Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford

"So I the pleasant grape have pulled from the vine, And yet I languish in great thirst, while others drink the wine."

"A valiant mind no deadly danger fears;"

"If women could be fair and yet not fond, Or that their love were firm, not fickle still, I would not marvel that they make men bond By service long to purchase their good will; But when I see how frail those creatures are, I laugh that men forget themselves so far."

"My mind to me a kingdom is; Such perfect joy therein I find That it excels all other bliss That world affords or grows by kind. Though much I want which most men have, Yet still my mind forbids to crave."

"This Earl of Oxford, making of his low obeisance to Queen Elizabeth, happened to let a Fart, at which he was so abashed and ashamed that he went to Travel [for] 7 years. On his return the Queen welcomed him home, and said, 'My Lord, I had forgot the Fart'."

"I overtook, coming from Italy, In Germany, a great and famous Earl Of England; the most goodly fashioned man I ever saw: from head to foot in form Rare and most absolute; he had a face Like one of the most ancient honoured Romans From whence his noblest family was derived; He was besides of spirit passing great Valiant and learned, and liberal as the sun, Spoke and writ sweetly, or of learned subjects, Or of the discipline of public weals: And 'twas the Earl of Oxford."

"But what if it turns out, as it just possibly might, that William Shakespeare of Stratford was not the author of the plays ascribed to him? There is a theory, advanced by reputable scholars, seriously and, in my opinion, plausibly, that Shakespeare merely lent his name as a cover for the literary activities of another person, perhaps the Earl of Oxford. If, by some terrible chance, this theory should be proved, then straightway Stratford's tourist business would dwindle. It would become just one more, and honestly not one in the first ten, of England's picturesque small towns."

"A little apish hat, couched fast to the pate, like an oyster; French cambric ruffs, deep with a witness, starched to the purpose: Delicate in speech; quaint in array; conceited in all points; In courtly guiles, a passing singular odd man."