviewed against the 1917 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Samuel B. Hemingway, printed page 110 / scan leaf 124. Falstaff says 'The better part of valour is discretion' after counterfeiting death during the battle and immediately boasts that this discretion saved his life. It remains comic fictional self-justification rather than a universal rule for courage or risk.
“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
Status and authority are presented as carrying anxiety and responsibility rather than guaranteeing comfort or peace of mind.
Henry IV, Part 2, Act III Scene 1; reviewed against the 1921 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Samuel B. Hemingway. King Henry speaks the crown line at the close of his sleepless midnight monologue after contrasting his wakefulness with the sleep of poor subjects and the storm-tossed ship-boy. It remains dramatic kingship rhetoric rather than clinical evidence about leadership stress.
“Men at some time are masters of their fates.”
Circumstances matter, but people also have moments when their own decisions meaningfully shape what follows.
Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 2, in the 1919 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Lawrence Mason. Cassius says ‘Men at some time are masters of their fates’ immediately before the fuller stars/underlings argument; the retained short record is part of the same local persuasion scene.
“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”
The contrast suggests that repeated fear can make a person suffer imagined losses long before the real event arrives.
Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene 2, in the 1919 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Lawrence Mason. Caesar tells Calpurnia, ‘Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once,’ while rejecting her fear and deciding to go out. The line remains Caesar’s dramatic reasoning, not Shakespeare’s direct personal counsel.
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
The line rejects passive fatalism and places responsibility for circumstances more directly on human decisions, ambition, and action.
Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 2, in the 1919 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by Lawrence Mason. Cassius tells Brutus that men can be masters of their fates and immediately continues, ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.’ This is Cassius’s political persuasion inside the drama, not neutral historical evidence or Shakespeare speaking directly.
“The wheel is come full circle.”
The image describes consequences returning to their starting point and fortunes reversing over time.
King Lear, Act V, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed First Folio facsimile. Edmund says 'The Wheele is come full circle, I am heere' after Edgar identifies himself and describes their father's suffering; the retained quote modernizes spelling and trims the following clause.
“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!”
The image captures the particular hurt of care being answered by ingratitude within a close family bond.
King Lear, Act I, Scene IV, reviewed against the scan-backed First Folio facsimile. Lear's serpent's-tooth line occurs inside his curse against Goneril after the reduction of his retinue; it is angry dramatic speech, not a neutral rule about children or family relationships.
“What’s done cannot be undone.”
Some consequences cannot be reversed, so the practical question becomes how to respond now rather than how to erase the past.
Macbeth, Act V, Scene I, reviewed against the scan-backed 1918 Yale text. Lady Macbeth says 'What's done cannot be undone' during the sleepwalking scene; the dramatic context is guilt and psychological disintegration, not generic advice that consequences should simply be accepted.
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles.”
Friendly appearance can conceal harmful intent, so trust should consider patterns of conduct rather than expressions alone.
Macbeth, Act II, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed 1918 Yale text and the First Folio facsimile. Donalbain's 'There's daggers in men's smiles' follows Duncan's murder as Malcolm and Donalbain decide to flee; it is fictional suspicion under immediate danger rather than a universal claim about trust.
“Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak Whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.”
Putting grief into words can make suffering more shareable; silence may intensify pressure when pain has no form of expression.
Macbeth, Act IV, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed 1918 Yale text. Malcolm tells Macduff 'Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak / Whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.' The frozen catalog row instead reads 'knits up the o'er-wrought heart'; that substantive inherited wording variation is disclosed rather than silently rewritten. The passage remains dramatic grief counsel, not clinical guidance.
“The miserable have no other medicine but only hope.”
When circumstances offer little immediate relief, hope can preserve the possibility of endurance without pretending the pain is gone.
Measure for Measure, Act III, Scene I, Claudio to the disguised Duke. The scan-backed 1910 Methuen facsimile transcription of the 1623 First Folio reads “The miserable haue no other medicine / But onely hope” as Claudio awaits possible execution. The line remains fictional speech under threat of death, not medical treatment guidance or a guarantee that hope resolves suffering.
“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”
Doubt becomes harmful when it stops useful action before reality has had a chance to test what might be possible.
Measure for Measure, Lucio to Isabella. The retained modern locator is Act I, Scene 4; the represented 1623 First Folio witness, reviewed through the 1910 Methuen facsimile transcription on Wikisource, labels the same scene Act I, Scene V (Scena Quinta). Lucio urges Isabella to test her ability to plead for Claudio rather than let doubt prevent the attempt. This is fictional dramatic speech, not Shakespeare speaking autobiographically or a universal psychological law.
“The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.”
Preserving some inward freedom after a loss denies the wrongdoer complete control over what the loss becomes.
Othello, Act I, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed 1910 First Folio facsimile on Wikisource. The Duke tells Brabantio that continuing to spend grief on an irreversible loss only compounds it; the retained modernized wording corresponds to the Folio's 'The rob'd that smiles, steales something from the Thiefe.' It is dramatic counsel inside the scene, not Shakespeare autobiography or clinical grief guidance.
“To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.”
Grief over what cannot be changed can become a second injury when it prevents attention to what can still be done.
Othello, Act I, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed 1910 First Folio facsimile on Wikisource. The Duke's 'To mourne a Mischeefe that is past and gon' sentence is part of the same attempt to redirect Brabantio after Desdemona's marriage; this collection preserves modernized spelling and punctuation rather than Folio orthography.
“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
Jealousy is described as self-consuming because it feeds on suspicion while tormenting the person who carries it.
Othello, Act III, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed First Folio facsimile. Iago's green-eyed-monster image is manipulative fictional dialogue used while cultivating Othello's jealousy; it is not Shakespeare's direct psychological diagnosis or clinical evidence.
“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.”
Time ignored earlier becomes painfully visible later, when opportunities narrow and delay can no longer be recovered.
Richard II, Act V, Scene V in the represented 1921 Yale edition. Richard's 'I wasted time, and now doth time waste me' occurs in the prison soliloquy as he compares broken musical time with his ruined political life. The First Folio facsimile numbers the corresponding prison scene differently, so the Yale route is used to preserve this collection's modern scene numbering.
“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.”
Speed without judgment can undermine the very goal a person is pursuing, so patience becomes part of effective action.
Act 2, Scene 3; Friar Laurence urges Romeo to move with greater care.
“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.
Act 2, Scene 2; Juliet separates Romeo from the social meaning of his family name.
“All that glisters is not gold.”
Appearance can imitate value without possessing it, so the line encourages evidence and discernment before admiration or trust.
Act 2, Scene 7; the inscription warns against judging by outward appearance.
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”
Even respected language can be quoted selectively, so a citation should be judged by context and purpose rather than authority alone.
The Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 3.
“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”
Punctuality is treated as prudence: arriving early creates margin, while lateness spends time that cannot be restored.
The Merry Wives of Windsor; a comic line about timing and punctuality.
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
The dramatic line relocates evil from an imagined elsewhere into immediate human experience and frightening events in the present.
Act 1, Scene 2; Ferdinand describes the terror surrounding the shipwreck.
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
The line emphasizes impermanence and the dreamlike brevity of human life.
Act 4, Scene 1.
“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
Shared human tendencies can connect people across status and difference, even when the behavior being shared is imperfect.
Troilus and Cressida, Act III, Scene 3, Project Gutenberg #1528; Ulysses speaks to Achilles. ‘One touch of nature makes the whole world kin’ is immediately defined by the following lines: people ‘with one consent praise new-born gauds’ and the present eye praises the present object. The retained line therefore belongs to Ulysses’s argument about novelty, reputation and forgotten past merit, not an uncomplicated statement of sentimental universal fellowship or Shakespearean autobiography.
“Things won are done; joy’s soul lies in the doing.”
Anticipation and active pursuit can carry more energy than possession itself, making the process part of the reward.
Troilus and Cressida, Act I, Scene 2, Project Gutenberg #1528; Cressida speaks privately after Pandarus leaves. ‘Things won are done; joy’s soul lies in the doing’ occurs in her reflection that people prize what is still ungained and that love can seem sweetest while desire is still suing; she then resolves to conceal her own love. It remains fictional dramatic psychology inside the play’s courtship plot, not a universal motivational or happiness law.
“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.
Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene 1, Orsino; 1922 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by George Henry Nettleton, printed page 1 / Wikisource scan leaf 13. “If music be the food of love, play on” opens Orsino’s attempt to use excess music to surfeit and extinguish his appetite for love. It remains fictional dramatic speech shaped by Orsino’s self-dramatizing desire, not Shakespeare speaking autobiographically or a modern psychological claim about music and emotion.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.”
The sentence distinguishes inherited status, earned achievement, and unexpected responsibility, making greatness look less like one single path.
Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene 5; 1922 Yale Shakespeare edition edited by George Henry Nettleton, printed page 43 / Wikisource scan leaf 55. Malvolio reads “some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” from Maria’s forged letter written in Olivia’s supposed voice as part of the prank. The maxim remains an embedded deceptive written voice rather than Malvolio’s original saying or Shakespeare’s direct advice about success.
