6 quotations linked to Romeo and Juliet by or associated with William Shakespeare, with source notes, explanations and related topics.
Love, haste, identity, family conflict, youth, fate, friendship, grief and counsel expressed through dramatic dialogue and poetic imagery.
Use these links when you want to inspect the wording in its wider work or edition.
“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
The phrase holds affection and pain together: separation hurts precisely because the relationship being left is valued.
Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2; Juliet speaks as the lovers part for the night.
“It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”
The metaphor enlarges personal admiration into a whole horizon, presenting beauty as something that changes the scale of the observer’s world.
Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2; Romeo continues the dawn imagery after seeing Juliet.
“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.
“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.
Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5.
“But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?”
Romeo’s question makes Juliet’s appearance seem to transform the night itself, using light as the language of sudden admiration.
Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2; Romeo sees Juliet at the window.
“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.
